Six months. Six months have passed since I began my journey through popcorn ceiling repair and painting neglected walls. What do I want to say?

The process of healing takes time – “God’s the only one who can do surgery without leaving scars.” – M. P.

But, practically, what have I learned?

In working with my hands over these past months, I have seen the renovation of rooms parallel the renewal of my heart. My heart was sad and hurting, much like the stripped and unfinished bathroom I was working so hard to make new. Each and every step I took carried me one step closer to being finished. But, sometimes, I had to wash out my brush three different times after changing paint colors. I dropped my paint bucket on the floor and had to clean it up, smacked the ceiling with my roller, or scratched the newly painted wall with the end of my ladder.

I am learning the joy in investing my talents and my time into projects, but it also frustrates me at the speed in which I learn.

I learn slowly.

Step by step.

By doing and by making mistakes.

So, my journey of painting five rooms and two bathrooms from the top to the bottom has taken a considerable about of time.

But, I am done and can look back on the process as a time of intense healing and work. My purpose for investing my time was to leave the condo I live in better than how I moved in.

I learned in the small, seemingly insignificant moments:

• each time I claimed to the tip top of the ladder then climbed down again to wet my paintbrush
• each time I crawled on hands and knees scraping paint off of the baseboards
• each time I turned up the worship music on my phone and sang with all my lungs
• each and every time I spent working, I also spent worshiping

Action is my worship. Working with my hands to create something new is my worship.

Working with my hands is how I serve. Completing projects and making old things new – for others. Can I do it for His Glory? I can, and I always will.