Sunday, June 28, 2015

The message in the masterpiece




“You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; James 2:22
The message in the masterpiece

It is easy to see God’s beauty in nature, the glorious rainbow, the trees, the mountains, the glassy ocean. It is discovering God’s wonder in the storm, the tragedy and trial that is difficult.  Sometimes it is hard to see or believe that he has a plan and purpose for every breathe we take. Believing that he has planned even the minutest details in our lives is hard to fathom.  Amidst the eye of the storm when all you can see is chaos, believing that there is a beautiful divine purpose in this desolation is unimaginable.  Watching, as the artist paints the masterpiece, uncovering each detail with precision and magnificent beauty, I watched as the God I serve painted a masterpiece of my life. With each brush stroke, growing, stretching me with his grace and his mercy. The brilliant colors and embellishments creating a painting of my walk, and with it, a message of his unfailing love.
It began three years ago, I prayed for my husband and our family.  We had just purchased our forever home.   I as enjoying every facet of our life together, our children were happy and healthy, we had a place that finally felt like home and I had a job that I adored and a church family that fed our spiritual needs.  For my husband ….. Something was missing.   He worked in the oilfield, as he had been doing consistently for 14 years.  Most nights he got home long after dark and left in the morning around dawn. He spent long hard hours in the sun, almost 90 hours a week.  Despite our blessings, his joy was missing.    When he came home at night, he was so tired and so used to being alone that his words were sparse, conversations short, as was his temper.  My prayer during the next 3 years was for him to reclaim his joy, to become the husband and father that I married.   He missed field trips, class parties, baseball games, first words, first steps, but mostly we missed him.    Quitting was never an option, he was trained for this job and had put in his time.     Finally the storm came, and with it, the masterpiece of an answered prayer.   
The Spring of 2014, just four days before our son’s 6th birthday and a few days before I would be out for the Summer, he called letting me know he had been let go from his job. They were downsizing their office and had lost some clients.  My stomach turned, my head ached and my world felt broken.    The rest of the day was blurry as I tried to focus on the teenage students in front of me but holding back tears wasn’t easy.  
That night, we prayed together, as we did often. My husband almost gleefully prayed for direction.  My prayer was for peace and guidance.  This frustrated me, I was always in motion and couldn’t understand how he could sit, pray and let God handle this without even breaking a sweat.    I voiced my concern all  too harshly  and his response was always “ God has us, he loves us and he will show us what to do”.   Each time he gave me this response I had a panic attack inside. SIT, WAIT, TRUST GOD…. Sure.  One of my favorite verses has always been,
 Be Still and know that I am God,  Psalm 46:10
But following and believing has always been difficult for me to do,
To make extra money while my husband searched for a profession that would pay him as well as the oil field, I taught summer school and worked a sports camp and tacked on a coaching duty to my regular teaching schedule.  He watched the kids while I worked, and most days I came home to a joyful household with blanket forts, clean laundry and happy children.  This puzzled me, I was dying inside.   Monetarily our money was dwindling and our future was….  Left to be seen.    God’s plan began to take place in a glorious unfolding and he worked, putting together the artful pieces of my heart.  
                Brandon has always been handy, he can put things together in record time, he figures things out by the time I have the instructions unfolded.  One day while I was gone to take the kids on a summer adventure, my way of escape, I came home to  this,

                It was a gorgeous headboard turned into a bench, it was lovely and I was impressed. He glowed with excitement telling my how he put the intricate pieces together. He said he thought he could sell it for 200.00 or so. A simple,“Nice “was all I could muster.     Day after day, I came home to a new piece of woodwork and what was beginning to look like a disastrous garage.  Each day he was happier than the last as he created beautiful works of art.   One afternoon, I came home, and it was too much to take, I asked him to come talk to me on the patio.     I said, “Listen, I know you don’t understand or maybe you don’t care but, our bills are due on the 1st and 15th of every month and your “crafts” are not going to cover, what we need” 
                He responded,” I know you are right, but I know that God has something prepared for us, I know there is divine plan, I am just waiting patiently for him to show  us the path” . Little did we know he already had.
                As the months would go on, I found Jesus meeting our every financial need and exceeding our expectations. . We continued to pray, Month after month he met our needs, with the help of our loving family.     He delivered in ways that only he can.   One afternoon I was rifling through our junk drawer, and my fingers felt a piece of paper, I pulled it from the drawer only to discover it was check given to us by my grandmother almost 2 years ago. I checked the back and it had not been endorsed. The check was for 300.00. A God send, a brush stroke of his masterpiece.   I used my grocery store time to pray and one afternoon after reaching the store, I got out and stooped to pick up some paper. The paper was 200.00 tucked under my tire. I searched the parking lot thinking surely the owner was missing the money, the parking lot was almost empty. I smiled as I thought of his gracious unfailing love.   Time and time again, he delivered on his promise to take care of our needs.
“ All things work for good, to those called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28
                  As our faith grew so did Brandon’s craftsmanship.  He had acquired tools to make his wood projects in various ways.  Some were handed down to him, some were garage sale finds and a few were purchases in non-working order on craigslist.  One such piece was a lathe.  This is a machine that you use to turn legs for tables, benches etc.. When he came home with this, I was skeptical.  I read a blog about the guy on “fixer upper” that spent 2 years learning how to turn legs on a lathe. I researched other similar businesses that bought legs generated by a CNC machine, a computer that carved and turned legs.   He spent one morning watching a few Youtube videos and reading various blogs about it.  By that afternoon he had a beautifully turned leg, carved and smoothed to perfection. I could no longer deny his God-given ability and gift.   His Works was born. 
                He started getting more and more orders, custom and creative pieces.  In the beginning, my friends began ordering, tables, beds, etc. I was grateful, but I couldn’t help feel that it was out of pity that they were asking him to do work for them.  As he started to gain popularity, his craft could not be denied.  I helped him create a website, and a facebook for his business.  Watching the joy return to his heart by doing what he knew the Lord had intended was indescribable.  One night, after we had put the kids to bed, he snuck back out to work on a piece he was finishing up.  Waking up around 1:00 I heard his sander still working, I crept to the door and opened it a crack.  I stopped and watched, mesmerized.  Sanding, smoothing, and piecing together. As I watched tears rolled down my cheeks. I looked at his creation and in it I saw God’s work in me, in us.  The wood was already made beautiful by nature, the knots and imperfections only creating more character, uniqueness and value.  Sanding, smoothing and staining, changing and making the piece original.  Bolts, screws and fittings, making it stronger to withstand pressure and time.  It was me, it was us.   During the years that I prayed for my husband, he answered my prayer by changing me too. Growing my faith in ways I could not fathom. Developing a trust in God that I cannot explain.  “ fear not for I am with you”    This verse lifted me up in my darkest hours as I questioned his plan and purpose for our lives and our future.   During this time of trial he strengthened our bond, our faith and created a message in a masterpiece of undeniable proportions, along with a peace that passes all understanding.    While he continues to work on our business, I anxiously await the next masterpiece God will unfold and trust that it will be more than we could ever imagine.  
“You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; James 2:22



* I am eternally grateful for our family and friends that were the face of God during this time.  Thank you for your friendship and your Godly understanding and Love.  Thank you for the support and encouragement. It has been a blessing to watch God at work in our lives.






 



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