Peeling Back the Layers

Last weekend, my mom and dad came into town. I love it when family comes to visit. We get to share our lives with them for the weekend and see parts of the city that we normally drive by without thought. Since they were purging their house of some unwanted furniture, they brought in two dressers for Brett and I to use in our home. Nothing special, but they came from my grandma’s house and smell just like her place. The smell instantly takes me back to sneaking into her room as a little girl and admiring her beautiful brush and hand-held mirror from the green bedspread she had carefully laid on the bed.

I decided that, since the dressers were not aging as gracefully as one would hope, that they deserved a fresh stain and some TLC. Thinking to myself “this will be a fun day project!”, I headed to my local Home Depot for supplies.

Upon starting the project, I discovered that the perfectionist in me was turning this into MUCH more than a day project. Brushing, scraping, wiping and sanding are all separate crafts which must be perfected to make a piece worthy of a new stain.

During some sanding that I was doing yesterday, I was reminded somewhat of our jobs as ministers to students. Sometimes our kids come in looking like an old beat-up dresser. They are offensive, stinky, and have obvious cracks and nicks in their character. God, in His ultimate grace, allows us to be a part of a process where we take these kids, go below that ugly surface layer, sand them down, and help them to become beautiful pieces of art.

God, being the perfectionist that He is, does not make perfect students from a “day project.” It takes several years of brushing, scraping, wiping and sanding to shape them into better individuals.

I’m not sure about you, but with the drama that has taken over for the summer, it can be hard to see those potential gems below the surface. But God sees it. He sees every single student in our group for who He created them to be, not who they are right now. He loves them unconditionally. He could not love them more. He will not love them less.

God, help me to see below that top layer. Use me to help grind off stuff that is offensive. Wipe away all the crud. Help these kids to become who You created them to be!

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