March 21 – “Spatial Relations”

Remember those tests you used to have to take where they showed you an odd shape followed by four or five other odd shapes?  Then you had to figure out which of the group was the same as the first one.  It was Sesame Street on steroids.  I think it was to prepare you for geometry or something.  Anyway, I have always hated those tests.  I never did well on them.  And I certainly could never figure out what the point was.  How would anyone ever have a use for such a dumb test?   Today I found out.  Those tests were made for - and no doubt by … sheetrockers.  Chris and I set a goal for today to finish two closets.  That's all.  Just two closets.  How hard could it be?  We started out great.  In fact, I got one piece done while we were waiting for Josh's church folks to arrive this morning.  They wanted to see our house, take a picture with us, then do a tour of the "stranded in time on the day after the hurricane" house next door.  I think they had a learning experience.   But back to our "spatial relations" final exam.  We got three more pieces screwed in fairly easily.  I for one was feeling pretty good about myself.  Kind of like Mike and Cory feel about the new lights they put up at the church.  They look great, guys.  Then we started on the next one.  The odd shaped one that looked perfectly square to me.  Except I forgot to account for the sloping ceiling.  That meant the line at the top was not really straight, even though it appeared to be.  That explained why there was a half inch gap in the top corner.  So we marked a line and I did the trim job while Chris went to Randalls for a bathroom break.  I figured I'd have it nailed up and be cutting the next one by the time she got back.  Except when I held it up, the gap was now more like an inch and a half.  I turned it every way I could, and nothing fit.  There was no "Spatial relation" of any kind.  When Chris got back we both tried.  I drew pictures on the wall.  I tried to cut smaller pieces.  They didn't fit either.  My eyes began crossing.  Things weren't looking so good for us reaching our goal.  In fact, things were looking better and better for calling our contractor and telling him we were as done as we were going to get.  That still sounds like a great plan to me.  But Chris wants us to sleep on it.  I want to call the guys from Arlington and beg them to come back.    Job 26:7-10 says, "He spreads out the northern [skies] over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.  He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.   He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.  He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness."   Father, that's some spatial relations.  Wow.  Amen.