Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
I made a resolution a few months ago to watch less television. I did allow myself to watch a handful of my favorite shows. On Mondays it’s Keifer Sutherland’s 24. On Sundays, it’s ABC’s Extereme Makeover: Home Edition.
Once in a while I watch Grey’s Anatomy or House. I only do so when I really have nothing else to do. But there’s no way in the world I’ll miss Extereme Makeover.
Earlier tonight, I was reading a magazine when I instinctively I looked at the clock and learned that it was 6 o’clock. I rushed down and fumbled for the remote control. I was just in time. Ty Pennington was just about to ring the Py family’s doorbell and change their lives forever.
You see Grandpa and Grandma Py had been through a lot. Their daughter recently died from breast cancer. A year before that, their daughter’s husband died from a ruptured aneurysm. The deceased couple left their three children behind and Grandpa and Grandma Py decided to take care of them.
Their house was not exactly ready for three children. It was old and run down. Their oldest grandchild had to stay in a dirty and smelly basement. The old lead-based paint was crumbling and the floor had asbestos. This was however the least of their problems. How will a couple, on the last chapter of their lives, feed three young children and fend for them? Their luck has run out. Or so they thought.
Ty Pennington, with a crew of cameramen, rang the doorbell. With his megaphone, he hollered, “Good morning Py family” and proceeded to tell them that their house will receive a makeover. Grandpa and Grandma Py jumped for joy because they knew their luck had changed.
The Py family was sent off to a vacation while the ABC crew proceeded to demolish the house and create a new one from scratch.
I am always amazed at how people can build a house in just six days. And to think that they are not just building plain vanilla houses. The show is called Extreme Makeover for a reason.
Ty and his crew proceeded to build a grand house. The oldest grandson liked playing basketball so they created a special room for him. With a push of a button, his bed and cabinets disappear. His room transforms into a miniature basketball court and he can dribble away without any fear of breaking something. How crazy is that?
The Py family got a house that they never would have imagined in their wildest dreams. But there was more! The Drexel University’s dean told them that all three grandchildren were awarded college scholarships. Finally, the builder told Grandpa and Grandma Py that they raised $150,000 to pay for their old mortgage.
I cried with Grandma Py. It was just so overwhelming to watch such a great act of generosity.
I just love watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. But more than enjoying the techinical details of building a house or getting lovely ideas from great designers, I love watching the show because it always reminds me of how blessed I am. No one has given me a free house and I do have to pay my own mortgage. But the show reminds me of how generous God is to me.
Like the Py family, I do not deserve God’s countless blessings — I am imperfect and I often stumble. But day in and day out, God’s blessings keep coming. And a lot of times, his generosity is overwhelming.
Not only does God bless me, he blesses me in a way that is, for lack of a better word, out of this world.
Please excuse me but do I have to go. It’s been a long day and I have to rest. Tomorrow is Monday and my work awaits me. But I imagine being woken up by the doorbell. I will still be in my jammies when I answer the door. Waiting outside is one of the Lord’s angels holding a megaphone hollering “Good morning Rayala family!”
