Brilliance

This week has been more about thoughts than the days in Bekahland. That is partly because laundry and organization make for semi-boring posts and partly because a side effect of a new year (for me) is time spent in deeper-than-usual thought.

As per my organizational calendar instructions, I trudged forth to Meijer Monday evening to purchase a donation station (mine is a variation...room for more than just donations). And Tuesday evening I settled in with the Biggest Loser and the storage cube box, which loudly declared (meaning bold font) that no tools were required and easy assembly could be accomplished in under thirty minutes.

CLEARLY the manufacturer has never met me.

I was pretty excited about the no-tools-required part. Once, when I assembled a shelf that required tools, I left a significant chunk of the side board's finish on the floor of my freshman dorm hall...after becoming slightly overzealous with the hammer. But in this assembly, I quickly learned that "no-tools-required" was code for "better-have-muscles." Well, I do have them. Much more so than ever before in my life, actually. But not enough to wrestle wire cubes together in perfect angles.


It was comical, I'm sure. Braeya was probably laughing from her perch on the back of the fat chair. Girl vs. wire. Who will win? Well let me tell you this. I did not win in under 30 minutes. Granted I kept it close to 30...but not under. Nevertheless, it did turn out fairly stable looking:


Okay, now enter the life lesson. In sharing this adventure with one of my friends, I received the following reply: "Just remember it's not how much time it takes to build it that counts...all that matters is how long it stays together."

The moment my eyes fell on those words, they ceased to be about a wrestling match with a wire cube. That's a wildly profound life lesson right there. Brilliance on a screen.

I just told you my God-prodded "theme" for life this year is cultivating. And I believe He just entered lesson number one into my view.

These friendships...these relationships...this job I'm still learning...this practice of finding and unwrapping love-gifts...this relationship with Abba...it's not how much time it takes to build it that counts. All that matters is how long it stays together.


This cultivating. It's life-work. It may be the year's theme, but it's life-work.