One by one. Ever so carefully. We stacked the pieces with fingers crossed.

The tower stood tall, having occupied me, a teenage helper, and several nursery kiddos for most of our time together.

All it took was one wide-eyed, deviously grinning four-year-old. He slipped through our grasp, and, with one swift kick, it all came tumbling down.


Months. It took months to build those set pieces. Weeks and weeks with entire evenings dedicated to planning, painting, and assembling before the big performances. Most of us in the cast and crew were over the moon with excitement and a sense of accomplishment.

Then came “strike.” That’s what demolition day was called in my theatre group.

In a matter of hours, all that work was undone.


Prayer and Google lined the road God paved. With limited time, we’d carefully and nervously pieced together our plans. It was only months before that someone else’s plans determined our original expectations wouldn’t come to fruition.

So, we were trying again. The job was accepted. Paperwork signed. Moving truck loaded and driven 1000+ miles. I had the signed lease in my hand.

She had a different, unsigned lease in hers, and a manipulative smile as she demanded more money than we could pay. Homeless in a new state, all our plans were in shambles. Again.


The speaker’s topic at the college event was friendship. She told her listeners about the friendships she’d had over the years. Many were rich, warm, and personal. But in time, some ended. Friends she’d spent her days with, even lived with, were now a part of the past.

As a student just beginning to think about graduation and next steps, I hadn’t thought about that. Many friendships are for seasons. Today, I only keep in touch with a handful of the multitude of friends I talked to all the time back then.

Realizing how easily and quickly friendships grow apart after so long growing together seemed earth-shattering at the time.


Tedious stacks, love-labored projects, prayed-over plans, pined-over friendships. Things we build into are dismantled more easily than we think.

[bctt tweet=”Fragility in this world can make us feel unstable. Change can feel like sinking sand. But there is joy, hope, and confidence for those whose foundation is Christ.” username=”PatHolbrook @BethanyMcIlrath”]

There is no dismantling salvation. No one can shatter grace. No force or blow or wandering can separate Christ from those who belong to Him.

So, though our work caves, though plans sway, though friendships fade, though expectations give away, we know that our foundation is sure.

[bctt tweet=”Because Christ is building us, we can keep building with confidence.” username=”PatHolbrook @BethanyMcIlrath”]

{A version of this post was previously published here.}


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