The bible is full of stories of revelation; it even devotes an entire book to them. In February, the First Church of God in Paragould, Ark., had a revelation of its own and, while it was not of biblical magnitude, it required hard work and an element of faith.
Earlier this year, Pastor Kevin Edgar decided the carpet in his church needed to be replaced. When he and some volunteers began tearing up the tattered covering, they revealed a hardwood floor underneath, and they decided they would refurbish the hardwood instead of covering it again. That's when Edgar asked professional floor man Richard Wall to help out. Wall, who has attended the church for the past six years, feels indebted to the church for helping him overcome addictions to methamphetamine and alcohol.
"I've been in flooring all my life, and I love doing floors," Wall said. "There's nothing more rewarding. Now that I have gotten my life back thanks to the church, everything I try to do, I try to do in God's will."
Wall and a crew of other volunteers helped Edgar hand-scrape the old carpet glue off the wood floor, and then Wall spent two days sanding it flat. Next came two coats of polyurethane finish, and today the floor is well equipped to handle the footsteps of the church's parishioners.
While the church was getting its makeover, Wall saw the project as an effort to further his own life's makeover. "With wood flooring, you strip off the old and go down to the bare foundation," Wall said. "From there, you go through the proper processes to get to your finished product. You can't miss any steps, and you can't cut any corners. You have to have patience, and you have to have faith that what you're doing is the right thing to do."
