GETTING IT DONE VERSUS DOING IT WELL
My wife and I got into a fight last weekend over the painting of our bedroom. Since I work from home this year, I was able to devote a bunch of time last week to getting the walls ready: chipping, sanding, cleaning, priming, undercoating. The last coat involves a fairly complicated technique, since we're going for a textured look. So I saved that part for the weekend, when Amy could help me.
We did half the room Saturday, and so I was looking forward to doing the other half Sunday, and moving back into the room. I hate the unsettled feeling of sleeping in the living room, dressers and clothes all scattered across the house. To be honest, my whole mantra on this paint job is to get it done. Not at the sacrifice of quality, of course, but to me, it's just one more thing to check off on the massive to-do list.
To Amy, though, this is important. This is the bedroom, this is her house. It has to look right. So Sunday, we got started on a section of the wall, and it didn't quite look right. She said we had to undo it. Last thing I wanted to hear. We had a big blowout, and the paint job has been postponed. I seethed inside; having already resolved in my heart that the walls would be completed by the end of the weekend, this delay was hard for me to take. But she's right: it should look right, no matter how long it takes.
Today, in my morning devotions, I read the section in Luke where Jesus compares those who hear His word and do it to those who take the time to build a foundation in the rock for their houses, while those who hear His word and don't do it are like those who build on the ground. When the floods come, the first group's houses are sturdy, and the second group's are completely ruined. It is a signficant passage for me personally, as it was the first I ever led as a Bible study leader in college. So I remember the lesson well -- not that I always practice it as well as I ought.
The paint fight Amy and I had reminds me of this passage. Sure, we could've pressed on that day, and gotten the walls painted. And it's not like a flood would come and wipe it all away. But if it didn't look just right, we both would've regretted it. Better to take our time and do it right. And better, most importantly, to take the time to hear the words of Jesus and to do them, than anything else.
My wife and I got into a fight last weekend over the painting of our bedroom. Since I work from home this year, I was able to devote a bunch of time last week to getting the walls ready: chipping, sanding, cleaning, priming, undercoating. The last coat involves a fairly complicated technique, since we're going for a textured look. So I saved that part for the weekend, when Amy could help me.
We did half the room Saturday, and so I was looking forward to doing the other half Sunday, and moving back into the room. I hate the unsettled feeling of sleeping in the living room, dressers and clothes all scattered across the house. To be honest, my whole mantra on this paint job is to get it done. Not at the sacrifice of quality, of course, but to me, it's just one more thing to check off on the massive to-do list.
To Amy, though, this is important. This is the bedroom, this is her house. It has to look right. So Sunday, we got started on a section of the wall, and it didn't quite look right. She said we had to undo it. Last thing I wanted to hear. We had a big blowout, and the paint job has been postponed. I seethed inside; having already resolved in my heart that the walls would be completed by the end of the weekend, this delay was hard for me to take. But she's right: it should look right, no matter how long it takes.
Today, in my morning devotions, I read the section in Luke where Jesus compares those who hear His word and do it to those who take the time to build a foundation in the rock for their houses, while those who hear His word and don't do it are like those who build on the ground. When the floods come, the first group's houses are sturdy, and the second group's are completely ruined. It is a signficant passage for me personally, as it was the first I ever led as a Bible study leader in college. So I remember the lesson well -- not that I always practice it as well as I ought.
The paint fight Amy and I had reminds me of this passage. Sure, we could've pressed on that day, and gotten the walls painted. And it's not like a flood would come and wipe it all away. But if it didn't look just right, we both would've regretted it. Better to take our time and do it right. And better, most importantly, to take the time to hear the words of Jesus and to do them, than anything else.
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