Beauty in the eye

Last year, just after we arrived home from Russia with Elisha, my father-in-law, Gene, had several huge logs (trunks of oak trees he'd cut down on his property) cut into boards. I'll probably have that grammar changed soon- into the technical terms, but that's what it is in my lay man's terms....

Anywho, fast forward to the present. Those huge trunks were sawed into a large stack of lumber. My amazing father-in-law has been planing these boards down, cutting, gluing and staining and making them into new cabinets for my mother-in-law's kitchen- including a pantry area. I am sooooo impressed at what he is making- It looks like something you'd buy in Amish country.

(note: in layman's terms- planing is the process of sliding the boards through a planer- which has very sharp blades that cut off a very thin layer of wood, allowing imperfections and impurities to be cut off and the board to become more uniform, allowing it to be used. It is a messy process, creating a lot of saw dust, but when it comes out the other side- it is amazingly different. The grain seems to come out, the patina shines through and you can really begin to see what the finished product is going to look like. Of course the stain brings out the beauty even more, but the first step- and most "painful" is probably the planing.)

Elisha and I went over to Mamaw and Papaw's the other day, getting our mail and stopping by to say, "Hi!!" to Mamaw, Papaw and Aunt Paula, and we stopped by the barn to see how the cabinets were coming along. It was my first time seeing them with Papaw. A very slight occurrence happened on the way out- and that is really the subject for my thoughts today.

Just inside the door in the wood shop, there were several long very rough looking boards laying across three saw horses. I remember thinking they were really pretty rough looking and wondered where Papaw got them. As we walked out, after looking at all the cabinets, Papaw gazed lovingly at the boards and wondered out loud if I thought they were beautiful, too. I didn't know what to think at first, since my first thought had been leaning the opposite direction.

It was then that it hit me. My serendipitous moment. My little epiphany.

"Are these some of the boards you had made from the trees you cut down in your woods last year?" I queried of him about the wood in question. Even though I put that he was making the cabinets out of this wood earlier in the post, I had not, until this moment in time realized that he was making the cabinets from that lumber.

"Yes," he replied, as he reached out and patted the board.

My, oh my, but my mind wheels started turning. I realized then that the cabinets all around me, looking like an Amish work shop, with their beautiful colors and textures, were one and the same as the wood I had dismissed when I came in.

I said to my father-in-law, I guess we are like that, too, aren't we? We are pretty rough looking, gladly giving splinters to any who pass by, until the master gets hold of us. When he puts us through the planer, it may be very painful, but look at the beauty he is able to bring out of that splintery mess.

As I was thinking and pondering more on this later I had some new life comparisons. I realized that God gives us all the ability to see beauty in many things. Where others would see just the external, God allows some to see beyond that.

My father-in-law can look at a pile of lumber and see the beauty that is there waiting to be brought out- whether in a new kitchen set and cabinets, or a grandfather clock, or dressers or something else he has in mind. I have seen the beauty he has been able to bring out.

Another example I immediately thought of was how my Mom and my mother-in-law (and so many other talented sewers I know) can look at a pile of scraps, and instead of seeing refuse, they see the beauty they can create from that seeming mess into amazing quilts, full of color and life.

I talked to a close friend the other day who is a professional photographer. I asked her what she liked the best about photography- the taking of pics- developing, editing, etc. Her answer is still something I think of. She likes showing the finished product to the people she's taken pictures of. Why? Because she prays she can capture the beauty in the moment, and show them some beauty from the inside, possibly changing perceptions and giving hope and a deeper appreciation for the beauty God's given them. (I'm totally paraphrasing this- but I think that's what she meant.) She sees the beauty in the quiet moments, the hope shining through eyes sharing their joy. She tries to capture that life and love shining through so the person radiating can catch a glimpse of themselves as others see them.

Thank you God for giving us the ability to see in others what you see in them. Allow us the privilege of seeing the beauty you have for them and can make of them in your time. Thank you for taking the time to find the beauty in our raggedness and refine us to be shining examples of you!!!