BROKENNESS RESTORED
While some might label me as an antique collector, I simply love discovering the beauty in discarded furniture pieces and giving them a new purpose.
My love for thrifting furniture began when I left my job as a nurse to become a stay-at-home mom and needed a creative outlet. I spent hours scavenging local stores with a baby sleeping on my chest. I was struggling with postpartum anxiety and refinishing furniture helped settle my mind.
One of my favorite rooms in our home is my office because it holds an antique desk that I repurposed. I removed years of stain to reveal a beautiful, natural wood grain. Like this piece of furniture I repurposed, I believe we need to remove the layers of stain and learn to love what’s beneath.
WE EACH HAVE A STORY TO TELL.
Some of us are scratched, weathered, and covered in the equivalent of years of varnish, paint, and dust. Some of us might look in excellent shape on the outside, yet we’re rotting away on the inside. I was a lot like that—smiling and cheerful on the outside but holding in years of shame and guilt.
I’ve carried years of negative thoughts about myself. As a young adult, I went through eating disorders stemming from a deep need to please others. I was so worried about what others thought of me, I believed the lie that I was not worthy of love.
I surrendered these thoughts to God on the mountain at the Sisterhood Retreat and have slowly started the process of healing. As I drew near to God, in his faithfulness, he drew near to me as promised in James 4:8. Whether it’s taking the first step of speaking the thoughts in your head aloud or beginning therapy, our God will walk with you. His spirit lives in us, and he will help us if we accept his invitation to surrender our own ways of doing things.
I recently spent weeks working on a massive antique cabinet. I sanded tirelessly to remove the old stain, creating layers of sawdust over my once- tidy workspace. Then, I bleached the cabinet clean to get a raw and natural look. It looked stunning and simply needed to dry. But as I pushed my “finished” work into the sun, it split right down the middle and separated into two giant pieces.
I was crushed. I sat in the driveway and cried over my broken cabinet. Soon, my husband gently sat beside me. “It’s okay Amy. I have a few tools that can help fix this. We will put it back together.” In that moment my husband showed me the loving kindness of God. Rather than calling out my pride, he invited me to accept his help to repair my broken treasure. Together, we were able to restore the brokenness, and although it didn’t look exactly as it once had, it was stronger and much more secure.
Our God is truly amazing. He can remove every layer of hurt and shame. He can repair us when we break. It’s almost always messy in the process, but he will gently hold our hand through it. All we need to do is ask, and he will be there to restore us and reveal the beauty beneath so we can more fully experience his glorious love.
My love for thrifting furniture began when I left my job as a nurse to become a stay-at-home mom and needed a creative outlet. I spent hours scavenging local stores with a baby sleeping on my chest. I was struggling with postpartum anxiety and refinishing furniture helped settle my mind.
One of my favorite rooms in our home is my office because it holds an antique desk that I repurposed. I removed years of stain to reveal a beautiful, natural wood grain. Like this piece of furniture I repurposed, I believe we need to remove the layers of stain and learn to love what’s beneath.
WE EACH HAVE A STORY TO TELL.
Some of us are scratched, weathered, and covered in the equivalent of years of varnish, paint, and dust. Some of us might look in excellent shape on the outside, yet we’re rotting away on the inside. I was a lot like that—smiling and cheerful on the outside but holding in years of shame and guilt.
I’ve carried years of negative thoughts about myself. As a young adult, I went through eating disorders stemming from a deep need to please others. I was so worried about what others thought of me, I believed the lie that I was not worthy of love.
I surrendered these thoughts to God on the mountain at the Sisterhood Retreat and have slowly started the process of healing. As I drew near to God, in his faithfulness, he drew near to me as promised in James 4:8. Whether it’s taking the first step of speaking the thoughts in your head aloud or beginning therapy, our God will walk with you. His spirit lives in us, and he will help us if we accept his invitation to surrender our own ways of doing things.
I recently spent weeks working on a massive antique cabinet. I sanded tirelessly to remove the old stain, creating layers of sawdust over my once- tidy workspace. Then, I bleached the cabinet clean to get a raw and natural look. It looked stunning and simply needed to dry. But as I pushed my “finished” work into the sun, it split right down the middle and separated into two giant pieces.
I was crushed. I sat in the driveway and cried over my broken cabinet. Soon, my husband gently sat beside me. “It’s okay Amy. I have a few tools that can help fix this. We will put it back together.” In that moment my husband showed me the loving kindness of God. Rather than calling out my pride, he invited me to accept his help to repair my broken treasure. Together, we were able to restore the brokenness, and although it didn’t look exactly as it once had, it was stronger and much more secure.
Our God is truly amazing. He can remove every layer of hurt and shame. He can repair us when we break. It’s almost always messy in the process, but he will gently hold our hand through it. All we need to do is ask, and he will be there to restore us and reveal the beauty beneath so we can more fully experience his glorious love.
