“B-Restored”
I love to check out a good yard sale or go to a thrift store to see what treasures I can find. Sometimes, I find a unique piece of furniture like an old farmhouse table, chairs that have character, or other little treasures that call out to me. When a piece captures my attention, I instantly see the potential for it to be something beautiful and can easily envision a place for it in my home.
It can take just one piece of furniture to inspire me to create something fabulous and fun! Maybe you’ve been there? My heart races wildly as I envision my new-found treasure freshly painted and perfected in its proper place. It’s exciting to me to discover such a find and give it new life. It just makes me smile. And I love it all the more because it was such a bargain!
Both my grandmother and my mother have an eye for furniture pieces that they have transformed into masterpieces. With a bit of hard work and some paint, they create shabby chic works of art. (I think I get my drive to restore furniture from them.) Every time I visit my family, I find a “new” piece of furniture that was wonderfully refinished. I love hearing the stories of how they found their treasures.
There was a time in my life when I thought it would be fun to open up a shop where I could sell restored furniture; beautifully restored pieces that people would appreciate and desire for their homes. I even talked about it with some of my talented friends. They were on board with the idea and said, “Say the word, and let’s do it!”
It would be the thrill of the hunt for me to find the perfect piece to redo. It would also bring me great joy to create something new out of something old. Just one simple coat of paint can do wonders and make a dresser look completely different. Shabby chic! It’s the little things like…changing knobs and hardware…that can easily transform a piece of furniture into looking brand new.
I even had a name for my “dream store”, believe it or not! It would be called: B-RESTORED.
This name has two different meanings: (1) my close friends and family call me “B” and (2) it’s a play on words for the verb, “be”. Cute… right? Restored would speak to the transformation of the furniture pieces that would be for sale.
There is also a spiritual parallel to this: Anyone who follows Jesus can also B-RESTORED; transformed into a new creation.
That’s what Jesus does in our lives. When we allow Him to transform us from the inside out, the Lord turns dead things into life. Broken things are made whole. As we surrender, we are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. He alone makes old things new. That is the hope that we have in Christ. We were once sinners, but when we receive Him as Savior, there is forgiveness and a life that is made whole and brand new.
I had originally envisioned the shop, B- RESTORED as a ministry where people could walk in and experience the Holy Spirit. I would share how a particular piece of furniture came to be in the shop. I would explain its transformation -- how it was once broken and unwanted, but how it had value and hidden beauty in the eye of the beholder. What a beautiful message and hope we have in Jesus.
Dreaming can be so much fun! Having a vision for something is truly a life-giving experience for me. Although this shop was an inspiring idea and one that I could easily see myself doing, it isn’t something that I sense God’s leading me to do in this season. Oh well!
I really do love the message of restoration because God is in the very heart of this business. He can restore all things. He restores families. He restores the broken pieces of our hearts and makes them whole. He makes things better than what they were before. When we surrender every piece and every part, Jesus can start the PROCESS of transformation in us to RENEW every part of our lives. Let’s stir up our hope today and be reminded that God is a God of RESTORATION. He redeems and He restores ALL things.
Whenever a dresser or table undergoes the process of being restored, oftentimes, it’s unrecognizable to what it once was. I love when there’s a before and after picture of what it used to look like and what it looks like now. It’s incomparable! I really can’t believe that it’s the same piece of furniture. It’s been completely transformed.
Ladies, that’s how our transformed lives should look as we surrender to God and allow Him to restore us. We are NOT going to look the same as we did before. It’s even better than shabby chic! The Lord does the work as we give Him permission, and Jesus puts the pieces back together. We are then placed on a firm foundation in better condition and looking A WHOLE LOT different than before.
The Lord knows what He is doing. We are in good hands!
