In God’s hands, we are never past redemption.
This summer I spent a lot of time refinishing furniture for my daughter’s first college apartment. I have to admit, I had a blast.
There’s something amazingly therapeutic about taking something old, ugly, and seemingly past its prime, and turning it into something pretty and useful again. Old furniture tends to have a certain character about it, that you just can’t buy new at the store.
The simple years of existence, give it something unique, not to mention, it’s made much better than the newer stuff is.
I sailed through sanding and spray painting an old metal bed that belonged to my grandparents and then I moved on to cherry end tables that had belonged to my parents in a formal living room. Next, my attention went to an old wooden desk and chair.
I sanded some and primed a lot. Most of the paint I used, I already had from previous projects. Several times, I even mixed my own, with no clue what I was doing except creating a color I liked. Each piece came together better than I had hoped and I couldn’t wait to see all of my little tapestry of furniture woven together for the final product.
Then we pulled out the old dresser we were planning on using. It had been stuck in the very back of our under deck storage, for years. Unfortunately, some rats had set up shop. It was a mess and it smelled awful. I got out some bleach and went to work and even put the water hose to it, just to clean it.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure it could be saved. But, my hubby felt differently. After a thorough cleaning and lots of sunshine, he cut the bottoms of the drawers out and replaced them with new ones. I sanded, primed and painted and it looked much better.
But, the mirror was black and blotchy from age. I couldn’t fix that.
My hubby had an idea. we replaced the mirror with a memo board, so our daughter could pin up pictures. Instead of looking at herself, she would see photos of fun times with people who love her the most. For a college student, this was a much better option than a mirror. It came together beautifully.
The entire furniture experience reminded me of God’s never ending love for us. There are times when we all feel out of date, past our prime and even useless. But, God is never done with us.
He’s always in the restoration and redemption business. He can take even the most damaged among us and make us new and useful for His purposes. And just like that old mirror, when we put our lives in His hands, He can create something even better than what was original. All we need is a little faith.
Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂