Go out to the workshop and get you hammer and saw. Clean up your paintbrushes and haul out your ladders. Start ripping out the carpet and tear down a wall. You are remodeling a room that still looks like the 70's with tangerine shag carpet, lime walls with flower stickers on the floor, and hanging beaded doors. It's all outdated and has to go. But wait a second. You are not in your home. You are in your neighbor's house, and your neighbors are in your house doing the same thing. They are demolishing a part of your house getting ready to give a room a “makeover” with the help of a professional designer.
If you are doing this, then you must be on the hit cable show “Trading Spaces.” The show gives each neighbor a thousand dollars, the deadline of a weekend, and the help of a interior designer to remake a room as you trade spaces with a neighbor.
More and more of these type of “Reality TV” shows are making it to the tube. There's “While you Were Out,” “Monster Garage,” and don't forget the old standard, Bob Vila's “Home Again.”
There's been a lot of discussion of why these “makeover”shows are becoming so popular. I've read where producers like them because they are relatively inexpensive to make. And I've heard people say that they like to get ideas and decorating tips for their own homes from these programs. But for me, I like to watch other people work. It's interesting to observe the activity of other people. In big cities, where construction workers are building a skyscraper, they will have an audience of office workers on their lunch breaks watching them construct the building floor by floor. Last week, some men from the city came to take down a neighbor's tree. Everyone came out to watch. It was fascinating to see the tree come down so quickly.
With these reality shows and the magic of TV, the viewers get to see a whole room torn apart and remolded in less than an hour. That's what I like about these shows. Everything is all made new again and now is better than before in what seems a short time. And all done so quickly with no sweat and no mess as I can see from my comfortable chair. You see, the camera doesn't show all the work, and when they do, they put it in fast motion. It all looks so easy when they do it. It's almost relaxing watching others hammering and sawing away.
But let's get real. Those who have ever tried such a thing as remodeling a room know that it is hard work. It takes sweat, patience, and commitment to do the job right. And I know that is why I have put off going to Menards to start on some home improvement projects at our house. I just don't think I'm ready for all the work that is involved to spackle and paint our walls that are crying for new color.
I was reading an article in last month's “Lutheran Witness” by a former professor of mine at the Seminary, Charles Kniffel. He taught a class on addictions and this article showed the 12 steps that a person can take to help to recover from an addiction. I thought that these steps are useful not only to those who suffer from some kind of addiction, but also for anyone who suffers from being stuck in some particular sin (which I think most of us would have to admit that there is some sin that we just cannot shake out of lives.)
In this article, I would like to look at only step 10. “.” When I read this it sounds to me our lives need a “makeover” at times. Get out God's Word, say a prayer, and make a commitment to make a change in your life.
