Painting to me has always been something my dad and I have done together. He’s the one who taught me how to paint up to his standards. We have spent hours in a warehouse while we are covered in paint. So much time and so much bonding over paint. There was something so beautiful about how hard work could bring us closer together.
This past week my team and I had the chance to paint a few walls at the school we have been teaching at. Who would have thought this was exactly what I needed. As we began painting I couldn’t help but to remember a few months ago painting with my dad. He wanted to finish cleaning & painting his warehouse before I left the country. So he presented me with the challenge of working two 40 hour weeks. We started by power washing the entire building, painting it all with primer, and then painting with the actual color. This took the full two weeks. Every night I was exhausted. I would go home, shower & eat, then go hangout with friends until I was so tired I went home and passed out. Then got up and started all over the next day.
In those two weeks I learned a lot. Including:
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What hard work truly looks like
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40 hour weeks of manual labor is exhausting
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You have to clean the surface you are painting before painting it
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I have an awesome dad
When I looked back at those weeks I related them to where I am now. Although I am in Thailand & without my dad, I was still painting and I could still show those same things I learned to others. I could work my hardest to make the paint look the very best it could for all who see the wall. I could enjoy my time spent doing it because I knew it wasn’t anything for me, but instead for the enjoyment of others. Just like I learned back home how awesome of a dad I have, I pray the children who see the wall can learn how incredible there Heavenly Father is.
Realizing I have to clean the dirty surface before putting pretty paint on it meant I have to clean up my personal issues before God can make them beautiful. Otherwise when the paint chips away you will see the raw, dirty, mess that was never cleaned up. But whenever the surface was cleaned first the paint will go on smoother and take longer to chip away. And when it does chip away the clean surface will be revealed. Leaving nothing to correct.
This week I have seen God in the little things. I have seen him show up in places I didn’t realize I needed him.
