Do you find HGTV addicting?
Me, too.
Five minutes of watching Home & Garden TV channel and I start noticing what's "wrong" with our place.
Typical HGTV host(s) start a huge project and kaboom! In thirty minutes they knock out walls, paint, tile, hang curtains and pictures and move in new furniture.
It's a piece of cake, right?
That's what a young friend thought, too.
She fell for one of their "simple" projects and absolutely knew it would work on a troublesome long wall in their living room.
Besides, how hard could it be to replaster and texture a simple, straight wall?
Had she ever replastered a wall before? Nope.
She knew from watching it done on HGTV transforming that wall would be easy. And quick.
On the show people textured the plaster and swirled in designs. My friend decided she could swirl and twirl with the best of them.
Bright and early on the big day she mixed up a bucket of plaster and started troweling.
Easy-speasy!
After half an hour or so she stepped back to admire her handiwork. And loved it.
That's when she realized she had a problem. The new plaster was drying fast, but it needed to be pliable when she plastered the new area next to it. How would she get a break?
Her husband tried, but his strip didn't match hers. This was a one-woman job.
Somehow she would have to keep going. By then the end of that wall appeared to be a football field's length away.
Already she could barely raise her arms.
She staggered on, helped by maximum doses of ibuprofen and lots of coffee. As the afternoon went on she got slower and slower, but she finished.
Just before dinnertime.
My friend fell into bed without eating and slept twelve hours.
After a few days she could lift her arms without groaning. Time to tackle Phase 2 and faux painting.
Why not? After troweling on plaster, how hard could it be to paint the room, then sponge on glazes?
Over the next days she found out. It turned out to be another I-can't-stop project.
Eventually, just as on HGTV, she loved her knockout room, which drew lots of compliments. Every time she looked at it she smiled, especially because she did it herself.
The moral to this tale
Maybe it's not a moral, but rather a truth that sinks in over the years. What costs us most dearly we love most dearly.
What's worth doing always takes more effort than we expected, but the lasting satisfaction outweighs the cost.
That's true for building a marriage. Or being a mom. Or making a life that joys our hearts.
So hang in there, trust the Lord to get you through and keep on growing.
I know from experience it takes all you have and then some. But oh, my friend, it's so worth it!
Still learning, too,
Lenore
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