Come Sit At My Table

This table I sit at has sure seen its share of bad days of the last 16 years that I have been sitting at it. And you can see from the picture just how worn and weathered it is. It even has mismatched chairs because of how broken the others were. They were so broken it would take a master carpenter to put them back together to even be able to be used.

As I sit and think about this table, I am relating to it ~yes an inanimate object. I am completely in tune with how weathered it is. It has taken so much abuse over the years. It has had things thrown at it, its chairs used as weapons, icky stuff spilled onto it and then when I thought I was done with it, it was placed outside in the dead of winter to endure the harsh elements while I would stare at it with the memories (both beautiful and ugly) waiting for the day it would just go away.

Then someone, a carpenter, came along and admired this same table.

AFTER the elements had weathered it to the bare wood.

AFTER all of the shine and newness was gone.

AFTER what the world would say is beautiful was no longer.

He said let's bring it inside because I see beauty in this. My first thought as he gingerly ran his hands over all that worn and weathered wood was "Do you understand what this table has been through? And could it even be properly used again? It would take SO MUCH to make it like it was before!" He just smiled and said "Can't you see the beauty JUST THE WAY IT IS? Let's bring it in, warm it up and let the weathered look be the new beauty for all to see!

Isn't this just like us? This table being so weathered and worn is STILL USEFUL and I might add with ALL of the scars and ALL of the flaws with just a bit of cleaning up, it is one of the most used pieces in our home now.

I have been broken to the point of thinking I will never be useful again. Over time, I have been abused, battered, with icky stuff (others' words) spilled on me. When I thought I was completely done, my MASTER CARPENTER came and pulled me out of the elements and placed me in a safe and warm place, surrounded by others despite the fact that all I could do was just sit there and dry out. Others came along and helped me put the pieces back together. The beauty is restored, but the weathered look remains.

I am sturdy now, just like the table. I am useful - INCREDIBLY USEFUL! I have people whom I want to gather together with sitting with me at this table now. There is beauty within each person that gathers around and there's LAUGHTER and PEACE and HARD CONVERSATIONS but there is most importantly LOVE. The table's old memories no longer have power over me just like those who have harmed me - they have NO MORE POWER!

So as mismatched, weathered, and worn as this "table" is, I invite you to come sit with me - and oh yeah, you will see the actual table for yourself as well ;-)