Wait until You See This Old Window – And A Trash To Treasure Lesson: Process Over Pressure

What’s the old saying?

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Such Truth.

If you caught me on social this week…I stumbled upon a few “free” finds on the side of the road on Monday during a morning run. I promptly returned home, piled the girls in the car to “go junking.”

They were thrilled.

Originally, I set out to claim this small side table and a chair beside it…thinking I would paint it, remove the gold wheels on the bottom and put it to work inside.

But…once my girls spotted it?

They immediately declared they “needed it” for their club house.

And so?

Into the back of the car it went…and up the ladder of the Krout Kid Club House it settled into its new home.

Who knew this little worn down table, discarded on the side of the road as someone’s trash would lead to…

these TWO BIG smiles…for FREE.

The other “treasure” we happened upon that morning was an item that I had not spotted earlier.

We were on our circle back home when Maci spotted this old window leaning up against a few other discarded materials along the side of the road.

I was hesitant at first.

Unsure of what we would do with it.

Unsure if I felt up to putting in the effort it would take to transform this trash into treasure.

But, after examining it a little closer and determining that the glued down maps in each window pane would be easy enough to remove and the gray sprint paint would indeed scratch off with some elbow grease.

I decided to open the hatch and into the car it went to join the side table and chair.

It sat in the garage for two days until motivation struck and we got to work on a rainy afternoon.

First, I scraped off the two panes coated in spray paint.

Then, my little Livvy wanted to help scrape off the glued maps.

I love this picture.

Her little hand.

Helping.

Working Hard.

Processing what we collected as FREE on the side of road as trash.

NO PRESSURE for perfect results.

Working together to give it a fresh future..unsure of what that would be.

But HOPEFUL we would find a place for it in our home…a new purpose.

With each layer removed.

With each layer taken away.

My eyes began to fine tune into more focus to see the potential this beauty held.

Once we had her maps and spray painted panes cleaned up. She was ready for a fresh coat of paint. She looked amazing just like this too.

But? If you know me…then you know I like painting things WHITE.

Do you want to see trash turned into treasure?

Oh good.

But first.

Let’s remember what she looked like on the side of the road left for trash.

And now?

Trash to Treasure friends.

Nothing is ever too far gone.

Too dirty.

Too messed up.

Too lost…to be found, restored and reclaimed.

If you need a reminder of this Promise from the One who makes all things new…listen to this.

“And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 21:5 NLT

A little time spent scraping and painting on a rainy afternoon.

A string of garland from Hobby Lobby and bottle bush trees from the dollar spot section at Target I had tucked away.

and this lost window found her way home…with us.

Friends..I don’t know about you and where you live but this last week…our state of Maryland seemed to crumble with Covid.

Cases and hospitalizations have spiked causing another shutdown.

And in a season where most of us have been doing our best to keep a strong outer crust? Well…I think some of us may be feeling like our crust is more brittle than ever before.

As in…on the brink of breaking.

Breaking off and exposing real, raw emotions bubbling underneath in the COVID current we have fought hard to keep contained.

Hopeful hearts that had briefly touched a tender stretch of normalcy are now stretching more thin to adapt to the idea of spending their holiday season without their most special people.

I see you friend.

Like sand through our hands…what we felt like we could hold on to…the climate of mild normalcy restored…hopeful to hang on to long enough to see us through the holidays…has slipped away.

This is so hard.

Already hard things have been made even harder.

So now what?

We feed the flame of what matters.

If you have been around here a hot minute…then you know our family loves “family movie night.”

On Wednesday night this week, we cozied up on this sofa and watched the movie “Miracle.”

A famous line from Head Coach Brooks, who led the United States men’s ice hockey team to win the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics was:

“The legs feed the wolf.”

– Herb Brooks

It is said that the premise behind “the legs feed the wolf” stems from the way wolves hunt. Wolves need to have the strength to be able to stalk and chase their prey if they want to eat and survive.

And friend…if we want to survive this long season?

I think we are going to need to decide...not on what feeds the wolf…but what feeds the human heart and spirit.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

Like speed skating drills strengthened the soon to be Olympian legs for the fight on the world stage…it is coming time for us to discern what will strengthen our hearts and spirits for this fight.

Perhaps it looks like a posture of purposeful disconnect from the news.

And more like a posture of intimate processing of the moments unfolding under our roof.

Perhaps it means reining in what we are spending energy on and praying for God to help us focus us on what He wants us to focus on in this season.

Perhaps it means putting less pressure on the final results of our efforts in whatever they may be…and selecting the option to live inside the milliseconds of the process in staying the course.

The course of feeding the flame of what really matters.

I read recently that there is scientific evidence that a 20 second hug can help reduces stress, protect against illness and reduce fears.

Sign me up.

Obviously, we cannot go around hugging like we used to…or even hand shaking or high-fiving.

But, we can hug the people inside our homes that we are quarantined with.

Hi kids…let’s hug.

Hi honey…let’s Hug.

For more than 20 seconds please.

Guess what?

We can smile at those we cannot hug, handshake or high-five. Yes, even under your mask…your eyes still smile.

(Remember this post “Under the Mask?“)

I happen to pass the same older man almost every time I take a morning run around 8 am.

This older gentleman, walks alone and let’s just say he give off a “I’m just here for my walk” vibe which I get…because really?

Me too.

I always try to stay as far away from everyone as we pass by one another…but I try to wave or smile at ever single person I pass.

In fact, Shawn is always asking me “why did you just wave to them?” when people pass by our house in their cars.

He follows his first question with: “Do you know them?”

Where then, I usually reply “No.”

But if they are passing by in front of our home…I want to wave to them. It just happens.

I guess it is no different when I run. If we are passing by…I am going to wave or smile.

So back to this gentleman.

Day by day, we pass each other…and I wave and smile.

On warm days, cold days, dreary days and sunny days.

On days when I don’t feel like running and he probably doesn’t feel like walking.

Do you know what happened last week?

I saw him coming.

He saw me coming.

We made eye contact.

I smiled at him…

and he smiled back!

I conducted my own scientific experiment friends…it was called…”wear him down with a wave and a smile”…and it worked!

Smile.

Received.

Reciprocated.

Repeated!

Because when I saw him again…we BOTH smiled at the same time.

Friends, I know this may sound silly to you.

But receiving his smile made my spirit happy.

I know the weight of this world is not going to be taken off our shoulders with a 20 second hug with those under your roof or with a wave and a smile with a stranger six feet away.

But? If we keep feeding the flame of what matters most…we may slowly wear down and chip away at the weight of what is overwhelming us and others in this exhausting season.

Because when I hug my people, when I smile at a stranger, or when I slowly prepare my home for the holiday with trees, garland and twinkle lights…I sense a shift in my spirit.

A shift in my spirit that gently hums to the dance of the flame inside, wanting to lighten up my heavy load and illuminate the freedom of living in a peace in the knowing that God has this.

He has this…because he is here with us.

Let us prepare him room…in our hearts and our homes.

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”

Luke 2:1-7 NIV

It’s so easy to make the holiday all about the trees and the lights, the decor and the food.

Let us not miss…the simple lesson that the best things in life really are FREE.

Better than any road side trash turned to treasure….

Because if

“the legs feed the wolf”…

Then?

A hug.

A smile.

A love and thankfulness for the One who gives us reason to celebrate.

And a faith that trusts….

feeds the spirit.

All best experienced, when offered in their most raw form.

And?

All are FREE.

The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.

NAHUM 1:7 NIV

From trash to treasure…we can take all of our wobbly, worn down feelings and raw hearts and lift them up because God invites us into the Process of experiencing His peace for free in exchange for wrestling with the Pressure to fix it all in our own strength.

One day at a time…Process over Pressure friend.

“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2 corinthians 12:9-10 NLT

God,

Thank you for your promises. Help us to bring our struggles, fears and feelings of overwhelm to you. Please help us to be the kind of people you desire us to be.

Please prepare our hearts for the true meaning of the season.

Thank you for your patience and lovingkindness.

Amen.

Living on a prayer,

Heather