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             Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (I Thessalonians 5:11)

 

            I’m not a builder, but I want to be. I’ve reached the elementary point of being able to build wooden garden beds (boxes without bottoms) and steps. I’d like to try my hand at a table or shelves next. I’ve also made a gallows for my macrame, a photograph backdrop frame, and a “cage” to keep birds and bunnies away from my blueberries out of PVC. The gallows and photograph backdrop frames haven’t been quite as steady as I’d like, but the cage was the worst. I put it together and it fell apart before I could get the netting on it. I applied PVC cement to several joints. Over the weekend, we had a windstorm that took it down again. I am going to try stabilizing it with rebar, next.

            As I read the verse and live the situation above, I am seeing some parallels. In effect, Paul was saying, “Keep encouraging one another.” We want encouragement to involve sticking the ends of two pipes into a fitting. Ta Da! “Hey, you got this.” Or “Hey, it’ll be OK” and we can walk away patting ourselves on the back for the good job done. Even before the next situation comes along, our structure is listing, joints are coming undone – it’s just not being the successful structure we had in mind.

            So we find some cement and declare, “There, all better.” And  we cover it with a blessing and a smile to ward off the devil and go on our way. But at the first gust of wind, half their structure ends up hanging over a fence.

            Now, we get a little irritated. “What’s wrong with this person? Why can’t he/she get her life turned around? How can he/she be so …soo needy? Someone else will have to take over. I’m done! It’s too hard. How many times do I have to fix his/her life? When – if – he/she does what I tell him/her, then I’ll help again.”

            The truth of the matter is that the person who needs encouragement isn’t the only one who is failing here. It’s not the fault of the PVC structures I’m building that they aren’t as stable as they could/should be. We may need to add some cement to our encouragement. Or, we may need to add rebar. Or seek wisdom from others – especially God. Encouragement may cost us more than a few words, but love willingly pays the price.

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