To set the stage, we are garbage picking people. Growing up my parents were always dragging different things home and refinishing them, so naturally I too am a garbage lover. Wait, what did I just say? Yes I am Dumpster Diver Dave's daughter (a nickname they gave my dad a long time ago). Thankfully my husband is all on board with it when I drag other peoples trash home and turn it into a treasure.
So One day my husband was out driving and happen to see that a church near us had put up a new playground, and naturally they had taken down the old cedar one and left it by the curb. Wahooo.. that could only mean one thing. They were throwing the old one away, and we were bringing all that cedar wood home with us. If I could only know what our neighbors thought, or think of us. Maybe it is best left unknown. So as ghetto as we are the truck was full of old playground boards, nuts, bolts, nails, screws all in it and some still assembled together.
It took a few days to disassemble all of it and to take out the nails, and screws. The wood was old, sun bleached, scratched and worn from years of play. After we took out all the sharp and dangerous parts and turned it into more wood we then disinfected and pressured washed each board. That was a days project in itself. But I am a tiny bit of a clean freak, so there was no way I was let any of the nastiness on the wood stay around.
After the boards dried we stacked them in the garage not knowing what we wanted to build with it. Sadly it sat there for a few years as life got busy and there were other project demands, like a whole bathroom remodel due to a leak. We won't talk about that right now through. So after it sitting there for a few years, I finally had an idea of what I wanted to do with the wood... build a giant dining room table.
We got to work, or I should say my husband really got to work. He gets the credit for being the handy and creative one. I usually just come up with the vision and explain it to him, he is the one who carries it out. We're a really great team!
After lots of work and many hours I finally had a beautifully dining room table to sit around and enjoy friends at. I love all the imperfections in the boards. Each board worn differently and weather in its own unique way. I can't help but wonder as I sit at it what the worn marks are from, and I think of how so many children over the years had fun on the playground and now we get to sit around the table and enjoy it but in a different way. The was completed just in time for a baby shower brunch that I threw for one of my dear friends. Here are a few pictures of the completed table for the shower.
Just all that to say, you never know what you can turn other peoples garbage into. Just like Christ looks at you and sees you for who you are, and He highly values you. You might feel like you have been left for garbage, but God sees you and loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His son Jesus for you, just so that He can have a relationship with you. God has a plan for you and for your life. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
-Joyfully a new creation in Christ
***And just so you know, our table never looks this good on a day to day basis. Being real, it typically has mail, lap tops, cups and whatever else we are working on all over it. Just so you know, we are real people too.
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