I recently completed a special
transformation project on the cabinet capture here. When I moved from CA to the Carolina’s I was
purposeful in ensuring it came with me. It had previously lived on my patio and
soaked in the years of sunny, and, not so sunny, weather. She had taken a
beating and, for all intends and purposes, should have been left on the curb
for pick-up. Despite the years of wear and tear, I saw something far more
beautiful. This cabinet held rich memories of the many years of sitting outside
on my patio reading, praying, meditating, family time with my son and fellowship
with friends and loved ones. I confronted several painful setbacks, worked
through incredibly difficult life situations, as well as celebrated precious
milestones and successes in this space. My
outside patio was my sanctuary and sacred real estate to me. From the large white myrtle tree (see previous
post My Giving Tree), to the flowers, gorgeous oversized clay pots and serene ambiance, the
cabinet was the one thing I could bring with me as a cherished memento of a
space that so beautifully occupied my life. I felt as if each grain of wood
held one of my stories and we were far from writing the final chapter.
I started this restoration over a
year ago with a friend of mine. I was excited about the concept of transforming
her. Having gone through several transformations
of my own, it was not lost on me the comparisons. My friend and I discussed how
to best salvage the cabinet. We spent time searching for the right color paint,
bought the necessary tools and decided to replace the top with a mosaic of
tiles. We carefully sanded and smoothed the weathered exterior, restored the broken
pieces, and cloaked her with an exquisite jeweled blue coat of paint. I had
such joy knowing I was bringing her, albeit our, story back to life. And then, the project halted; for four months.
Once we resumed, we created the top of the cabinet, carefully sealed the tiles,
and then, sadly, the project halted… again! Eleven months passed. She sat in my
garage as if she had not been completely dressed. I felt frustrated and it
saddened me that this project of transformation had been abandoned. It simply
just stopped! All the planning, care, hard work, investment of time, resources,
and excitement to see how it would turn out, just died off. The starting, stopping, pulling away from and fading interest, of something of such special meaning, caused me to contemplate if this served as an analogy of
other things in my life, including that of my friendship with the person who started this project with me. As the summer months approached, I determined to finish what I set
out to do, give this cabinet her rightful place back on my patio.
I washed off the dust, dressed
her with, yet another, fresh coat of paint, cut the glass for the side doors,
attached the hardware and crowned her with the mosaic top. Then came the moment I moved her to her new
and rightful home on the patio. The bridge from my former sanctuary was now in
place. It was as if she’d opened her eyes from the long slumber of the past two
years and was alive again, but in a far more beautiful way!
As I sit and reflect on the
lessons learned through this project, I am humbled by the experience. I am struck
by the parallels between what was once a beat-up piece of furniture, ready for
the trash heap to now a treasured masterpiece; and how we too get beat up, feel
abandoned and ready to give up, only to undergo a transformation that awakens
us to a new beauty. For transformation to happen we must first allow the change
to take place. We must be fully
deconstructed to be reconstructed. For me, I believe in a God that daily renews
me, and despite the not so pretty in my life, chooses to see the beauty in the
ashes and what I can become. Who doesn’t toss me to the curb, but rather, like
the sandpaper to the cabinet, refines me, mends the broken pieces, restores my
soul, and brings me to a place far more beautiful than I could ever imagine.
It’s ironic that as I was in the long process of transforming the cabinet, God
was unconditionally and lovingly transforming me and bringing me to this new
and incredible season in my life.
I look forward to the hours I’ll
spend on my patio with this newly transformed piece from my past, and move
toward, and embrace my future me. In some ways we’ve breathed a new life into
each other. We’ve both gone beyond our original form and emerged from the
chrysalis anew. Here’s to new discoveries, continued growth and a fresh library
of stories and experiences yet to be explored.