Today I jumped up and down with a grin plastered across my face. My pants showed streaks of oatmeal cream paint speckled across the fine fibers. My hair stuck out like a lion, and sweat glistened on my skin. I had completed a seemingly insurmountable project.

My neighbor’s old, waterlogged kitchen cabinets looked refreshed. Their new exterior shown in the kitchen light as I looked on each cabinet door with a sense of appreciation. Each door had been taken off its hinge, sanded repeatedly, painted not once but a handful of times on every side, seam, and angle, sealed, and repositioned for its purpose.

Just like the cabinets were refreshed, I believe I have been made new through a process of careful revision. As I serve and work with my hands, I see and experience small reminders of processes leading to completion. Once good, beautiful work begins, it is someone’s job to see that initial process through to the end. The goal being completed, the check landing on its mark inside the to-do box.

So easily I overlook how the process of stepping out to serve others has changed me. My desire is to do good, hard work with my hands for the benefit of others, but really, when I complete a project, I never look inwards to see how the project has left remnants of paint on my life.

When I began the kitchen remodel it was early June. I was looking for something to do – something to keep my hands busy for the summer. Little did I know the process of refinishing a kitchen – with the bumps and struggles of doing something for the first time – takes a process. It takes time. From June to October of this year, I was burdened for my cabinet project. I wanted to get the project checked off my list, but the project became a process.

A process of learning (how to fix damaged wood).
A process of renewal (constantly sanding to a finer finish).
A process of waiting (for paint to dry).
A process of problem solving (when ever cabinet door was hanging crooked).
And a process of finishing touches (on each and every door).

Processes are a part of life. But I’ve just recently been aware of where I’ve been, where I am, and where I am being called to go. The process of learning, growing, and striving drives me in projects, also is the lens through which I choose to serve others.

Next time you say yes, think through the process up ahead. Be aware in the process, and after you check “complete,” be encouraged that your time and effort has affected someone greatly. Also, the process has changed you.