Part of putting on a new roof for a home is the replacement of rotten wood underneath the finished layer, be it shingles or metal.
When you lay a new piece of plywood down to replace the damaged you nail it to the trusses below. If, when you’re nailing you miss the truss then your plywood is not anchored.
Picture this.
Peering up into the attic space from the eves outside I see a row of nails hanging as, it were, into open space next to the truss and it’s “Oh man! I’ve done wrong, acted mistakenly, screwed up. I wish I hadn’t done that. Yea I’m really sorry about this. Well ok. This can be fixed. It can’t be left as is… could it? Maybe it would be alright... No, it has to be fixed.”
So what does that mean? Well…crawl into the attic and push the useless nails back up out of the plywood and the underlayment roof covering above, going back out onto the roof, pulling the nails completely out and sealing each little dimpled hole the nail head made, striking a line on the roof directly over the truss and re-nailing the plywood, then sealing over the top of each new nail head.
Yes, I was truly sorry. And not just because of the extra, unnecessary work. But also because I know enough to have not made the mistake in the first place. But apparently…I wasn’t giving the job the attention I should have in the first place and that doesn’t sit well in my own mind. It’s a rookie mistake and I’m not a rookie. No excuse.
So the mistake is fixed. Everything back to normal… right?
Well…Standing on the peak, looking across the roof, all the underlayment is laid down like a carpet over the plywood, seams even and surface smooth for the most part. But in this one area, there are a series of sealed spots where wrongly place nails were and where new nails were driven, pockmarks on an otherwise clear finish and although the integrity of the covering is maintained and the marks will not be seen once the shingles are on, the overall job of renewing the old was marred by a mistake that required a restorative work that was costly, time-wise, physically and caused disappointment regarding my skill and performance in my mind and maybe would in the minds of others…if we don’t keep this little blunder a secret.
So my being sorry didn’t make everything ok. It got dragged out. But it works to good, because, falling short happens. It has consequences that cannot be escaped, but fixes can be made, changes can take place that can be applied and that is a good.
Does this have a parallel somewhere?
“…Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with His purpose…” Romans 8:28 CJB.
So in life, we fall short, we suffer, our record has pockmarks, we are sorry, we endure. But we can turn to the Righteous Judge Yahweh, Abba Father. He can work… all things together…for good, for our own good and possibly to be used for good in the lives of others through our experience. As we peer up into the attic of our lives and see the error, why would we not…turn to Him?
What a wonderful consolation, a comforting hope...if we so will.
God…is so Good!
Thank You, Father, that You do not cast us away when we fall short and that in the difficulty and harshness of restorations along the way, You will abide with us and form us to be, in the end, what You meant us to be, in the beginning.
Thank You that as You survey the work, the good You have worked, that what You see... is perfect.
Help us to be like You in our dealings with one another.
In Yeshua’s name we pray.
Amen.
May God’s love be in us all.
Elder.
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