This girl that I don't even know said it so perfectly:
"I'm excited to see what God has for tomorrow...how he redeems the brokenness all around me into something far more beautiful than what I ever thought to ask Him for..."
This idea of redeeming what is broken...has been coming up all around me recently. A song I heard in the car today:
"So lay down the sword
And put away the doctrine
Love a little more, love a little more
‘Cause everybody’s broken..."
And something Bev said to me awhile ago...She had just finished pointing out a character issue I have...and, knowing that I'm a mel-head, she qualified her observation with another piece of wisdom that I've held in my pocket ever since: "Don't go to the opposite extreme, now...God doesn't want to change your tendency, He wants to redeem it..."
This reminds me of Craig's stepfather, Jim. He's an ordinary man. Vietnam veteran, a pretty rough-around-the-edges guy. He was the one who taught Craig "guy" things as a kid. How to fix a car, etc. He's retired now, and one of his favorite hobbies is picking up discarded machinery from the side of the road and fixing it up in his garage. Everytime we visit, there's a new piece of soon-to-be-revitalized junk in the garage: a washing machine, a tractor, a lawnmower, etc. Every time Craig and I are driving and we see someone's discarded refrigerator (or whatever) by the side of the road, Craig will say, "We should take that. Jim would fix it."
I guess this is kind of like God's business--it's what he's all about: buying back our broken, garage-sale junk (this who-would-ever-want-this-piece-of-crap-broken-toaster-but-I'm-going-to-put-a-price-on-it-and-see-what-happens junk)...and somehow, miraculously, magically, wonderfully, turning it into something beautiful. That's the business God is in. I don't get it, but it makes me so glad, because I'm one of those broken things that he's bought and is in the process of turning into something worthwhile.
Thanks, Jesus.
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2 comments:
Wow... I wish I had half as many deep thoughts as you. My grandfather was very similar to Jim. Grandpa's favorite pasttime upon retiring was to go to auctions, buy stuff, and then take it to the flea market and sell it. He did this every week for years. Grandpa sometimes fixed things up. Some of his favorite fixer-uppers were those old metal Red Rider wagons. He'd strip the paint off, repaint them, get new wheels, and even outfitted a few with canopies. He made a lot of money off those and was very proud of it. I wish I had one of those red wagons for Addy.
Wow. Thanks, Jesus. And thanks, Erin.
Maybe it's time for my "summer hiatus" to be over. I'm not sure I have words yet, though...can I borrow a few of yours till I get my pump primed? :-)
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