The Willy Wonka Factory and Other Life Facades

Not far from my front door looms this creative building.  My family and I affectionately call it "The Willy Wonka Factory" because we are - goofy.  However, it is formally called the Spittelau Waste Incineration Plant.  It's our cities way of sprucing up our waste behind ... art.  In fact, famous architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser created this colorful structure.  To read more, click on this:  More About Our Beautiful Waste Treatment Plant 

When it's all said and done, it's a facade.  The plant, beautiful and oddly artistic, is nothing more than a canvas in which to hide a waste, recycling and disposal system behind.

Today as I walked toward my Willy Wonka Factory, I was struck by this thought:  Aren't we all a little like my factory?  Let me expound a little, after all, it's my blog.  That's what I do.  

Looking good on the outside, falling apart on the inside?  OK, maybe not falling apart, but certainly not doing as good as the outer appearance or Facebook photos would suggest!  Authenticity is often seen as weakness.  No one wants to be a Debbie Downer - not even Debbie.  We pull it all together, we tie it all up nicely and parade it all around social media that our lives matter, have no worries, and look good in a 2 x 2 profile picture!

Let me just say, that as people who say we trust Jesus to be the captain of our lives, we do this the best ... Sunday best in fact!  But if I'm honest, I can't begin to tell you the times I walked into a church service feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders and in my heart only to grab the mask I kept hidden in a glove compartment ready to put on in a moments notice.  All is well.  I love Jesus. Life is good.

Here's the kicker.  Real people will feel a little like my Willy Wonka Factory.  There may be some waste that's going through the pipes.  For me, I'm dealing with an issue that I just don't know what to do with (and it's not anxiety.  Been there - done that!).  It's deeply personal.  It's lasted a really long time - years, in fact.  I'm kinda at the end of asking God to do something about it because frankly, I haven't seen Him answer my prayers.  I'm a little hurt.  I'm a little confused.  But - I choose to hold on and wait on Him and in Him.  The Holy Spirit strengthens me with all the hubris I need.  God's Word challenges me to trust His heart.  I don't like how this feels but time and track records have proven that God - alone - will answer.

I'm honest about the factory feeling.  But I'm not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes - especially my own.  Loving Jesus and trusting God means that in the middle of the Willy Wonka Factory days, we have what we need to make a beautiful work of art right smack dab in the middle of the waste.  That's what He does - out of ashes comes beauty; out of death comes life; out of the ugly comes the radiant.  I know that the factory is not my home.  He didn't call me to live behind a facade, but to live in a place of strength to strength.  The Willy Wonka Factory is not my home - it's a feeling.  If I choose to embrace the feeling as truth, the factory becomes my home.  But, as for me, I'm choosing to hold on for the better place.  The place where He knows my heart better than I do.  It's not a place with an address.  It's tucked inside.  It's that place where peace dwells.  Even though I can spy the artwork on the facade or hear the grind of the factory wheels, I'm OK.  I know in whom I have placed my trust.

Creating Art,

Christina