Reclaimed Furniture

I woke up to sunshine at 6:15 this morning--thought I had died and gone to heaven. The temperature is not expected to reach 70 today, but that is okay. Cool and sunny beats cool and gray any day. So my friends, before I go outside and tackle a project, I will write about the up-coming task. I think that is called procrastination.

Yesterday I spent an hour dancing with my broom and shovel around the concrete slab the hot tub used to rest on.. All the dirt, moss, weeds in the cracks, nails from the roofing project a couple years ago, and pieces of Styrofoam from the hot tub are gone now. All that is left to finish the project is a little pressure washing.

Today this area will be transformed into a lovely sitting area. As soon as this post is written, I will grab a pail of hot soapy water, some rags and sponges, an old toothbrush, and head outside. I have two old, grungy-white lounge chairs, two small foot stools (or tables--take your pick) and a round, grungy-white patio table that should clean up fairly well. They have been sitting around my place, unattended, for over five years.

The lounge chairs were by the fire pit keeping the encroaching blackberries company. The foot stools (tables) were hiding in the tall grass by the now-departed hot tub, and in the side yard was the round table. I occasionally placed food on it for the birds--bread crusts, apple cores, watermelon rinds, etc.

These reclaimed items will soon grace my new sitting area. Will I use it? That remains to be seen. That area does get the late afternoon sun, and is protected from winds blowing from the north, east, and south, but the cold west wind is another story. There is no protection from that direction. At least  it could be very pleasant on calm days, and the furniture will be reclaimed.

I love the idea of "reclaimed". Let me make an analogy here. My lounge chairs, at one time beautiful and serving the purpose they were created for, fell into disuse, were ignored, and finally forgotten. Blackberry vines were beginning to hold them captive, and weeds were growing through the slats. Slugs have crawled over them, and mud from incessant winter rain had built up wherever it could. Those chairs had become a sight for sore eyes. Some would even say, "Toss them out."

They may be scarred. They may be stained. They may be far from beautiful. But they can be cleaned and again serve the purpose they were made for.

That is what God does for us. There are those who are ensnared by addictions, fears, and pride. There are those who are covered by the slime of the world they live in. Others have had so much pounding rain in their lives they are covered with mud that seems impossible to get off. Sadly, we, as people, tend to ignore "those types".

Thankfully, God doesn't ignore them. He does all he can to free them from their snares and rescue them from their slimy worlds. He can clean off caked mud as no one else can. Yes, they may be scarred and stained, but they can still serve the purpose he made them for.

That being said, I think most of us picture people sleeping on the streets, eating in rescue missions, and doing drugs as the ones I've been talking about. But it also includes those who have homes, jobs, educations, and everything else society says we need. We also need to be rescued and cleaned up.

I will use soap and hot water to reclaim my furniture. God used his own blood. to reclaim me.

Cleaning up while being cleaned up,
Jan