As far back as I can remember my mom has watched the same couple tv stations. Growing up there were always the same few things on TV; Hallmark for those great cheesy Christmas movies, TCM for the classic black and white, USA for the murder mystery, an occasional news station and HGTV.
Especially HGTV.
My mom is the most creative person on this planet, a gene I sadly did not inherit, but I have always enjoyed watching her move from complicated project to complicated project with ease. HGTV was great for giving her fresh ideas inside the house and out. Trying to sell a house? Buy one? Renovate one? Knock one down and build another one? They had it all. And through all the tips and tricks that came with, my mom would tackle new ways to decorate a room, design a piece of art and landscape the yard.
And in turn where we lived and what surrounded us was beautiful.
This month we have been staying at an ecolodge that has about 5 slightly rundown cabins tucked away in the woods. I’ve learned quickly that ecolodge is really just a fancy way of saying “we embrace nature and all that it holds.”
There are holes in our cabin walls, there are holes in our bathroom and some of the floorboards are far enough apart that if an insect wants to the fly through them and bring his friends he can. We discovered this part about 3 days in. And by we I mean us girl listened to our boys who live next door wrestle and defeat a huge spider one night. The walls are pretty thin. And of course their bathroom is also against our wall. I’ll just leave you to ponder on that one.
Laos is a closed country so we can’t openly share our faith without getting into serious trouble. We are also an hour outside of the city so we can’t really go anywhere even if we wanted to.
So this month we are working at the lodge. Half of us are teaching our host’s kids and half of us are doing manual labor around the resort.
Can you guess where the licensed elementary teacher got put?
Don’t say Jesus doesn’t have sense of humor.
For these past few weeks myself and 6 other squadmates have been raking, hoeing, weed pulling and sledge hammering our way through helping our hosts make this lodge look great for those who will come through.
We’re staring in our own little HGTV show.
I’m pretty sure my mom would watch it.
And though I am dog tired most days I must say I’ve really enjoyed it. I love projects and I love the feeling of finishing one. And this is quite the project. Every day the lodge looks a little better as we clear weeds and vines for two more cabins to get rebuilt, as we rake the grounds and machete weeds to make it look cleaner, and as we paint and organize to make it look even more appealing to the incoming guests.
As we tackle new areas each day I always take a picture as we start. It’s my one satisfying moment, after many hours of sweaty labor, to be able to take a picture as we finish and then compare the two. The difference lifts my spirits when I’m trudging back to our cabin covered in dirt. At this point many of fellow squadmates know this and tease “make sure you get that before and after shot!”
If I ever did watch anything on HGTV I would watch the beginning parts of a show and then zone out until the end. I really didn’t care about anything in the middle, I really just cared about the before and after.
I mean, isn’t that the best moment? I loved seeing how everything looked just as they started and how beautiful it was when it was all finished. Everyone would be so surprised and excited. It was a house that now stood a part from the rest, or a room that now everyone wanted to be in.
I mean come on, look at these photos:
Don’t they make you want to go out and tackle a huge project?
Could just be me.
The other day we had a change in our normal work schedule and I had the opportunity to paint which was great. It allowed to me just roll that paintbrush all over the wall and get lost in my thoughts. As I watched the blue paint dry in it’s bright inviting color, I got excited for, you guessed it, my after photo for the building. It’s the first place people see when they pull up to the lodge and I loved how new and fresh this office looked now and how people were going to see such a difference.
And in that moment Jesus gave me a thought.
If someone was to take photos of my life before Christ and then after, how would they look?
Could people see a difference? Or would I look the same?
Because if I am a part of the body of Christ I should be different right?
Right.
In Galatians 2:20 it says “my old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”
My old self is gone. My thoughts and actions and desires that used to be dictated by this world are no more. They have been nailed to the cross. That’s my before.
Now my life is filled with good things from the Father. It’s filled with love and grace and trust and peace that can only come from Him. That’s my after. That’s what people should see.
But how many of us continue to live our lives stuck in our “before” pattern? How many of us say yes to who Jesus is with our heads and not with our hearts?
Because if we truly believe in what He did for us there should be a change in our lives. We should stand a part from those who don’t know Him. We should look different and act different.
Just take a look at the photos from above. Anytime I see them I think “whoa, look at the difference! It’s incredible.”
People should say the same thing about us.
As a follower of Christ people should look at us and think “whoa they’re different! That’s incredible. I wonder why.”
We should always make them wonder.
We should make them wonder why we are loving that person on the side of the road that people keep blowing past. Why we are extending grace to those around us when they don’t think it’s deserved. Why we are helping and caring for others when they think it’s just out of their way.
We are going to have a new president soon. Change is hard and this change is big. Now more than ever do we need to show that love and grace to each other.
Because one small action could make or break someone’s decision to find out more about who Jesus is.
Actions speak louder than words.
Jesus is talking to his disciples in John 13:34-35 when he says “..as I have loved you, so must you love one another By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
It’s how we love that will show others who Jesus is. It’s our “after” picture that will make people curious.
That’s my challenge to myself. That’s my challenge for you.
Compare your pictures. Are they any different? Are you standing out?
Or is there something that you need to let go of from before? What is holding you back from fully chasing the Father and all that He has for you?
My prayer is that your life and mine will look different from the rest. That we won’t look to the world around us but to the Father above who loves us and wants us to surrender it all to Him. That we will be a light to this dark and broken world. That people will take notice of how we have changed. That they will be curious, saying “wow you’re different. You’re not like everyone else. Why?”
And ever so simply you can reply,
“Let me tell you about Jesus.”
