The Old, and the Beautiful

"Old" was all I could think about as Bill drove up the gravel driveway to his grandmother's abandoned house and announced, "This is where we'll live one day. Isn't it beautiful?"

The paint on the siding was peeling, and the 'garage' at the end of the house was on the verge of collapse. A few window shutters hung by a thread, and the roof over the porch dipped. What I loved was the enormous trees arching over the property. It was obvious Grandma Stevens loved her gardens. Peony bushes lined the driveway, and the entire front bank facing the road was covered with flowering ground cover. It made me want to paint.

My family had moved into a new housing development with NO trees, but the house had plenty of roomy closets. This farmhouse had plenty of trees and NO closets! There were two indentations I was told were closets, but they were only ten inches deep. They had a peg for work clothes and another for Sunday best.

Well, as heartfelt prophesies often come to pass, five years later, Bill, toddler Kyle, and wide-eyed me moved in. "What am I supposed to do with my clothes?" I whined. Bill replied, "Get creative." (A man of few words.)

Well, this old place was about to draw out a whole new level of creativity from me. With no closets, I became skilled at finding any space I could to tuck things away. I tucked stuff here ... I tucked stuff there ... I tucked stuff behind the couch ... under beds ... behind doors. It was a talent I never knew I had. When we added baby Jonathan to our tribe, an even higher level of tuckerbility was needed. The boys' bedrooms were so small that a chest of drawers didn't fit, so I got creative. I put a plant on top, and tucked the bureau into a corner of the living room.

I was doing my best to be a good mom while putting up with surroundings that needed so much fixing, and I was getting discouraged. My friend lived in a house older than mine, and one day I asked her if she ever got discouraged with life. She paused a moment and replied, "I get a little help from my church." There was nothing in my history to explain what happened to me the next Sunday at my friend's church. At the simple raising of my hand, my whole life changed. An impartation of passion, straight from the heart of God, to know His Son ... the One I now call Lord.

I knew nothing about grace or the work of the Holy Spirit. Not knowing better, I set out to be the best Christian I could be ... "nice" at all times, full of patience, and always loving. I tucked away my frustrations and secrets, believing if He knew about them, He would turn away. I didn't know that God is fully aware of my innermost thoughts, and that He didn't want me to conceal what needed to be brought to light. Jesus wanted No secrets ... No denial ... No religious glitz and glitter. While I was still a sinner in great need of total renovation like my farmhouse, He died for me. It was so freeing to know I didn't need to dress myself in some perfectionist garb for Jesus to accept me. He knew all about my 'peeling paint' and 'crooked walls'. Everything in my "old" life He has made beautiful. I didn't need to tuck away anything from Him.

Galatians 1:15 "But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by His marvelous grace."

Jesus is the safest person in the world to be real with. Although the phrase "Come as you are" is not in the Bible, its essence appears throughout the scriptures. As Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Don't Hoard Your Hurts

In closing, have you ever seen the program "Hoarders"?

I was watching it on one occasion when the Lord gave me His own version of hoarding. Makes you think, doesn't it?