I LOVE OLD STUFF!  I love that they carry stories with them.  I love that the wear and tear that they show gives them personality and shows that they were loved and enjoyed.  I love taking the ones that need some TLC and making them a thing of beauty.  I love taking the things that others have discarded or left in a garage somewhere and putting them to good use, maybe even a different use.

I wish I could show you all of the old things that I have adopted and that live with me now.  That would be way to much to post here.  But I did take a few pictures of some of the things that I have found recently….

From the top –  1.  My little antique stove that I found at the store I stage for.  (isn’t she so cute???)  2.  An old swing glider that I found at the store that Blake works at and now adorns my back porch (happy, happy!) 3.  A really antique typewriter that someone had stored in their basement for years and years.  Now on Mark’s desk.  (beautiful!) 4.  And finally, a worn leather loveseat (super good, soft leather) that I found at my store and a coffee table that was just beat up raw wood that I stained. Found it at the Goodwill.  (pretty proud of this one!)

I love restoring things and bringing them back to life so others can enjoy their beauty and purpose.  I love even more that God does that, too.  Only He does it with lives.  He takes those of us who are forgotten and shows us what we were created for.  He takes those of us who are battered and broken and works His magic in our lives to heal us and restore our beauty.  He takes the old and makes it new.  New shine.  New vitality.  New purpose.

As I was staining the table above, it seemed to come to life right before my eyes.  As it’s color changed and deepened, so did it’s “bumps and bruises”.  But that’s exactly what I love about it – as I did my work on it, it’s character came out.  The stories of its past only added to its new beauty.  And there is no other table like it in the world.  It has had its own life and life has had its way with it, marking it uniquely.  It is a thing of beauty to me that is not hidden away or discarded.  It is in the middle of the room, being used and loved and appreciated.

Isn’t it good to know that God looks at us like that, too?

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!