A year ago we had new floors installed in our home. Part of replacing the flooring involved removing all the baseboards. When the installers removed the baseboards, they marked each of them with a number so they would know where they came from when it was time to put them back. On the final day of the project, they nailed them all back into place, except one.
In our main hallway, one baseboard was missing. I knew where it was. I had moved it into our bedroom during a previous project, and tucked it out of sight. The state of that baseboard was sad. Whoever painted it previously had used some sort of paint that was peeling off in chunks. I knew it needed to be sanded down and repainted, but it was low on the list of things to do.
As the installers finished up with the floor, I assured them not to worry about that missing baseboard and let them know we’d get around to replacing it at some point.
About a month ago, I noticed that the floor in our hallway had moved a little; the baseboard could no longer conceal the edge of the floor should we ever put it back. I reached out to the gentleman in charge of our install and asked him to come look at the floor to see what we could do. After examining it, he explained that because our floor is floating and the baseboard was missing on one side of the hall, air was getting under the floor and shifting ever so slightly over time.
So we made a plan. He would come back in a week to adjust the flooring, and I would prepare the baseboard so it could be installed.
I pulled the baseboard out of its hiding spot to examine it and realized the right thing to do would be to replace it. I ended up buying a new piece of baseboard, which my husband mitered to fit, and then I painted it. It took a couple of hours to buy, cut, and paint the wood, but then it was prepped and ready to go.
My family reflected on the baseboard and how long it had been missing from the hall. I said I thought it had been gone for maybe two years. My kids were adamant it had been much longer. They started recounting the last time they thought it had been there, and by their accounts it had been missing maybe a decade!
I couldn’t believe it. Was it possible a decade of life had passed since first noticing this baseboard needed repair? I was pretty sure I could look at old pictures and get an idea of what year the baseboard disappeared. I thought I’d be able to use the pictures as proof it hadn’t been so long.
You can see where this is going. My kids were right. They usually are. As I started skimming through pictures, I went back to 2015 and found a picture of the hall with baseboards. Then I worked my way forward in time, and a year later, in 2016, the baseboard was missing. Sometime between April 2015 and April 2016, I put that baseboard into hiding and moved on with my life. Every now and then I’d walk down the hall, think I need to take care of this, and then I’d carry on without giving it further thought.
The thing that finally made me take the time to address the baseboard was the fact that the flooring in my hall was going to continue moving if we didn’t get the baseboard installed.
The flooring guy came back as promised. He adjusted the floor and installed the baseboard in under 15 minutes.
I walked down the hall after he was done and noticed something surprising. The hall felt different. For years, my brain saw that spot where the baseboard should have been - sometimes I would notice and name that it needed to be resolved; other times I just saw it and ignored it - but I think for a decade my brain was holding space for this project. It seems silly, but the day the baseboard was reinstalled it felt like a box was checked and a tab was closed. I could feel my brain release this decade long item from my internal to do list.
It made me curious: What else have I tucked out of sight? Where else has time moved faster than I have recognized? Are there things in my journey with God that I’ve been invited to notice and name but I keep walking past, thinking I’ll get to it eventually?
I’m not sure, but I want to be willing to ask the questions.
How about you?
Is there something God’s been inviting you to notice that you keep walking past?
~ Melissa