Our holy sign in the carpet

The first thing we noticed when we moved into our duplex was this burnt iron mark in the carpet.  Nothing says "Welcome to Seminary!" like evidence of human stupidity (this in turn reminds me of the time that I backed out of my garage with my car door open, but that's another blog post).

It's not even hidden away in a corner; we can't put anything over it (we've gone through so many possible solutions).  Especially after seeing other flooring in our neighbors' duplexes and that this mark is part of a 3' x 3' piece of carpet that could easily be pulled up and replaced, we were determined to march right up to the seminary's facilities department to get it taken care of (which, by the way, the staff there is very nice and hard-working).

After staring at it, side-stepping around it (because I am NOT touching it with my feet), and berating it for a couple of days, I decided to embrace it.  (If you know me, you know how difficult of a decision this was to make.)  It's a reminder of our call to be humble (I actually like the word "humility" over "humble" because it has a more negative connotation to our society and really kicks you in the gut).

Now take Phillipians 2:3:  "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."  I've always loved it because Paul tells it like it is; there's no analyzing or interpreting.  This mark in our carpet is a reminder of this call against our self-righteousness.  Yes, I know, I could just memorize the verse (I plan on it), but I've noticed that while I pass by this mark, I really mull over whether I've been putting others ahead of myself or if I'm being a brat.  It's really fun passing by it when I'm really angry because instant remorse usually follows (thanks, God).  I'm obviously a visual learner.

Now, if I can apply another one of God's lessons to our dysfunctional cold water knob (seriously, it's going to come right off one of these days), it will be a productive week.  Thank You, God, for giving your children interesting ways to remind us to be more like Christ.