The waiting game... prayer is how you win

The Dresser Island

       All of us are in limbo, waiting, hoping and wishing that this virus, COVID-19, would go away and we could go back to normal. But the reality is, no matter what we do, we cannot change our situation right now. However, we can control how we handle the situation and what we decide to do with all this extra time in our lives. 
       Tyler and I started our kitchen remodel shortly after the schools closed. At that time, the school closing was only expected to be two weeks but we were motivated to use the time wisely. After doing some cosmetic work in the kitchen, I started refurbishing this old dresser that a friend of Tyler’s aunt gave me. Luckily, it was already stripped of the old paint and it just needed a good sanding. 

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       As I continued to go to work during the day, we faced hard decisions on how socially distant we should be. Should we risk…. Going to Lowe’s to get supplies? Grocery shopping in the stores? Seeing our parents for Sunday dinner? Is wearing a mask enough? Should I really be going to work? As many of you know, these questions run through your head all day long and it almost paralyzes you from doing anything. Prayer was the only way for me to face the decisions that needed to be made every day. 
       Ironically, (or maybe that is exactly how God planned it) prayer life showed up in many areas of my faith life. My pastor started a new series on prayer, one of the podcasts I listen to had a topic of prayer life, and Psalm 69 was in my scripture reading that week. Psalm 69, versus 13-15 say, “But I keep praying to you, Lord, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation”.  
       To be totally honest, with the busyness of life before COVID-19, I barely spent time praying. Some ways I trained myself to remember to pray is by going on walks, reading the Bible every morning, and of course while painting! Painting and transforming furniture into something beautiful is like therapy to me. 
       As I sanded and painted this dresser that would be my new kitchen island, I prayed. What did I pray about? Well the Lord’s prayer creates a great structure for us to follow when deeply praying. It centers our focus around God and gets us away from those self-centered prayers we tend to jump to. Jesus teaches us in Mathew 6: 9-13, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but rescue us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever, Amen”. There are three steps you could follow here to pray: praise God for his holiness and ask for his will, humble ourselves and ask for our daily needs, ask for the cleansing of our sins and for help to not repeat them.  
       So, as I work on a piece of furniture, I pray. While I strip and sand the old finish off, I praise God. While I clean and prime the wood, I ask him to provide our daily needs. And while I painted and converted drawers into shelves, I ask for forgiveness and for help in changing my ways. 

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        After waiting for three weeks to finish our kitchen remodel by getting new counters installed, I was able to finish my kitchen island project. Waiting is worth it once you are able to see the finished product in all its glory.
       It is such a gift from God that I can transform furniture into beautiful, useful pieces. As I looked at the new kitchen island that I made from an old dresser, I thank God for the creativity and ask that he uses his powers to turn COVID-19 into something good, just like I was able to turn the old, crummy dresser into a functional counter in my kitchen. 

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