A New Use For An Old Friend
A year ago my husband and I were looking through our storage building when we stumbled across an old head board. “Do we really need this?” my husband asked. I smiled and said, “I have an idea.”
Pinterest fans already know where I’m going with this…
My husband happens to be an excellent carpenter and he has always supported my love for gardening. So, we took that old head board to his shop. He first made the seat section of the bench with treated lumber. Then, he attached the head board as the back of the bench. He sanded and primed the finished bench making sure to paint the bottom of the legs to help seal the wood from water. Then it was painted with a white exterior paint. The bench was finished with a clear seal coat for added protection from the weather.
“Growing in grace they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust, love, and contentment].”
Psalm 92:14
Twenty years ago my husband taught in our local children’s church. He has an uncanny ability to talk to young people and children. Even when we were still dating he would sit at the “kids table” with my nieces and nephews. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:” The season for teaching in a children’s class has passed. Today the teachers in our local children’s church are some of the very kids that were in my husbands class all those years ago. This is how God intended it to be. Timothy’s have been trained up to carry on the work of the church. If the only people serving in the church are middle aged or older the local church will someday die right along with them. However, that does not give us the license to sit down. Today, my husband oversees approximately 50 people. He gives them direction in thier work and encourages them in God’s Word everyday. We also lead a small group in our church.
As long as I can remember all I ever wanted out of my life was to be a wife and stay at home mom. When I graduated from high school my parents insisted that I attend some type of college or technical school. I chose the field of horticulture because I loved the outdoors, especially flower gardening. After graduation, my husband and I were married. A few years after that God graciously allowed me to fulfill my dream of motherhood and to stay at home to raise our three sons. As in the case of my husband, my “season” also came to an end. Our sons grew up and were out on their own. I looked around one day and thought,”I’m done. I have no more purpose. No one needs me anymore…”
When I finally finished my pity party the Lord spoke to my heart, “Have you forgotten the assignment I gave you years ago? I told you to begin taking garden and landscape photos. I told you to begin collecting scriptures in theme of horticulture. I also told you that the name of this assignment is to be ” Jehovah’s Gardener. “Now, put the project together and I will show you more.” I dug through my computer and found my photos and scriptures that I had saved so long ago. I spent many hours matching them together. With the help of my oldest son, jehovahsgardener.com became a reality. But God wasn’t finished. He said, “Start blogging.” Blogging? What in the world was blogging? My oldest son came to my rescue once more and my first blog went live in 2013.
And so, my friends, here we are. Some of you have been with me from the start and I sincerely thank you for that. I will continue this journey the Lord has me in until He tells me differently.
Until then remember this: Never under estimate the reuse of old things.
“And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing that good work and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.” Philippians 1:6
