THE AS-IS SECTION

i adore our Maker's ability to reveal Himself to us through any and every part of our life. He can take anything: siberian huskies, laffy taffy's, friends, laptops, christmas ornaments, spaghetti, hot chocolate, again...anything and use it to tell us more about Himself.

yesterday, for example, i was driving to work and began to think about the As-Is furniture at Ikea. Why I think about the As-Is furniture at Ikea during the 5'0 clock hour of the morning is a mystery to me. But there I was, shivering in my car, one gloved-hand on the wheel and the other helping the window defrost, driving, dreaming about what tables and lamps might be left after the sale last weekend. I thought about getting risky this christmas and doing all of my holiday-gift-purchasing in the As-Is. I smiled and appreciated my10$ coffee table that Cari polished up with some acrylic paint and a wash-rag. I thought some more and realized that I enjoy my as-is furniture much more than any new furniture I have. There's something to be said about anything that has a history. (Perhaps that's why I care for thirft clothes, i just thought of that...). To see a rejected, dented, scratched, dirty something with holes be transformed into a unique, detailed, polished, restored piece of art is very smile-worthy. And that's just what we are. We're bruised, we have holes, dents that people discovered after they took us home and then rejected us, we sit in a pile that our world calls "rubbish" and we hope that someone will see our potential for a beautiful existence. We feel so unworthy of love and can't imagine that someone is seeking us out, searching for us in our imperfect state, wanting to restore us. It is hard for us to believe that someone is preparing to transform us into the beautiful beings that we desire to be. How nice to know, that God shops in the As-Is too :)