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EN(dur)ANCE by Robin Gudal

The Gudal household is in a remodel season, our kitchen. This generation would call my kitchen vintage. My grandpa Lewy was an antique wheeler and dealer, so there is a bit of “keeping” the old in me. Having said that, an update is desired, with a tad of sentimentally — wallpaper. We have taken off several layers of the vinyl ’70s-themed paper. Thankfully, that came off very easy with only a bit of pull pressure. Wowzah; the whole area in one big section. Then, the wall paper. The first layer (likely a pricey and big project) from the late ’50s unfortunately wasn’t prepared correctly and adhered directly to the sheetrock. We have known this since we purchased the house 30-plus years ago, and we have ignored the project as we knew the commitment it would take. We’ve spent hours (I mean hours!) on only a small section, and we have five areas to remove. It is not for the faint of heart. It is a commitment; no going back! My desire is to remove it all, have a smooth surface and put a fresh layer of crisp white paint where for over 50 years layers have covered the original wall.

Hard stuff! My hubs, Greggy, grew up on a dairy farm, and they crop farmed — the country life. He knows how to do hard work. I grew up in town, also inherited a strong work ethic, but my hard work looked different than his world. Having a strong work ethic, you know there are times “the project” just isn’t fun in the moment, but you will see growth and fruit eventually. 

Recently I had a “push through it” season in life. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. He is my only hope. That was my focus. I am thankful for the history of knowing how to do hard things. The following are lyrics of “His Name is Jesus” by Phil Wickham: 

“The King is in the room. Come see the scars of love upon his hands. We’ll watch the darkness flee at his command. Who is this King? His name is Jesus. Light of the world. There’s freedom in his name. Awesome in power. Reigning forever. Light of the world. There’s freedom in his name. The healer’s in the room. Let miracles break out across this place. No soul beyond the boundaries of his grace, there’s resurrection power in his name. His name is Jesus. There’s never been a love so great

He died so we could live. Then he rose up from that grave. Forever belongs to him. He reigns in victory. His name is Jesus

I pray you’ve not missed the old wall paper analogy in this. Here’s to new, fresh paint in our spiritual lives. 

Robin Gudal is intentional in life, a wife, momma, nana, friend and a flawed and imperfect follower of Jesus.