It was a weird sleeping time last night. I kept waking up, unable to go back to sleep, getting up doing something, and trying to sleep some more. Somewhere in that restless state of waking and sleeping, this little nugget popped up on my radar. It’s not a perfect thought, and my days are busy as all get out, so I’ll do a quick share and deal with it deeper later on.
You can have the best design of a house, dock, or even a professional building, even a relationship. You can even prepare everything for your magnificent design. Lack of vision and pre-planning for the future may keep you continually shoring up everything as you move into the future. Everything requires ongoing maintenance and care, true, but starting with a strong foundation gives you a better opportunity for success.
Yes, I even sang the words to the melody of another song from my memory banks. Shore it up, little darling!
My grandparents had property on Lake Murvaul in East Texas. They lived on the point of land that jutted out into the lake. On one side, an original creek that fed the lake meandered down the side. It was a brushy hillside, and the creek was deep (as in cold!). I remember granddad getting in the boat, working his way down the lakeside, getting onto land, working in the brush, walking down the existing piers and pilings. Why? Granddad was working hard to backfill what the stormed tossed lake took away. It seems the waterfront always needed maintenance, and it did not look fun at all.
This is only part of the property, but Granddad called this Poverty Point! We fished, swam, and learned to water ski from this base of summer fun.
Apply The Thought
Yes. I always apply the thoughts that linger around the edges of my thinking. Consider a relationship. We always shore up the loose ends to make things right. Sometimes it’s a costly bauble to smooth the edges of a breakage. Other times, it’s giving in and letting someone have a win they do not deserve. Instead of starting over (with the same person, of course), we are always trying to “fix” what’s there.
You may not do it, but I always consider my bride before I decide to do anything. Happy wife, happy life may sound weird in this current culture. Yet, I know we both think about the other before we consider significant changes. Why? We are joined at the hip and are in this race of life together—equal partners for an equal future. We seldom ever backfill what life has washed away because we were not prepared for the storm. We started a relationship that has grown through the years, and nothing is tearing it down that we cannot face together. Stronger.
Come to think of it, we are not shoring up each other against an ordinary storm or personal trial. We are hand-in-hand together, facing the challenges as a team. In sickness or health. Richer or poorer. It doesn’t matter.
When it comes to money? Ditto. We have pretty much the same focus. Our kids? We are both equally happy and confused when challenges hit them, but we are there for them. Together.
Here’s The Key
None of this means we are perfect. Shoring up a relationship only builds it more substantial, right? Not necessarily. It depends on how well you create at the moment.
We put our new pups outside earlier this year. We gave them safe space and haven from the weather and from wandering too far. I’m not a builder, but I felt confident I had done a decent job in constructing temporary walls and fencing just enough space for them to get off the deck and enjoy the grass. I never realized how temporary my construction was until nine puppies started growing. Becoming more boisterous, they were rambunctiously striving to make my wall disappear. I wrapped the porch with tarps to keep out the wind and rain. I kept adding to the wall – taller, stronger, and able to withstand a hurricane. By the time we were ready to take it down, it had looked nothing like how I had imagined it to be at the beginning. Scads of screws here and there to make it strong were safely backed out, and quickly it became just a pile of lumber.
Next time? Yes. Chewy is pregnant again, and we sure didn’t want to deal with puppies again. Slowly, my yard is changing to handle the future better, but I cannot help think. How much better I would have enjoyed the journey from my humble beginnings back in 2003 if only I had appropriately built to being with.
Here’s a Scriptural Thought
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life,
homeowner improvements to your standard of living.
They are foundational words, words to build a life on.
If you work these words into your life,
you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock.
Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house.
It was fixed to the rock.
“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life,
you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.
When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”
(Matthew 7:24-27 MSG)