The Most Important Thing in Building a House

I never thought I’d be hearing a sermon in my bathroom.

I stood among the sheetrock dust and cast off nails and listened as my tile guy told me how he could not put the tile on the wall the way I envisioned. On the far right and far left of our newly constructed master bath stood our bathroom vanities – one for me and one for my husband. On the floor was some type board to go under the tile, that had been recently nailed into the subfloor. The shower was tucked in the corner and coated with red waterproofing.

My tile guy, Randy, stood in the center of the bathroom where my tub was to sit, behind him were red lasers running the length of the wall and floor to guide his tile installation. This was the wall where I dreamed of large white textured tiles running from floor to ceiling.

My husband and I are in the home stretch of building our dream home. We moved from the city to the country to build next door to my parents. My brother and his family live on the other side. Through the process there have been lots of ups and downs. I’ve learned a lot about pressure treated pine, building codes and the true meaning of “estimates.” (It means add 20% to your estimated cost and pray to God you don’t exceed it.)

Randy walked to the wall where the laser made a line parallel to the floor and measured from floor to line. Then he walked across to the opposite wall and measured again. “Yep,” he told me. “It’s 7/8th of an inch difference from one wall to the other. If you run tile all the way to the ceiling vault, you’ll be able to see that.”

Let me be straight with you. I know there are more important things in life. People starving. Those who don’t know Jesus. Too many kids in the foster system. Homelessness…just to name a few. In comparison to the big picture, me not getting tile on the wall behind my tub doesn’t even rank a blip on the radar. It’s not important.

But, it was a little disappointing nonetheless.

I stood there looking at the floor with my wary eyeball trying to see the difference in height – which I couldn’t – and imagined the framers as they put the floor down. Honestly, in this process I’ve learned how one small decision or mistake anywhere in the course of the build can alter the whole thing.

“It’s crazy how one small thing being a little bit off can affect every single thing that comes after it,” I told Randy.

From behind me, Randy’s helper, Anthony, spoke up, “It actually goes all the way back to the foundation. If your foundation isn’t right, everything in the whole house is off. The foundation is the key most important element in the whole build.”

I’m pretty certain my mouth hung open a second as I realized the sweaty, dust-covered man in front of me had preached an entire sermon in one statement.

I chuckled a little and told him, “Preach it, brother.”

You don’t have to build a house to need that important information. Your foundation– everything you believe and stand on – must be strong in order for your life not to fall down around you at the first storm.

That foundation, the building blocks of your life and who you are, must be in Jesus Christ. He alone can smooth imperfections and level out floors. Have you ever tried to put something together and realized it won’t work because you don’t have something lined up just right? It can be frustrating. But don’t give up. It’s never too late to start over with a new foundation in Christ.

And if you forget, don’t worry. Wherever you are, God will remind you – even in the bathroom.

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11 ESV