Life motto?
Not quite, but it’s apt, simply because it seems to describe a great many projects I set out to work on, only to find the difficulty factor is much higher than anticipated.
I’m making a lofted bed for my son, Jonathan. It’s for his college dorm room at Emmaus Bible College, where he’ll be a first year student. When he first asked if this was possible, I thought of my woodworking skills and said, ‘Sure, how hard can it be. It’s just a frame of 2×4’s.’
Enter ‘Life’s Motto.’
First, I knew I needed plans. I’ve done a fair bit of woodworking, but not enough to design my own items. So, ‘Hello, Internet. Hello, lofted bed plans.’ Ah, if only it were that easy. If you’ve ever done a search on the ‘net, you know you’re going to get many thousands of hits and need to sort them out to find the right one. After a few days of this, I settled on an inexpensive book/set of plans purchased on Amazon.com.
Plan book arrives and gets opened immediately. Disappointment settles in quickly with the realization that the ‘clown’ who ‘drew’ his own book never took basic drafting in high school or learned to use a CAD program for simple structures. Nor does he remember how to teach someone from the most basic of levels. Instead, as a master craftsman, he assumes a great deal of knowledge on the part of the reader. Cost: $13. Lesson learned: don’t use this book.
Finally ended up with a $10 set of plans from Collegebedlofts.com. Took me about an hour on their site to finally find plans and only plans you could order.
Downloaded plans arrive in ‘Download’ folder and gets opened immediately. Disappointment settles in quickly with the realization that they’re trying to sell their product in kits which you merely have to put together. The ‘secret’ of their design is still almost entirely safe with them. Very few pictures/diagrams showing cuts, measurements, assembly procedures. Written instructions also not clearly laid out in any good, organizational form.
Nevertheless, with patience (a rarity for me in these types of projects) and a few skills learned in the school of hard knocks (measure twice, cut once…’What do you mean that board’s too short. I cut it twice already!’), I managed to get it ready to finish.
This was a bit of a long-winded way to say, ‘This is life as I know it.’ Nuthin’s ever easy. It wasn’t easy, saving a wretch like me. It took 33 years of perfect, willing obedience to every ounce and letter of the holy Law of God. It required putting up with stubborn, stiff-necked, traditionally-minded, barely educated, over-zealous-at-the-wrong-times men, called to follow, but couldn’t find their front door with a GPS. It meant resisting the ‘Easy’ button from Staples: the Tempter continually held it out to Him, but through constant communion with His Father in Heaven, a heart filled with the Scriptures and a greater desire to glorify God than Himself, he endured and resisted. It took getting nailed to the most heinous object of execution man had devised to that point. It still needed three more days, waiting for the body to be raised from the dead, before ‘success’ was finally achieved. Jesus didn’t come to live or bring an easy life.
And even though the gospel is ‘simple’ (it’s not rocket science; it’s by grace through faith), seeing it conform me into the image and likeness of Christ is far from easy. If it were easy, I’d have been transformed, renewed, and conformed back in 1973. That’s not how God works in me. In you. In us.
But work He does…and give grace and strength and joy and so much more. When the project is finished, it will look a lot better than my son’s lofted bed. I will be perfect.
