On a recent visit to Texas I had the privilege to see the creations of Chip and Joanna Gaines. If you have not heard of them they had a show called “Fixer Upper” that became very popular. They would take old rundown homes in Waco, Texas area and fix them up for new homebuyers.
As I was perusing the Gaines’ Magnolia store, I noticed a man looking at some small Christmas trees on a shelf. I had been curious about how much they cost, so when I saw this man chuckle looking at them, I asked why he was laughing. He then asked me if I thought the little Christmas trees looked like repurposed bottlebrushes and that they were $10.00 each. I responded, “I bet you wish you would have thought of that idea.”
We laughed and he said he thought many of the items in the store were quite expensive. I immediately replied, “Don’t you think this is about more than a store and Christmas trees? This property that Chip and Joanna have designed with old rusty silos, beautiful gardens, food trucks and community areas is an experience. We are paying for an experience.” Then I asked him if he was a Christian and he said yes.
My next comment to him was a clarifying question for both of us. “Do you think we have lost the inspiration to create environments that allow us to experience God?” He seemed to awaken by my comment and we both agreed.
I went to Waco to experience what I had been learning about Chip and Joanna — the stories they are telling and the beauty they are creating. The man I met saw bottle brushes, not Christmas trees. He saw the high prices and missed the bigger vision: The experience created for us by Chip and Joanna.
God has a vision for each of us: To experience so much more than Chip and Joanna’s silos and gardens (although those are awesome). This vision is found in majestic moments of experiencing God Himself thus creating spaces for this experience. But if we are not awake to unimagined possibilities, we might only see the cost and miss the bigger story.
God is the ULTIMATE fixer-upper of our souls. We place our lives in His hands and we go to Him to experience majesty. When we do this, day after day, He takes the old rundown places of our soul and creates experiences that only He can.
