a face lift or a soul lift...

one of the deals my hubby and i had when we bought our home 2 years ago,

was that i would be able to get a paint job soon after.

the hideous paint was on it's last life.

in my opinion it shouldn't have had a first.

i pictured a white house,

with maybe a dark grey trim, some gingerbread added here and there.

the white posts where when honey had just begun the fence.

so the picket fence, an arbor laced with American Beauty roses,

the front yard full of blooms.

grass won't grow in our front yard because of that gigantic pine.

It took about $300 but we finally figured that out.

  so this is where we're at today:

you see this was a bank owned home.

the quite pretty tile work that was in the bathroom was new.

what we didn't realize was that it was also rushed and unsealed.

in short, our bathtub wall is rotted out.

someone hadn't taken the time to do the job the right way the first time.

and if we don't do something soon we'll more than likely end up with black mold inching it's yucky way up the wall and down the floor.

it'll cost a pretty penny.

which means i may not get my paint job.

which by the way will cost us an arm thanks to the new lead laws.

my point?

that i think i'd still rather have the paint!

I know i know.

it's ridiculous.

it's beyond stupid.

i see that.

i get it.

but instead of fixing something that will structurally destroy my home,

i'd rather it look pretty while it silently rots away where nobody sees.

isn't that just like us?

isn't that just how we roll?

we want to look good.

we invest our (or worse, our husband's) hard earned money on frivolity and things that moth and rust will destroy.

we could be investing it in the long term:

retirement,

things that would help our family be built up and renewed,

eternal things.

but no,

we fritter away and the things that are shallow.

spend our time online, watching tv, whatever,

instead of investing in a heart to heart with a lonely child, our forgotten spouse.

we want to look good while we're at it.

a $20 tube of lipstick, a new pair of jeans, a boob job.

whether it costs a little or a lot,

it doesn't really matter.

if what's behind the red lips or nice boobs is a shell that has slowly eaten itself up that all that's left is mildew and gunk.

  I'm sure that God in Heaven,

when our spirit is first fed,

is joyful when we enjoy life,

but only when the first thing is the first thing.

sadly most of us take a facelift to make us feel better for the short term.
but the pay-off of long term warm fuzzys is in taking care of the interior.

and so i'll put away my dreams of a white house with gingerbread trim.

just for now.

i know God wants loveliness in my life.

after i clean up the structure that supports it.

linking up with:

God Bless,

Mandy