A while back, I published my first post here on the blog about a late nineteenth century rocking chair. I have finally found the time to create a video that shows the restoration process on the chair. There was so much footage and so many photos of the process that almost 35 Gigs were freed up when the files were deleted after completing the video.
(If you would like to go straight to the video, you may find it at the bottom of this page)
Below are a few photos of the process of fixing the rockers with new wooden dowels. Such a simple thing, really, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this part. What was once as rickety as a boxcar is now as solid as an Amish pole barn.
As I began to look through the video footage, I was trying to think of what the message might be, but every idea that came to mind seemed forced and awkward when I was looking up verses to support them.
After several trials and errors, I realized that I just wanted to share what I experienced while I worked on that chair. I remember feeling a strong kinship with that chair. It was in terrible disrepair from having experienced a significant portion of its life in a manner which was never intended by its creator. It was no longer seen as valuable or useful and was destined for either the trash heap or an humiliating existence as a rustic plant holder.
I sometimes entertain myself by anthropomorphizing the pieces on which I work and I could almost feel its desperation; it was as if it was pleading for restoration. “Save me, sir, and I will serve you forever. Erase these scars and mend these broken bones and my gratitude will be eternal.” Such are the thoughts that I gave my chair because they are precisely the thoughts which saturated the plea for my own salvation not too many years ago.
I am a miserably imperfect man who finds great joy in and has an unending gratitude for the Salvation I have received from my beloved Christ. It is because of this gratitude that I continue to strive to do all that I do in the name of the Lord Jesus. These are the things that were so prevalent in my mind as I worked on this curious little chair and that continue to fill my thoughts as I work. If I am honest, I must admit that there are a few pieces of furniture which contain a few of my own tears beneath the shellac and the wax; absorbed within their wooden fibers.
I invite you to rejoice in His birth, life, earthly ministry, His triumph over death and His offer of salvation. Obedience and devotion to Him will spring not from disgruntled obligation, but from a deeply profound gratitude.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Mr. Stafford
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