Recently I feel like the Holy Spirit lifted a veil from my eyes. You know what I'm talking about... when all of the sudden you see things in a new light and the only reason it makes sense is that the Holy Spirit revealed it. Many times I have listened to sermons in the past... focused on me and how I can be better, how I can do better, what I need to do to make my life better... there are so many books, web sites, churches caught up in this purpose. It's not that these are all bad... no, they aren't bad. I just realized that, hey, maybe it's not all about me. Maybe by digging into God's word, by reaching out to others, by finding ways to serve God and people, maybe that's how Jesus wants to work in my life. Sometimes I just think we need to take the focus off of me, me, me and focus on Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. What does He teach us, where does He want us, how does He desire us to glorify Him? By getting outside of SELF and focusing on OTHERS - the lost, the poor, the orphans, the widows, our neighbors who don't know the Lord - that's where our light shines the brightest. If all I am ever doing is introspective or trying to figure out how to be a better me, I will never have time or feel adequate enough to serve. Through service, God humbles us, teaches us, molds us and all the while HE is getting the GLORY. That's what our life here on Earth is for... to GLORIFY HIM. My prayer is to be less self absorbed and more Christ absorbed - more LOVE absorbed. In this culture of "comfortable Christianity" it takes renewing my mind on a constant basis.
After:
Really happy with the way this turned out. Still haven't decided if I should do a glaze rub over it with a charcoal color to give it a more antiqued look... but I will keep it like this for a bit before I decide. I had to sand it down initially to remove the finish sheen, then prime, prime again, paint, paint again, sand down to make it look weathered.... It only took me a few months. :) If you weren't distracted, it would take a few days. The once beat up plain trunk now adds some spunk to my living room.
