A friend was making a chalkboard for my daughter. She would put on vinyl letters that would be permanent, but my daughter could write certain details in chalk, then update it often. We had chosen a cute chalkboard with a metal frame. It was going to look great.
Until it didn’t.
Danielle first identified the potential problem when she peeled off the price sticker. A bit of the chalkboard came off, too. She then prepared and applied the vinyl, which pulled off much more of the chalkboard surface. Apparently it wasn’t a chalkboard at all – just a piece of metal painted with chalkboard paint. And it didn’t adhere well.
Sometimes something looks great on the surface but isn’t prepared well. If the foundation isn’t sound, it becomes fairly useless. Of course, it can be repurposed, but what we thought would happen would not and could not.
Look beneath the surface, especially as you grow and prune and build your life. Keep the foundation as pure as possible, humbled for God to use how he knows is good and purposeful.
(And by the way, Danielle worked her magic on a more sound foundation. She does phenomenal work!)