Personal Parable of the Fresno Met

It has been a BIG & busy day! We just arrived home from a second trip today to the Fresno Metropolitan Museum. Whitney is working there now and because the Met has been completely refurbished after three years of rebuilding, they are having an open house for three consecutive days (& nights.) Quite an undertaking, but very impressive. If you live in the area, you should go...and take your family. This may seem a little far-fetched, but for some reason I have been reminded of the changes that I've been faced with this past year or so. Seeing the before's and after's of the home of the Met reminds me a little of me over these past months. Seems that when the redo was started they thought it would only take a year. Isn't that the way it always is. We look at something from the outside and determine what needs doing without any thought of what might be under the surface. More times than not it turns out to be "a real can of worms." I think it's a pretty accurate picture of us. God is primarily concerned about changing our hearts, ... and that's pretty deep, my friends. It wouldn't be nearly as painful if all He needed to do to make us His best, were to only include changing something on the surface, would it? Maybe we would like a different eye or hair color, weight, height, posture, or even deleting a personality glitch. It's not like He looks at us after the fact and says, "Oops! Better redo that part!" He's only concerned about the contents of our hearts, isn't He; and the result of a vital relationship with Him puts everything else not only in place, but in proper perspective of who we are in relationship to who He is. Crazy how God can use every single thing (even an old building with a facelift), and thought, and bring us to a place where we come full circle facing Him ... like it or not. I love that. He never lets go, never gives up on us, continues to teach and nurture us, even to the extent of "washing OUR feet." He consistently reminds us over and over again, that we belong to Him. Just can't get any better or any safer than this...at least until we see Him face to face.