Janet and I have lived in our current home since January, 2014. That’s only about 12 years ago, but within the next year we will have been here longer than we have lived in any other home since we were married in 1973. Within that time period, we have lived in three new homes and several, including this one, have had occupants before we acquired them.
Our current place has just about anything we could want. We especially like the deck and the patio down below it on the rear of the house. We have seating areas, a grill or two and my smoker down there. And it’s easy to let Eva out to play in the backyard. Now I’m kind of particular about keeping things in good working order but I have noticed that when it rains, water has started to puddle on the patio.
I don’t remember that it used to do that, and Carl, the gentleman who built our home, was an engineer for Rolls Royce so he really did things first class. No short cuts for him! He actually went and replaced all the exterior door knobs and locks when we bought the house because he wanted us to have the same thrill he had when he and his wife, Sandy, first moved in. We have never had a more pleasant experience buying a home.
To be sure, one year tends to fade into another but this spring I have actually kept a push broom handy to get water off the patio after it rains. And earlier this year, I noticed that there was green mildew on the surface that I had to power wash off. At first it didn’t bother me too much but as I reflected on the past several years, there was no denying that things were getting worse.
I called our landscape people and asked what they could do. The answer – nothing… So I remembered a concrete company that specialized in raising concrete with some sort of chemical reaction that solidified foam and helped restore concrete to its original location. I was stunned when the experts told me that our entire patio had settled more than two inches at points during the past 25 years when the home was built. Of course, I was worried about foundation damage and was assured that we didn’t have to worry about that.
Last Saturday, a crew came out and started the process of creating the appropriate drop to make sure that water would run off the patio and I could say “goodbye” to having to use my broom when it rained. I admit that I was fascinated by the process of drilling small holes, pumping in the two-part chemicals and then adding air to cause the materials to expand and harden. It took most of the day, but they did a fantastic job and then finished up by applying a flexible, self leveling, permanent caulk where the patio connects to the back of the house to prevent water from creating another issue.
We let everything sit for two days and then I went and reorganized the furniture and the other items we keep on the patio. I couldn’t believe how good it looked. It almost looked brand new. When it was all said and done, I wondered why we hadn’t thought of this earlier. But the truth of the matter is that Janet and I didn’t notice anything different until the problem became more noticeable. It didn’t seem that bad in the beginning and we learned to live with it.
Unfortunately, the same thing can happen with our faith lives. We start out and everything looks good. But ever so slowly, things get a little wonky, but not enough for us to really notice. After a time, we still don’t pick up on our personal drift from God and then, one day, we realize that we have wandered away far enough that we can’t help but notice. That’s the scary part. How did things get this far along?
Just as I noticed how good it was to get the patio leveled and returned to the way it was designed to be, I always feel good when I return to where God wants me to be. I just wish that sometimes God would nudge me before I get too misaligned. But once back where I am supposed to be, I am always thrilled.
Our verse for tonight reminds us that our foundation is built on Christ. That does’t mean that we can’t move away or need an adjustment every now and then, for the apostle Paul reminds his church at Corinth in his first letter to them, in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
I couldn’t help but be reminded of this during last week. My encouragement this evening is that we must check ourselves to ensure that we are still theologically sound, rooted deep in Christ and can depend on Him to help us get back on track if we start to stray. My prayer is that we will all take a periodic spiritual inventory to make sure that we are solid in our faith and continue to have a firm foundation in Christ. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…