Worth The Wait

It is November and Floors: Phase One is just now complete. I purposely limited my major project list this year so that I could spend my time horsing around and writing. That didn't work out as I planned. Today, all I can say is I am so grateful to be back in our family room even if we are five months behind on phase two.
I walk through the house ignoring the other floors; a mix of bare subfloors and half removed tile or ancient linoleum we found when we ripped up the carpet. I make a b-line for the family room, my now favorite room in the house. I have floors! And it was worth the wait.
We started this project at the begining of the summer. What took so long? Ever have a goal and it seems like all you do is hit obstacles?

That was what this project was like. It took longer than expected to choose the perfect flooring, then longer than expected for it to come in. The carpet removal, of course, took a little longer than expected and we ran into a few snags. I hand pulled every staple out of that subfloor revealing what I thought was the most perfect, stainfree subfloor I had ever seen.
Apparently the installer thought it was perfect too and just came in and put the floor down without checking to see if the subfloor met specs for a floating floor. The floor went down in a day and I thought finally the kids and three rooms of furniture would be able to spread out again. Soon it was evident it was not to be as the floor began to dip and sway and come apart leaving major gaps in the seams. I started marking the spots by placing small cards in the gaps. When I called the flooring company to come out, I had about 50 cards placed all over the room.
They agreed there was a problem and offered to correct it. The question of whether we should have put it in ourselves or pay for installation was now a definite-- glad we had them put it in. They came back out and removed the flooring, leveled the subfloor, and reinstalled the floor. Of course, not after three more weeks of waiting on new flooring to arrive.
I am not saying it has been a joy cooking around the ellipitical trainer in my kitchen or watching movies on a 12" television on a couch snuggled up next to the dining room table. However, the decision to pull the floor out and start over was worth it. Getting a project done right is worth the immediate inconvenience and makes living with the results more enjoyable.
In most situations, putting up with inconveniences or annoyances now usually means living with better results later. If you have ever raised teenagers, you know they can be a little annoying as they struggle to find their own way but the joy of reconnecting with your adult children is well worth the wait! Maybe that is why God puts up with us on our journey home. As he perfects us to be more like Christ along the way, we are bound to be a little annoying. By putting up with us now, He will hopefully enjoy spending eternity with us much more when we get to heaven.