So we are redoing the hallway/foyer/stair area of my house and I have been given the task of painting and all that jazz… yesterday I was going in for the first big part of the journey- painting the front door. I've seen many hideously painted front doors and was a little nervous- I didn't wanna be the newest addition to awfully painted doors club. So after calling mom three times to make sure I had everything straight i embarked on the journey… the only problem is that i thought we had two cans of paint- oil primer and latex. We had three…. oil primer, latex primer, and latex. In my limited knowledge I therefore went to use the latex we had already used upstairs. Mom kept saying "latex primer" and I know that wasn't oil primer so it MUST be the latex one upstairs. I washed everything down, let it dry, got out my brush and roller and went to town. After one coat it still looked splotchy and see-through so I added another to the door and outside trim and goodness, I was impressed! It was looking good… I was happy and took a shower and went off to dinner with my friend. When I came home and talked to mom she said it looked good, and that I needed to pick up the latex-semi glass paint (good looking paint) and finish…
Well then I thought I already latexed it today… and told her what I had used- you should have seen her eyes- WHAT?! Oh man… I made a huge mistake. I have now learned the lesson… the reason the latex PRIMER is so important is because it provides a surface the latex paint can stick to… it won't stick to the metal door permanently. So that meant today, in addition to painting the steps, I decided to find a way to take off the old paint and start over. If I am going to do a job I want to do it right. I looked online for some ideas how to remove latex from metal and found a remedy that suggested using vinegar. So today I spent hours with a washcloth, vinegar, and an incorrectly painted door. Peeling, peeling, peeling away….
The real lesson that began to form in my head is the importance of our foundation. Although my door looked REALLY nice on the outside, underneath it had a poor foundation and when a storm came along or we stuck a wreath on the door, etc… the paint would start to peel because it had nothing to stick to. It looked good but wasn't going to stand up to most of the challenges it would face. It is like us- without a solid foundation in God, we will crumble when hard situations come our way. Its like Jesus says in Luke 6:49:
"But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
Unfortunately my door was like that mans house. It had no foundation and the storms and everyday issues the door dealt with would peel the paint. Additionally, when i added the vinegar the beautiful looking' paint came off in such huge pieces. The vinegar reminded me of the devil… how he knows exactly what will tear us down (in this case vinegar, but it could be anything in our own lives) and uses it to break us down, and how easy it is when we don't have a foundation. And let me tell you… the devil stinks! My hands still smell! Oh yea… and I'm only halfway done, but so many lessons learned and I am thankful that through my mistakes God can reveal his truths! And when I am done the door will look lovely and have a good foundation- Colossians 3:23.
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