My plan for the morning yesterday included donuts, kolaches and bribery. Sadly, it didn’t work out quite the way I planned. In fact, what I planned for an easy 15 minute chat, turned into an almost 3 hour ordeal that left me covered in a lovely white layer of drywall mud overspray. Even my nose hairs were white.
I looked like Marv from Home Alone after he’s been tortured thoroughly by Kevin. (Remember, this guy?)
It wasn’t really quite this bad, but it wasn’t the quick chat I was intending. The story goes that we really wanted the texture on our walls to be lighter/less dramatic than usual (first world problem, I know) and I thought a load of goodies and a “pretty please” would be all it would take to make that happen. Apparently there’s a lot I still don’t know about the building process that includes two different teams of texturing folks. The initial team has a big hose connected to the compressor in the truck to texture the entire house. The “patch repair team” only has a little hopper and mobile air compressor. Long story short, their techniques needs to match and therefore they can’t migrate too far from the standard.
The answer? No can do.
As minor a detail and small as this may seem, it was a big deal to us. We’ve been planning my little drop-in bribery for months. We had high hopes and expectations for how it would turn out and in less than 30 minutes, those aspirations were crushed. But here’s the twist: while they got to work hanging the plastic to cover walls that will be papered, they had a big question for me about an oddly shaped wall that we hadn’t considered previously. It was our main living room wall. I don’t know what they would have done about it, had I not been there, but I’m certainly glad I was. So as it turns out, I wasn’t there to rig the texture.
I needed to be there to make the call on that wall.
That’s often how life turns out, isn’t it? When you have big plans, or even small ones that you’re counting on, you feel let down or frustrated when they don’t work out the way you hoped. But so many times, if you keep showing up anyway, there’s a gift there for you if only you’ll be open look for it.
It may be disguised in a cloud of white overspray, but it’s there.
“Sometimes we have to let go of the life we have planned to have the life that is waiting for us.” (unknown author)
Look for the gifts of life waiting for you beyond your plans this weekend. (Just watch out for that guy with the sprayer! It’s a doozy!)
to more love,
Crystal
