A CRACK IN THE WALL

Have you ever had one of THOSE weeks? You know the kind I'm talking about... the kind of week where you not only have the wonderful experience of visiting both peaks AND valleys, where you not only experience both ends of the emotional spectrum, but you ricochet off of both ends.
In one of those "good news, bad news" situations, you get to the point where you don't even CARE which one they give you first... it just doesn't matter, because you KNOW nothing is as bad as it seems at first, and quite frankly, rarely is anything as good as you might first perceive it to be. It's just all living life. Ups, downs, ins, outs... it's just life as we know it.
Let me catch you up on a "good news, bad news" kind of week we've had at our place.
Bad news: During this summer, the bride and I have noticed that there are some cracks beginning to appear in our bedroom walls. In fact, it's also noticeable that they are getting progressively bigger. The other day my little darlin' called my attention to one crack in particular in our bedroom, which is widening at an alarming rate of speed. I was thinking about stretching a little duct tape over it; not to keep it from getting any bigger, but just in case the dog jumped up there and accidently fell in.
Good news: I happened to remember that when we bought our home, included was a 10 year transferable warranty from a foundation repair company that did some foundation repair on the house before we bought it. So Precious called them up and they said they'd be right out to have a look. Problem solved, right?... well, yeah, but not quite as smoothly as it could have been.
Good news: A nice young man from the company came out a day or two later to inspect our house... at no charge.
Bad news: As he inspected our home on the inside, he would say things like, "Oh...", "Ummm, how long as THAT crack been there?"... "Uh huh"... and MY favorite... "Wow, look at that".
Which reminded me of some of the things professional people should NEVER say in the presence of a client, customer, patient, or victim, depending upon your perception of the professional. For example, you never want to hear your physician or dentist say, "Ooops". You never want to hear the guy you contracted to remodel your bathroom say, "Wow, I need to call Leo to come look at this". And you NEVER want to hear the air conditioning repair man laugh out loud. It's just NOT professional. Anyway, back to the other day.
Good news: The gentleman smiles and says, "Let's have a look outside". As he walks around the perimeter of the house, looking down at the foundation, he's counting; "four, five, six, yeah, there's another one, eleven, twelve, uh huh, yeah, that's good".
Bad news: Finally, he says, "OK, I think I've got it, let's go back inside and let me show you something". It's never good news when they want to SHOW you something.
Good news: He said, "Well, sir, the pillars we've installed on your foundation are doing their job. We can adjust a few of them and that will help"... and then came the word we've all come to dread... BUT...
Bad news: B U T... You currently have 22 pillars installed and you're going to need 12 more. He said that the pillars on the perimeter are just fine, but what we need are 12 more to level the interior walls. He explained it like my house is settling in towards the middle. The outside is fine, but the inside is sinking.
Good news: It's not really that big a deal. He assured me that it happens all the time and that I don't need to be too alarmed. He tells me that they can fix it with no problem. He also tells me that they can level the slab in our sun room by just adding seven footings and that the floor in the sun room will be good as new.
By now I'm feeling a little better about the whole situation.
Bad news: It'll be as good as new for a mere $6,500. AND he would extend the warranty to cover everything for another 10 years.
Good news: I didn't hurt myself when I passed out in the kitchen floor and the cool damp washcloth my little Sweetie used to wipe my face brought me back to consciousness in no time.
When I regained my strength enough to stand up, I thanked him and told him I'd be in touch.
More good news: After the initial shock wore off and Precious and I had a little time to sit down and talk about it, I began to realize that God has blessed us so much and that He continues to pour out His blessings on us. I also came to understand that in the overall grand scheme of things, that this really isn't all that bad.
More good news: The Lord provided the finances to take care of the repairs and our home isn't going to collapse after all. In fact, the Lord made financial provision before we even knew what it was to be used for. When we bought this home, we dedicated it to the Lord. We literally declared the Lord Jesus Christ to be the owner of it, to be welcomed in it, and that we would simply do our best to be good stewards of HIS house. My little darlin' and I have often told others that yes, we live here, but the house belongs Jesus... He just let us sign the papers for Him. And I honestly believe that, that is precisely WHY God provided the finances necessary to make the repairs.
More good news: Every house needs a good, strong foundation. When the foundation is not adequate, the integrity of the structure is compromised. And the same is absolutely true concerning ourselves being a spiritual house... our heart is His home; it is where the Holy Spirit resides... He is at the foundational center of our very lives. But the fact remains that the integrity of ANY structure is compromised IF the foundation is not adequate.
BUT we can trust the word of God, because it says that our foundation is rock solid. It says that Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone, and in 2 Tim. 2: 19 - Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal; The Lord KNOWS who are His...
And I don't know much, but I DO know this; When we live our lives on the foundation of God's word, we're not going to need an outside representative to come work on it because it's sagging in the middle.
What about the walls of your life? Seeing any cracks? If you do, then there's a good chance all you need to do is get back to the foundational truths of His word, and watch those cracks disappear... But then Hey, It's Just A Thought.