DIY Weekend Construction Projects & Cheesecake
After owning my home for nearly twenty years, managing rental properties, and working as a general contractor for over seven years, I have developed a firm belief that weekend renovation projects do not exist. These are figments of imaginations fueled by do-it-yourself books, manuals, and other fictional literature. If the book says you can get it done in a weekend, you might be able to wrap it up three weeks later. Period. End of story.
Some of you are nodding your heads; some are still in fantasyland. Let’s review some realities before you preach about proper planning, project management, and good old know-how. The reality of your project is the weekend itself.
Do not forget about the cheesecake calling your name repeatedly from the fridge – you know you have to stop for that! Of course, the big game, race, or tournament is on television, so you might want to check it out every few minutes. And then your buddy will stop by to see if you need a hand – and this is the priceless crimp in your plans, as he will most likely offer his expert advise, change your plans completely, point out what you forgot, chat about the game, eat the rest of your cheesecake, and leave without actually doing a lick of work.
Do you still believe in the elusive weekend project?
That’s ok… even with the above firmly engrained in my macho-male ego, I find myself hoping for the right circumstances to complete that job. I hope I will have the right materials. I hope I will not find something unexpected in the middle of the project. I hope none of the tools break, and that I can find them the first time I look. Yes… it is true. I, the firm skeptic and critic of the weekend project, hold onto a glimmer of hope that it does exist.
This is a hope that will disappoint me. This is a hope in something foolish, and while possible, not very probable. I know this, and even better, I know of a hope that will not disappoint me – a hope that will not disappoint any of us.
When we look at Romans 5:5, Paul is telling us about a perfect hope in God. “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” How can you identify a perfect hope? I could not describe it with words here, yet imagine for a moment what it is like for God to pour His love into our hearts… imagine what it would feel like. A perfect hope in us would be unity with God.
This is a hope given to us by God Himself, and it is guaranteed by His promise – no one can take it away. We find this promise through the Bible, in such passages as Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful…” and Titus 1:2, “a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…”
In that last verse, the message of “hope of eternal life” is a call to all of us to cherish this promise God has given. In Ephesians 1:18 and 19, Paul prays that, “…the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe…” This “glorious inheritance” is a gift from God, a gift of eternal life for those who believe.
This is true hope. This is not a hope that will let me down or frustrate me as will my hopes in the world. I may hope for, and maybe someday actually see a weekend project, but there are no guarantees. With God’s love, my hope is complete.
And now, for that elusive cheesecake…
Glenn Sasscer
www.glennsasscer.com
