Repurposing is something that today’s society promotes and applauds. Every time I turn around, friends of mine are reconnecting with items from long ago, and repainting, recreating, reshaping, and repurposing them for a new use … a new life.
Such is the life of Frank Lake Covenant Church in the Grove. It has been moved and repurposed for a new life … a new use.
The challenge for Farmer Dean and me has been to make things fit. Days of old brings the challenges of no storage, no closets, and thinking minimalistic. The congregation didn’t have to think about storing lots of books and Bibles, or stacking tons of dishes and kitchen gizmos, or even having closets that could hide the communion trays and cups.
Instead, Frank Lake stands ready to welcome you, with a very “innocent” feel … just the bare necessities. And although I love that, it can make it a bit challenging to find a place to store the big coffee pot and the small one. Or where to put all of the cups or extra paper towels is continually a mystery to my mind.
On this cold Monday night, as the wind is whipping outside the windows and the light from the parking lot is dimly shining off of the table, I sat and drank my yummy flavored coffee out of one of those “where do I store this?” cups, and began to dream and plan, to recreate, reshape, and repurpose what was in front of me.
When we bought Frank Lake Church it had a sweet little cupboard in the corner. It wasn’t my favorite wood or color, but it served the purpose of storage. But what I really needed was a nice island that would host the coffee and morning treats for Bible Study. I told Deano I needed the top and bottom of this cupboard to be separated and reconstructed. It was time to get my favorite painter (my hubby, Farmer Dean) over to get to work. Farmer Dean arrived with all of his painting paraphernalia and began to make the very old piece transform before my eyes, so that it looked so much better. My favorite shade of brown red was soon covering the tired little cupboard and matching perfectly to the old tiles on the floors of the church that are of the same coloring. Hurrah!
The cupboard is now sitting, boldly facing the table where my Bible study ladies read, share, and learn about God’s love for us, and how to live this life with Jesus by our side.
After we’re done with our study, the cupboard serves as the host for delectable treats and piping hot coffee, that always seems to soothe our tired souls on these dreary winter days.
Along with this cupboard, we have repurposed an old table and chairs purchased at the thrift store for $129.00 for the 7 piece set, some old rugs with frayed edges from a grandma that had them in the 1940’s, a corner cupboard that stores our Bibles, an old desk that is from 1945, many old doors taken out of old houses, and a lovely old sink and tin cabinet from early 1900’s that is currently holding its proud place amongst the 1950’s stove that we’re planning on using to bake up a lovely egg dish some cold March morning.
Repurposing. It’s a funny sounding word isn’t it? And yet, many words that have “re” serving as a prefix for that word mean “to do over, to do again.”
We’re taking something that once was, something that served somehow, somewhere on Planet Earth, and we’re reinvesting it to use in the immediate here and now of today.
[callout]God is like that. He is a Restorer. He is a Redeemer. God is the Ultimate Repurposer. He takes what we once were, in all of our sin and sadness, our worn out colors and frayed edges, and He comes in and covers us with the blood of His Son, Jesus, with a fresh coat of Christ-paint, and He changes us.[/callout] He transforms us. We are renewed, refreshed, restored. We are reborn. We are made new.
Things are looking better as the weeks are passing by. They’re coming together one piece, one paint brush stroke at a time. And as Farmer Dean is restoring and repurposing, I continue to be amazed at how God’s mercies are new every day. God’s purpose for us is to change us, grow us, and use us for His glory … the Original Repurposing.
Praise God!