The Chair

The Chair

Oh, I met the chair I've been looking for all summer long, and she is a beauty! She has some battle scars; I'll admit that. Her exterior could use a little pick-me-up, but with a little makeover, she'll be beautiful again. She hurt one of her back legs in a freak inside-the-house football game. While she's so comfortable to sit with, her clothes are a bit outdated. But all of that can be fixed oh so easily! I'll post an update with her new look later.

Aren't we all a little like my friend the chair? She's a classic. She's solid and well-built. She is perfectly and wonderfully made. I'm glad I worked out this morning because she was a teensy bit heavier than I thought she would be. Sorry, ole girl! (Now who can't relate to that?)

With all that she's been through, she's ready to be molded into something new.

Have you gone through a transformation like that? Maybe you were broke down; maybe you were feeling outdated, out of touch with the real world; maybe you got hurt really bad and took a long time to heal, or even worse, have yet to be healed. I went through all of that myself. I even got to the point where I wasn't sure anyone would ever want me the way I was.

You see, I didn't think I was worth saving. I was too bad. I was too stuck in my own ways to take and follow His way as mine.

I was damaged goods.

Not beautiful.

Not lovable.

Not cared for.

Not worth saving.

Funny how when I met my future husband, I had gotten to the point where I knew things had to change. I just didn't know how it would happen.

He did.

Looking back, it's all so easy to see now. The Plan He had for me was formed even before I took my first breath. Willing to accept me as I was, my husband shared his testimony of Christ's love with me on our first date. I don't know if he knew I wasn't a Christian; I have never asked that question. Maybe he'll post and let us know the answer.

After we dated long distance, I moved to Atlanta to be near him and I got a job teaching at the very same high school he graduated from. As we got more and more serious, I'm sure he was getting more and more nervous. He proposed before I had accepted Christ as my savior. WOW! What a leap of FAITH!

Sure enough, three months before the wedding, I prayed the prayer that changed my direction.

It changed my outlook.

It changed my inner being.

It was the pick-me-up I needed.

It was the makeover my life demanded.

It was hard to believe. Someone could love me despite all my faults. Despite all my bad decisions. Despite all the ugly inside. The night my husband shared Christ's love with me has been the most important day in my life. Understanding and believing that Christ died for my sins out of love was so difficult for me to grasp. The older we get, I think the harder it is to make that change. We are so bogged down by the past that we can't see that He loved us all along, and He will love us from here on out.

I love the idea that my children will grow up with a father and mother who can teach them about the love we as parents get from God. I can already see how much easier it is for a child to believe.

So today, my husband asked me how hard it would be to fix the chair. Did I think it would be pretty easy to get the leg mended? It may not be easy, but I am sure it will be worth it.