Yes, there's something missing here. Caulk. I spent all day working on re-caulking our bathroom. I thought it would be a simple thing, as I had caulked doors and windows before with relative ease. One thing I had neglected to consider was the preparation before the application.
You might have thought, as I did, that a simple razor blade device would easily lift off the old caulk and enable you to simple peel it away. If that is what you thought, as I did, you would be mistaken, as I was. I have a razor scraper thing that wore my thumb down to mix of pain and numbness. I used this until I discovered our utility knife where it had no business being: stuffed between my wireless router and DSL "box." Regardless, I was ecstatic to relieve my thumb as I scraped and cut away the old caulk. I'd like to give more details, but as I doubt your interest would go any longer, suffice it to say, it took a LONG time. My husband will love all those commas!
I then reasoned I was ready, until I looked closer at the tile and tub. No, I needed to clean this up. Carefully. I realized I had some cleaner from the late '90's that, much as I tried, was not even going to come out of the bottle and thus it was trashed. I tried the Bar Keeper's Friend cleaner hoping the abrasive would help. It didn't do much. I was forced to pull out that razor thing that killed my thumb and scrape away the remaining slivers of caulk. Then I pulled out my hair dryer from the closet (no I don't dry my hair - dryers are terrible for your hair!) and proceeded to make sure the surfaces and inside the cracks were dry. THEN, I pulled out the vacuum. I had to suck out all those tiny bits of caulk that I had cut loose only to jam into the cracks beyond where I could poke with the utility knife. Preparation before the application. All of this is important, as you know what a job looks like if you don't do the proper prep; terrible and it usually doesn't last long.
Writing this seems like it shouldn't have taken all day, but it seems I am easily distracted and did take moments to walk my dogs, run to the store for good caulk, eat, check my email; stuff like that.
Finally I had prepared for the filling of the gaps! And there were some gaps!
As I was prepping most of the day, it dawned on me that God works with us in a very like manner. We are so excited to be a part of a great work that will look so wonderful, or even a simple thing, but before we begin, He has a lot of prep work to do on us. We often have to release our hold on the surfaces that cover our flaws and open ourselves to being cleaned out by the Spirit. It can be amazing and a bit scary to see what we've hidden and allowed to grow under the surface. Only when it's open and laid bare can God cleanse us and then fill us with His purpose. What may seem like a simple step of faith may require some serious prep work before He even allows us the opportunity. Some preparations before the applications can take more time than others.
I'm reminding myself of this as we wait for our house to sell.
Of course, now with that bright white caulk, it looks like I need to keep working on that grout!
Seriously. Tile must have been invented by people who have others to clean it for them. Or they didn't have hard water!
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