Habits

 

I have been working on bookcases for our school library out in my driveway.  After I cut the pieces, I painted them on one side and one edge and then let them dry before I could paint the other side.  With isolated showers that we have been having lately, I must bring them inside to dry overnight.  So, when I carry the long side pieces, I open the outside door and the inside door into the basement to carry the long pieces in.  But when I carry the short shelf pieces, I carry them with one hand (like a waiter carrying a serving platter) and open and shut the doors with the other hand.  Keeping the doors closed is a habit that I developed when I was young.  Well actually, my dad developed the habit in me.  He would say (in a stern voice), “Shut that door behind you!  You’re not living in a barn!”  And at 75 years old, I still hear my dad’s voice ringing in my ears.  But, as you can see from the picture, the outside door is useless to shut since I have the two garage doors open while I am working!  I have to fight the habit to shut the door.  And really, it’s a good habit to cultivate.  Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”