Good evening brethren and Happy Sabbath! Just a reminder there will be a potluck in Columbia tomorrow after services.

Progress

Back on December 27th of last year, I shared a photo of my bathroom remodel (you can see a picture here).  The picture on the bottom is how it looks today (bottom).  It might not look like a lot, but the tub and surround have been installed (behind the plastic and under the blanket), cement board has been installed and all the joints have been taped and had 2 coats of joint compound applied.

While I am happy with the progress on the bathroom remodel, there is still a long way to go.  A final skin coat of joint compound is needed, which will then have to be sanded and primered.  After that, we can paint the walls and FINALLY get to the point where I can put down ceramic tile. Then of course there’s the grouting of the tile, the installation of the lavatory and sinks, all the plumbing, electrical and hardware to install.  I feel at this pace, I will be done by the spring of 2035…

Creep, Crawl, Walk

A friend of mine used to use this expression all the time: Creep, Crawl, Walk.  He would use it when working with a new customer who was interested in purchasing some of our company’s equipment for an assembly line.  He’d explain to them at first you move at a Creep - very, very slow movement - as you’re just learning what the project requires.

Once you figured that out, you could move to the stage where you bought material and began to assemble and try it out.  Slowly, at first, because you were just learning what all the pieces were and how they worked together.  Because you had never done it before, it took more time and this was the Crawl stage.

Finally came Walking.  After having done some test runs, you were ready to put it into practice.  In this scenario, it was usually an assembly line in a factory somewhere, so instead of perhaps making one or two parts at a time, you were now ready to make hundreds or thousands.  He never got to the point of Running, perhaps because it is highly discouraged in most factory settings…

So what’s that got to do with my bathroom?  Well, when I first started this project, there were quite a few aspects to it I had never done before.  For example, I had joined and mudded drywall before, done lots of painting and tons of plumbing work.  However, I had never laid down cement board for tile.  I still have yet to cut ceramic tile, let alone lay it down an then fill in the joints with grout.  But if all goes well, I should be doing so in a week or so.

While I was able to ‘Walk’ as it were when it came to painting since I had experience there, I will be ‘Creeping’ the first time I cut tile.  It’s a learning process, and I’m enjoying it, but it has tried my patience and taken much longer than expected.

Keep inching forward

Being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ is no different.  Once upon a time, the concept of avoid unclean foods was something we ‘Crept’ at.  We diligently read labels, and perhaps even asked the employees at the store questions or called the manufacturer for clarification on certain things.  This slowed down our grocery shopping experience a great deal.  20 years later, we shop with ease, having learned what foods and perhaps specific brands to avoid.  We Walk briskly through the store, and it takes less time to check off our shopping list.

In other areas, we might still be at a Crawl.  We understand why we shouldn’t lose our cool and get angry, and maybe we do better than we used to, but we’re far from Walking at a good pace, let alone Running.

Like remodeling the bathroom or setting up an assembly line we don’t always move as fast as we we’d like to.  The key though is to keep making progress.  Whatever you’re working on - your bathroom or yourself - keep moving forward and keep making progress!