I love junk. Always have. Nothing is cooler than seeing something that nobody wanted anymore turned into something cool…..and reusable. It’s the latest craze and I’m totally caught up in it. I have always said that I almost feel like no new buildings should be built until we use up all the ones we have…..restore, make them new again. I don’t think the junk craze has caught on quite that far yet, but I have faith that it will!
I bet you think this blog is going to be predictable. She’s going to say something like, “I’m junk, we all are, but isn’t it cool how we can still be used anyway”……and although that is a good point and a blog I would agree with….I’m going to take you on a bit of a different path.
Clearly not all junk is salvageable. No matter how hard you try, there are just some things that have had their day in the sun and they are done. Out they go. They served their purpose and it’s time to put them to rest in the junk yard. Then, even more sadly, there are some things that were probably never really that useful or good at all. They just created more havoc than good and they too, have to go.
Recently, I did some pics for a friend on her family land where we found an old jeep. I could not stay away from it. I love the family I was shooting but almost wanted to shoot the jeep more. I don’t know what I thought I was going to do with a ton of pictures of the jeep, but you could tell instantly that it held so many stories. I bet that if you would have just sat quietly and listened, you would have gotten a testimony that would’ve only been made better while drinking a glass of sweet tea.
I wanted to take the jeep home but it wasn’t going to fit in my compact car. So I just used it as much as I could in the pictures. Had a silent moment or two with it that the family didn’t even know about and walked away. It reminded me of my small hometown, my grandpa, and the smell of just being in the country on a Sunday afternoon.
There is probably no way, unless you sank a ton of money into it, that poor jeep would ever be restored to working for anything other than some cool pics. It’s had it’s day….or days…and I bet they were some good ones!
Here is my point. You gotta sort through the junk. It’s easy to get caught up in the craze. Just enter any vintage store with me and watch me drool over almost every piece and try to figure out how I can make it fit in my life. Oops…there it is….problem number one.
We try way too hard to make all the junk fit. The lines get blurred. We want to believe that every single broken thing can be restored. And I do believe that to an extent (but you don’t have enough time in this blog for me to get into that). However, there is also a time, when we have to force ourselves out of the junk craze. You have to realize that even if it can be restored, it may not be meant for your wall or corner and you have to walk away from it.
Same thing goes for the junk we hold on to. You know, that stuff that “you just might use someday”……and probably hang on to longer these days since everyone is repurposing everything.
Second point. You can’t let the shiny new coat of paint on something make you think it’s so different that it just might fit in your life. You just can’t.
Third point (and the hardest one for me to accept). Not everyone has the gift to restore junk. Shocker. Only HE can truly restore. And only He can gift people with the ability to do the help that is needed to restore people for His good. I couldn’t sand and refinish a piece of furniture if I tried. It would be disastrous……but I know some people who can toil away at it and when they are done, it is beautiful. That’s what HE does for us……and if He wants help, He’ll pick the people to do it. Accept that you may not be a junk fixer. But also accept the mind set to be aware of His work in every piece of junk and whether or not He intends for you to have it. Know what I mean?
Jesus makes things new. He does use broken, and unfinished things to do that……….but just as much as he does…..that redneck devil I know and have talked about will do the same thing. He will slap a new paint job on something and try to convince you that even though it’s junk, it still fits…..it’s just different now. We have to be so in tune with our relationship with Jesus that we know the difference in something truly restored and ready to use and something that the devil just slapped a coat of paint over.
We, as a population have to get out of the junk craze of our lives. Enter as many vintage stores as you want, but only be drawn to that piece that creates an emotion within you. Same thing with your life……only use the junk that you’ve allowed God to work on and heal and restore for His purpose and to glorify Him. Get rid of the rest. Give Him room in your life to come in and sand whatever He needs to, paint a new coat, and be restored to fit into wherever he needs you.
Make sense? Now get to crafting/junking 😉
*disclaimer, this randomness was just thrown together…..writing from what was just on my mind…..PLEASE tell me there is someone out there who needed it or gets it cause I have no idea why I just rambled senselessly about it 🙂 oh, and here’s that sweet jeep
Alicia Out Loud 