With the vines hanging down, the
concrete foundation, and the barn-wood patina,
this has been a popular backdrop of several
professional photos taken on our farm.
Here is what happened to our lovely backdrop
this winter....
Broken.
My heart broke when it began it's collapse somewhere
during the past 12 months. We knew that with the snow
this past winter, it would be the last year it stood.
And EVEN with a record "small-snowfall" this year, it still
Gave up.
Can we have a beautiful heart
and have places that are collapsing at the very same time?
Do you?
Then join me in claiming this promise:
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me:
thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever:
forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Psalm 138:8
Then join me in claiming this promise:
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me:
thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever:
forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Psalm 138:8
We are all broken--and lovely to Him.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about the barn. We lost ours--stone foundation, square pegs, memories--about three years ago. Final total collapse in a storm.
Sad. :(
The older barns are so appealing aren't they? Yours had square pegs? I don't think I have ever seen that, but I'd like to! Were you able to keep a part of it, make something out of the wood?
ReplyDelete...broken and lovely are we...yes indeed. Sometimes when we are experiencing times of "colapsing" we forget that we are still lovely. :)
Oh my, so sorry about your barn but what a great analogy and promise you made from the tragedy. So nice to find your space from Still Saturday.
ReplyDeleteYet it is also written that we are closest to Him in that splintered, shattered place. Spiritual restoration follows periods of storm and destruction. Look at the seemingly firm foundation of that structure. Like our lives, with such a solid base it seems an ample place to rebuild.
ReplyDeleteYES Lisa!!!
ReplyDeleteI was considering the rebuilding that Jesus does in our lives. That every felled area is new ground for a greater work. When my husband and I and our two kids added on to our home, we demolished a structure and then built something so much better. This story will unfold that way too!
Thinking of our relationship with Him. He REbuilds, REstores, REpairs, and Resurrects the broken things. Beauty from ashes... I marvel at the works of His hands!
I am grateful for every heartbreak as He has restored those spaces in His likeness, not mine. So much like our draw to the beauty in the decay that is all around us. Coming over from Still Saturday!
ReplyDeleteIt was, and is, a beautiful structure. Even it its brokenness. Only its use and our perception of it have changed. Thankfully God sees us from His unique perspective and loves us in our brokenness, too.
ReplyDeleteThere's a great old log building in the woods near where we have our cabin. Last year we discovered it had finally succumbed to its age and frailty, too. (http://wp.me/phaYw-1ca) I found a broken padlock at the door of the wreckage, and salvaged it as a reminder of its earlier existence. I'll keep taking photos of the building, although it won't be long before it totally disappears in the underbrush.
Carol, I love that! "only it's use and our perception has changed".
ReplyDeleteoh how I feel this
ReplyDeletein my own broken down places
and send love and glad thanks
for the reminder that there is
beauty in the breaking
.....restoration so trumps
perfect beginnings
and becoming is a messy thing
and our shepherd is magnificent
with this sort of thing
and promises to finish
all the wonders
he began in us:)
thanks for this gentle
and life-giving reminder,
Jennifer
That's a heart-breaker. But the spiritual perspective is true. Need to focus on brokenness to determine whether it's part of a spiritual healing and growth process OR a personal inward mess that's causing me to fall apart, and not as my Father desired. Good processing.
ReplyDelete