Tip of My Iceberg

It was a great idea when I first had it.

Over a month ago.

We’d bought these cute pre-cut gingerbread house kits right after Thanksgiving. Thinking we would have a decorating challenge with Heather and Jeremy and their kids. Possibly Christmas Eve..

Like many awesome ideas, that went by the wayside.

We began putting them together several days into the new year. A winter project.

Now they sit, forlorn and undone, with the possibility of just being pitched before they’re ever completed.

I’d bought extra candy for this venture. Enough to use for decorations and mindless eating. If it’s not used, it’ll mock me. Beckoning me with its sugary goodness and promises of mid-afternoon pick-me-ups.

In my defense, this project wasn’t as easy as it appeared. From the pictures on the box, all you needed to do was slap the sides of the house together with a little frosting, add the roof with a little more, and presto! A house to decorate.

That was my assumption. I, of course, didn’t take time to read the directions.

Why bother when it seemed so obvious?

Ethan, at 13, is much more rules oriented than I am. He read the instructions.

“This says you have to wait an hour after putting the sides together and then two hours after putting the roof on. That’s three hours of drying time.” He looked me in the eye. “If we don’t wait, it won’t stick.”

So much for a spur-of-the-moment project.

We put the sides together and waited. We added the roof and waited. By then it was dark and I needed to make dinner.

And everyone had pretty much lost interest in creating these sugar plum delights.

They’ve sat in the corner of the kitchen table for almost a week. I work around them. Try not to look at them.

Ignoring them is not making them go away.

It’s humbling to realize that, even as this new year begins, I treat a lot of life like I do these gingerbread houses. Great intentions. Solid beginnings. Piddle out before it’s done.

Building walls, like building a life, is work. It takes time. And knowing the instructions. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t like waiting for the process. Growing time. For things to be right before I move on.

I want to do what I want to do. Now.

Saying that out loud sounds so entitled.

There’s a lot about life I don’t understand. Things that can make a difference in how I deal with the dailies. It would make sense to depend on the One who knows all there is to know. And knows me better than I know myself.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.”   Proverbs 3:5

God has proven Himself trustworthy. Having given us life, He knows what it can look like. His way works. Whether I choose to agree with Him or not.

Trusting God to hold my walls together? That’s an investment in time and effort worth making.