From Junk to Crunk

So we bought a house recently, and in the process, the woman selling the home kept putting her old furniture and other things in the ditch. We told her just to leave what she wanted, and we would see to it, but she just kept putting stuff in the ditch. And in turn, my mom and I just kept taking stuff out of the ditch and putting it in our truck to take home and make new.

We've had a great time re-doing some pieces from the ditch, and today, I did one all by myself...well, almost. I cleaned it, sanded it, and then got to painting. Somewhere during the hours of painting, my husband came to the rescue and helped me through, but ultimately, I took something that was junk and made it well...you know it's coming...CRUNK!

Seriously though, it was kind of crazy to me that I was able to take something that had been cast out due to its dreadful condition and restore it to its rightful and wonderful character. So why blog about it? Because it reminded me of what Christ has done for us.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20

Wow. I am so glad that Jesus (whose earthly father just happened to be a carpenter) took me (*takes me) out of that ditch (my sin) and gave me new life. I'm so glad He didn't come by (or down to earth) and say, "Wow, you are so not worth this!" But instead, He loved us even though we hated Him; He died for us even though we killed Him; He rose again even though we doubted Him; and He made a way for us to the Father even though we rejected Him. Jesus looked past the condition of our hearts and saw the potential for His Father to be praised through us, and so He took us, restored us, renewed us and gave us a new life that we might give Him and the Father all the glory.

Yup, that piece of furniture is about to be moved into the house and it'll be a conversation piece. It'll stand out, it'll be commented on, it'll be loved by many. And yet it used to lie in a ditch, waiting for the trashman, getting rained on, and not being seen by anyone.

Thank you Lord for picking me out of the ditch. For looking past my sin and seeing who I was created to be in You. Thank you for new life.

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Col.1:13-14