Potential

We went in Menards this past weekend.

Menards is one of my favorite stores. It is full of so many interesting things.

There’s lights and decorative fixtures on display. Near the entrance a bank of ceiling fans spin near a rack of radios and flashlights. There’s showers and toilets, sinks and windows all on display.

Tools. There are aisles and aisles of tools. You can find saws, drills, drivers and hammers of every kind.

You want flooring? There’s carpet (indoor and outdoor), laminate, tile, linoleum (rolls and peel & stick squares) and hardwood.

There’s the section with the windows and doors all on functioning display. You can open a door to another door to another door. You can lift a brand new window for a great view of the appliance section.

The appliance section!

Counter top ranges, double stacked wall ovens, side-by-side refrigerators, freezer on bottom refrigerators, dishwashers, front loading washing machines and dryers all on display for the eager consumer.

Don’t get me started on the paint section.

Thousands of swatches producing seemingly endless color possibilities.

There is a touch screen in the paint section that could entertain for hours. You choose a photograph from several in their archives of a room in a house. You can then touch the screen on a color palette and the computer will “repaint” the room in the color of your choice to give you an idea of what the pain would look like on a wall.

Menards is a wonderful way to spend an evening.

One thing that has always amazed me, every time I go to Menards, is the potential that is sitting on their shelves.

Inside that simple home improvement superstore are entire homes just waiting to be built. Every nail and two by four, every inch of carpet and tile, every piece of drywall and every shingle necessary to build a dream house is actually under their roof and on their shelves.

All the material you would need, and all the tools to build it, are in the store. Not just in theory. It’s not as if it can be ordered and you could pick it up there. It’s all actually there! Every time you walk through Menards sliding glass doors every ounce of paint and pound of screws is in the store.

Furthermore, once the house was built, they carry the furnishings, appliances and decorations to finish it off with practicality and style.

It’s all there just waiting for someone to purchase it and someone to build it.

A visit to Menards is an encounter with amazing potential.

I can think of a few other encounters that carry potential.

Every time I am privileged enough to stand in front of a group of young people I get the same feeling I get when I walk in Menards. I see raw potential.

When I walk into church I feel the same way. There is raw potential.

Everything is there. Anything is possible.

Not just in theory. It’s actually there.

Every ounce of peace and pound of joy is waiting for someone to get it and take it home.

Potential.