Just 300 days!

300 days ago I had a personal triumph. Nothing really life changing for anyone else, but or me, building a retaining wall and then finishing our carport and parking area was a major accomplishment. I had to poor concrete, lay a bunch of FIBO block and then fill it in, rent a cool tamper and then after sometime I was able to park my car under the car port and enjoy rain free and snow free moments getting in and out of my car. Also, no annoying frost to scrape in the morning. Well, in just 300 days my work has now fallen apart. See I had an older car that went through some tough times. I didn't have the money to fix it, so it sat there and sat there, right on the edge of my wall. Also, I noticed a portion of the wall was wet all the time, weakening the wall. Yesterday I tried to get the car out so we could fill in some low spots where the gravel had settled. Well to my horror, the wall started to fall down. Now, at first glance its still standing, but upon closer inspection, you can clearly see its large crack and a good lean in it.

When I saw this yesterday I went in to a huge depression and still feel it now. Something I worked so hard and long on, is now on the edge of destruction. I went from Nehemiah to Jericho in only 300 days. As I thought about this situation from a spiritual perspective, I saw a clear lesson.

You can build your life on a strong foundation, but extended exposure to dangerous situations or elements can bring destruction. So often I don't realize the effect everything around me is having. I just don't think about it. But if one consistent message keeps coming to me and I don't counter it, or deal with it, then it start to rot and decay my life. Little by little. The water the kept flowing onto my wall could have been easily diverted away from the wall into the back yard where its needed. A few hours and it would have been done, but I just didn't want to deal with it, I knew it could be a problem, but never realized the effect it was having on the entire wall. Stones that are 4 meters away are now in the wrong place because of a little rain running off my roof and then onto the top of my wall.

In your life are there things that are slowly eroding away you true identity. Are you exposing yourself to people or situations that are unhealthy or destructive? Are you living a naive existence, assuming that you are the true source of strength and that nothing else can affect you unless you allow it? For me, its back to my wall soon to see if I can repair it, or just tear it down and start again. Either way I have to do something, or my neighbor will end up with my driveway in his yard.