Rescue and Restore
New Creations
Rags to riches
Trash to treasure
Broken pieces
Shattered lives
RESTORATION
Before & After
1 Samuel 16:7 – For the Lord sees not as Man sees, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
2Corinthians 5:17 – therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!
It has been my pleasure to work with the kids in the past—months on some projects. We often receive donations of furniture. Some of the furniture is in good condition and other pieces have been discarded because they are flawed or their owner didn’t recognize the value or potential of the item. These have become some of my favorite pieces. With some sanding, stain, paint, knobs, patterns, and embellishments of all sorts we can make these pieces look like new.
We can parallel our lives with these unwanted pieces. Frequently we, and the kids we love here at Show-Me, feel inadequate, flawed beyond repair, unwanted, and hopeless. We fail to meet the expectations of others or the expectations of ourselves. We see ourselves as the world sees us, never measuring up.
At the beginning of the projects, the students look at their pieces, thinking, how is this ever going to look like anything that someone would actually want? Sometimes there is a stripping process that the furniture must go through before anything else can be done. This is often the case with people as well. When what we believe about ourselves is firmly attached to our identity, those beliefs must be stripped away before we can believe the truth about who we are, our value and our potential.
As the students set to work sanding and painting and adding personal touches, they begin to see it for more. They recognize the beauty beneath the rough exterior. Smiles take over their faces as they see hope for their rescued piece. They look at their creation with pleasure as they compare the drastic difference between before and after.
I am thankful that our Creator looks at us and sees more than we see. I am glad the things others have said about me and believe about me pale in comparison to what the God of the universe says and believes about me. He created us, who we are, for His exact purpose, and we no longer live in the confines of what used to be. We are a new creation. The old has gone and the new is here!
Broken pieces…changing our brokenness into a masterpiece.
Belinda Smith, houseparent.
