The Extraordinary Making Of An Ordinary Trash-to-Treasure Wall Vase

 

 

I stood in the hardware store asking the lady who worked there.... where I could find....

The Invisible. 

The seemingly overlooked.

The common bolt, nut, washer and electrical clamp.  I was looking for the "overlooked".  I had to find them. I was pursuing them in that hardware store.  Sought after and looking....calling out,
"Where are you?" 
I had a purpose for them....

to be seen.

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I stood over the sink scrubbing the sticky grime from the labels off two old wine bottles.  Their contents used up and their empty bodies that had only earlier been set far far to the side on the counter.

Throw-aways.  The rejected.  The trash.  The outcast.

No value. 
No worth. 
Not needed.

The remnants of their former lives now stripped away.  After some cleaning, they were revealing shiny qualities, simple elegance in their lines and subtle tints of greens and blues.  They sparkled in the sunlight coming in the window over the sink. 

I saw beauty and great worth. 

________________

My husband told me of a hauling trailer at work that had an "old" wooden bottom that needed replacing.
The wood's luster and sheen gone.
It's sturdiness questioned.
Yet... he saw something in this "old". 

A rare quality...character. 
Story.

He salvaged the wood pieces and tucked them safely into a corner of our garage.
Their stories begged to be heard once again. 
To be of use... again.

I grabbed two like pieces from the top of the pile. 
I spoke to the pieces in my hands, "You will have an ... again".

__________________

I was making something.  It had been too long for this creative expresser.  So long I itched to see the vision in my mind take form.  Somehow I needed...needed...needed to see these objects transformed.  An earthly reminder of HIS renewing.  His love.  I was feeling lost and separated from Him. 

"Where are you Lord?  I need to see your promises."

The deep meaning of this simple design project was His way of reaching out to my aching heart in this holiday season of the year. 
This season of mid-womanhood.  
This season of healing the next layer for the little girl within. 
I needed to SEE His love with my eyes in a living metaphor of art and design.

This, after all, is how we meet one another.  This is how He pursues me.  In the art.   

After working awhile, the pursuing was done.  My wall vase was finally finished...and the transformation of each of it's once forgotten despairing parts....complete. 

I hung it on my wall for ALL to see.  A testament to what His Grace can do. 
I stood back and eyed the work...His work. 
The message he had just given me in this creative project, this everyday art, was a deep and profound reminder that....

 

In the Artist's hands, dear ones,....

the invisible are Pursued and Seen.

The rejected are Adopted, Renewed and shown their Beauty and Worth.

The old are told they are Needed and Respected, their Stories important for Teaching.

 

All of the "seemingly" invisible, rejected and old are Loved and Purposed by Him...for Him.

 

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What individual part of the wall vase did you relate to?  The hardware?  The wine bottles?  The old wood?  All of them?  Can you find a moment in this busy holiday season to look and listen for HIS pursuing of you?  How does He pursue you?  Do you feel far away from God in this season of to-do lists and go, go, go?  How can you draw closer to Him?  Is there a way for you to have a reminder in front of you, of His promise of Love?

*Want to know how to make this trash-to-treasure Wall Vase?  Check out the Trash-To-Treasure Projects Page.*