What was the most challenging remodeling job you ever tackled? I know, just thinking about it brings back nightmares about the struggles, problems and trials of your renovation experience. After months of crying, wanting to pull your hair out or just finding a place to scream, you look back on the journey with a sigh of relief and say “It was worth it.” Summertime always reminds me of my most challenging renovation project of all time. My sister and I grew up in the country and spent a majority of our childhood on our Grandmother’s farm. Without the modern conveniences of cells phones, the internet, cable television, electronics and such, we filled our time with very creative things. You see, country girls are not afraid of bugs or strange crawling critters. We seldom wear shoes because we would rather feel the grass between our toes. And we don’t mind getting our hands dirty. Because of our fearless approach to fun, we undertook the project of a lifetime.

Grandma had a huge, two-room chicken coop on the farm. When I was very little, I helped Grandma collect eggs from the hen house. I remember the little silver wire basket I used for collection. Sometimes the eggs were still warm to the touch as we invaded a nesting hen. Many years had passed since the coop had been used for its original purpose. So, with much summertime on our hands and an innovative idea, we decided to renovate the chicken coop and make a playhouse out of the building. And, why not? It was just sitting there waiting for something unique to happen.

So with our brilliant idea, the challenge began. With our shovels and brooms, we hauled hay, straw, dirt and chicken poop (Hope it is ok to say that. Sorry to offend, but I must paint you a very accurate picture of the project) for days on end from the hen house. We worked from daylight to dark. At the end of each day, we were filthy from head to toe, but delighted with our progress. After several days of hard work the moment came when all the “yuck” was out and we did one final sweep. Now that the floors were cleared, the coop was ready for some good stuff.

We invaded Grandma’s house and hauled all kinds of things into the chicken coop. One could not possibly pull off this transformation from coop to house without the proper accessories and household furniture. What I loved about Grandma was that nothing was too valuable in her sight. So upon completion of the cleaning phase, Grandma allowed us free reign and we carted out whatever we wanted from the farmhouse to the coop, excuse me, our house.

The room on the far left of the coop was a small, narrow room that contained wooden bins for the chickens to roost and lay eggs. For some reason an old iron stove was stored in that room, so naturally this room was perfectly designed to become our kitchen. The stove was absolutely perfect for the preparation of our mud pies and other imaginary dinners we would prepare. The bins were perfect for sorting and storing our pots, pans, plates and other essential kitchen items. Somehow, we found an old refrigerator in one of the barns. We hauled that in to our kitchen and it was perfect for storing our “salad greens” – a collection of leaves and beans from the trees. We kept vases with fresh wildflowers in the window sills and the kitchen was accessorized with rugs and tables and chairs. You name it, our kitchen was equipped.

The large room was a bit more challenging for us because we had to find a way to make it the living area, a bedroom and a bathroom. Yes, you heard me correctly, a bathroom. Seems there was an old commode in one of the barns. We hauled that in, although we never really put it to “real” use if you know what I mean. The living room boasted a couch, a coffee table, and pictures on the walls and curtains on the windows. We even had a bed set up on one end of the room. We sectioned the bedroom and bathroom off with long curtains. We even ran extension cords from the main house to the coop, so we had electricity! Let me just tell you, when we got finished, that place was a showcase. We were so proud of the house we created. It took enormous amounts of work to pull off this project, but in the end, we created something that was the talk of the county. We played in our house every single day that summer. Our friends would join us and we had adventures of a lifetime with our imaginations and creative ideas. I wouldn’t trade those days for a thousand high tech gadgets. Just give us our bikes, our bare feet, the breeze of a warm summer day, special friends and the freedom to dream and we had the world by the tail.

This project brought to mind the concept of cleaning, but not in the general house cleaning sense. I’m talking about cleaning up our hearts and lives. More specifically, how do we clean up our heart to make room for the One who comes in to dwell when we accept Him as Lord of our lives? The Bible is clear that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” – Jeremiah 17:9. So by nature our hearts are filled with chicken coop yuck. This cleaning up process demands a professional and not a representative from Merry Maids or even my sister and me, the chicken coop experts. No, only a Holy God can cleanse the heart. One key element is critical, we have to open the door and let Him in to do the work.

Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” The word clean in the Hebrew means pure. By definition it means in a physical, chemical, ceremonial or moral sense, pureness; to be right, sound, clear, unadulterated, uncontaminated, innocent, holy, cleanse, purge or purify. We are talking about a DEEP cleaning. Not the surface kind of cleaning that you do quickly when you are preparing for last minute or unexpected guests. We are talking about the kind of back breaking cleaning, the process of daily shoveling the muck and yuck out of our lives. There were awful things we shoveled out of that chicken coop. It took us days and sometimes we just wanted to stop because it was so bad. But we never quit.

The primary Hebrew word Tohar meaning purification comes from the Hebrew root word Tuw meaning to “sweep away.” To clean the heart means “to sweep away,” to literally take a broom and sweep. Our hearts (all of who we are) begin like the inside of that chicken coop – dirty, filthy, and filled with a stench we can’t even describe. And then, when we accept Him as Redeemer and Lord, Jesus comes to live in our hearts. We must then allow Him to do a work, one that doesn’t happen overnight. We have to, in His strength, do our part, pick up the broom and get to work. Cleaning up your heart will be the most challenging renovation project you will ever encounter. But Luke 15:10 tells us that “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner changes his heart and life.” And, then, your heart, your life – all of who you are – becomes a beautiful place fit for company…no, not just for company, but for a permanent resident.