Restoration, Repurposing, and Renewal

by Rollie Johnson

Time. Seems like most of us have had more time of late due to the Covid Crisis. Some have gone crazy with boredom. Others, like me have appreciated the extra time to take care of stuff, work on home projects, cleaning, organizing, and tossing. I have used my time for a few extra weekend camping adventures, turkey hunting, looking for arrowheads and investing lots of time in my many handicraft hobbies. Ministry is mostly a head game, so it has felt very rewarding to use my hands productively and get out of my head.

Two of my three canoes were looking very rough. Mud from the Red River, dust from a winter or three's worth of storage had them looking dull and lifeless. Our big 17’ Chestnut Prospector bore several scrapes and scars from a few trips in the Boundary Waters where unseen rocks had bitten and left their mark. They each spent a few days in my repair hospital getting sanded to make them even more dull and lifeless, and then came their magical rebirth as marine varnish made them each born again. Their golden, amber, and maroon colors of exotic woods popped and shone brilliantly. These canoes that I had built and created so many years ago had been reborn! Great dancing and celebration took place in my head, heart, and garage! As their creator… I was filled with great joy and satisfaction.

My good buddy Paul dropped off the gift of a couple of old recurve bows that he had stashed away in a corner of his house. I was delighted by the gift and honored by the thought. A pair of Damon Howatt classics from the 1970’s. Paul had used both of them earlier in his hunting career and knew I could find use for them. I took the 55-pounder and spent a few days sanding off the old camo paint, and all old finishes. Then added some gorgeous diamondback rattlesnake skins that I’d been saving. Several coats of varnish later, I proudly held a gorgeous and lethal new bestest buddy. This bow had been reborn! I used it all turkey season and will take it for an elk hunt to Colorado later this fall.

As a craftsman and creator, it is so satisfying to take an object and restore it and bring back its life and vitality. I derive great fulfillment and gratification when using my hands and heart to refurbish, repair, and recondition. I enjoy rebelling against our throwaway, disposable, one-time use society.

Two summers ago, I took on the task of rebuilding our deck from scratch. The task began by removing the old deck which had been there 30+ years. It was decrepit, dilapidated, rotting and quite frankly dangerous. Never having done this type of project, a couple of good books and lots of YouTube videos saw me successfully through a whole summer’s worth of work and I now proudly sit upon our sturdy and new deck as I write.

As Shane and I enthusiastically tore into the demolition and removal of the old deck we relished the use of the sledgehammers and pry bars. They were so persuasive! After a time, a couple of those boards split wide open and I was surprised and shocked to find some absolutely gorgeous and still viable redwood in lots of the boards. I selectively set aside several dozen of these boards, removing all nails and screws and neatly stacked them up off the ground in our little woods. There they have sat for two years and two long winters until this weekend. Now I have time. Time to take care of what’s been given to me.

So, I’ve spent the weekend pulling out those nasty, old, damp and dirty boards. Setting up a table, I mounted my planer to the table and began peeling off the exterior of these boards. The external presentation of moss, mold, old paint, rotten wood, ants, dirt, and stains all pointed to worthlessness, wood that would be better off thrown away, discarded, or beyond repair. If one were to look at just the surface, anyone would say; “firewood at best.” But my gut hunch, and my patience paid off. As each board ran through the planer several times, I got giddy with delight at seeing what was revealed underneath the ugly façade. For there before my eyes was revealed a beautiful and gorgeous and unique wood in each board. Salmon, pink, maroon, and creamy colors of rich redwood shone in the bright midday sun. Added to the earthy original colors of wood, were interesting accents and stains from weathering, screw and nail holes and the aging process. All of these unique qualities added character and a distinctive beauty to the grain structures. This old wood had a special something that new wood could not. This wood had lived life and had history to it.

I’m currently pondering, dreaming and scheming of what will become of this newly reborn lumber. Could there possibly be another canoe hidden inside? Maybe some Adirondack deck chairs? Maybe a rustic covering for our basement wall? Might they turn into some unique furniture for my girls? The possibilities are intriguing and endless. I wonder if the wood is as excited as I am about its restoration, repurposing, and renewal.

The gospels are filled with stories of Jesus and his ability to take human lives that were broken, dirty, over-looked, passed over, lost, forgotten, and cast aside and bring about restoration, repurposing, and renewal. In fact, I’d say that was at the core of his ministry. Jesus had that uncanny gift of seeing through the rough, broken, and dirty exteriors of people and seeing into the heartwood of their being. He could see through and into the ugliness and loneliness of the leper and see the inner beauty that others had cast off, thrown away and judged unclean. He even reached out and physically touched these lepers at the source of their emotional, physical, and social pain. He healed them, restored them, brought them back to life, gave them value, and reminded them of their worth because He was their maker, He was their creator.

The woman caught in adultery and the Samaritan woman at the well were also recipients of Jesus truth-filled x-ray vision and then his unconditional love, forgiveness, and acceptance. After speaking truth to them, he loved them into new life, He restored their souls.

The highly successful and greedy businessman Zacchaeus, had cheated, robbed and bamboozled his way to the top stepping on all his neighbors along the way. Jesus’ first move, in contrast to most of us, was to simply love, befriend and accept this wealthy scrooge. In the process of this friendship and contact with the love of Jesus, Zacchaeus was restored, renewed, and repurposed. Jesus saw completely through his ugly, selfish, greedy, corrupt outward show of success and wealth. Jesus saw through to the inner wood of beauty, generosity, and kindness.

How about we as a church? When someone different, broken, dirty, rotten, with a rough exterior shows up? Do we accept, love on them, and see through the tough exterior or push them out onto the throw away pile, or leave them for firewood? When someone in our midst has failed in behavior, morals, or performance? Do we push them out, walk way, or love them into restoration and renewal?

How about you personally? Are you feeling old, worn, and useless? Have you been cast aside by your coworkers, friends, or family? Or maybe you’ve taken yourself out from the game of life for feelings of inferiority, aging, worthlessness, or failure? Have you messed up your life in a big way through bad choices, neglect, or repeated harmful actions? Or maybe you’ve grown stagnant and rotten from disuse from the enormous fear of even trying, for actions or decisions not taken for fear of potential failures?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these, there is great news. God our creator, your and my maker, is in the business of restoration, repurposing, and renewal. HE is the one who made you. He made you on purpose. He made you for purpose. Sometimes that purpose stays the same and you simply get renewed with a fresh coat of varnish to make you shine again. Sometimes, when we surrender to his creative hands, we get completely repurposed. We used to be a deck, and soon He will give us a new task, a new look and a new purpose for being.

Where ever you are in life, whatever you’re feeling, no matter how much you’ve screwed up or failed, no matter what you used to do, Jesus is here to restore, repurpose and renew your life. Bring your old, rotten, dirty, tired, or routine past to Him. Surrender to the skills of this wise, loving, and purposeful craftsman. And then celebrate as the Holy Spirit breathes new life and vitality into your life.

-- Rollie J.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain in me a willing spirit. Psalm 51

When you are through changing, you are through. ~Bruce Barton

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.Romans 12:2

So if anyone is in Christ, he/she is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!   2 Corinthians 5:17

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3

After you've done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. And after ten years, throw it away and start all over. ~Alfred Edward Perlman

The birds are molting. If only man could molt also - his mind once a year its errors, his heart once a year its useless passions. ~James Allen

"See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.“  Revelations 21:5