Greg preached in a church last Sunday that had two morning services. That’s code for “a church with nice landscaping.” Our church is humble, and the seats really need to be cleaned. We love it.

I didn’t go– not because I already heard his sermon like three times already– but because it was a ten-hour-day, and that’s not my idea of a Sabbath. Greg took along two of our children. Now, my oldest boy liked the church because they had “donut time” and the three-year-old had a swell time as well. She liked riding the “alligator.”

She meant the “elevator,” but this is Florida so you never know.

Adults often mix up their words as well. I think about this whenever anyone tells me about their home improvement stories. They know I love them. What they don’t know is that I’m listening for key words like “remodel” and “redecorate.”

A few years back a woman was lamenting her horrid kitchen “remodeling” project. I asked her what was involved, and she went on about the paint colors and the wallpaper boarder she was trying to hang. I kept waiting for the part where the stove blows up, but it never happened. What kind of story was this anyway? I tried my best to show sympathy.

Meanwhile back at the ranch in 2004… our kitchen ceiling is torn out, there are no functional cabinets, and every nut and bolt from The Home Depot is lying on every available surface. You didn’t dare stay stationary or you’d be used as a drywall perch. If you turned on the faucet, the water would pour on your head from the ceiling. There was white dust in the depths of the upstairs toy box even though the kitchen is downstairs.

If the wallpaper lady could see me now. I mean, we had a toddler that still put stuff in her mouth. I’ll leave out the “…and I was pregnant” part, because that’s a given.

Anyway, I’d like to take a minute to clarify. Ripping out a wall is remodeling. White-washing the 70’s wood-paneling is redecorating. There’s about a 10 Advil difference.

This all comes to mind as we consider old farmhouses and abandoned barns. Some folks tell me that things need “a little redecorating,” and some folks tell me that it needs an overhaul.

There is a difference, and trust me, I have a preference for one over the other. :smile_wp: