God told Jeremiah, “Up on your feet! Go to the potter’s house. When you get there, I’ll tell you what I have to say.”

So I went to the potter’s house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.

Then God’s Message came to me: “Can’t I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?” God’s Decree! “Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you.” (Jeremiah 18:1-6)

his will be the third time Rebekah’s ongoing and imaginative reclamation project has found its way into this blog. Neither the coat rack nor the coffee table are quite ready for installation, but they continue to be a great story, as well as nudging my thoughts toward good theology as the work progresses.

Monday, with the temperature close to 60, Rebekah was able to apply another coat of clear varnish. She’s been working with the thick plank for two-three weeks now, cleaning, sanding, and sealing, but this was the first time she has been able to see deep enough into the wood for its true character to be revealed.

It was astounding enough that she called me down from my study to take a look.

Today it’s likely going to snow, and the temperature is already plummeting well below reasonability. So Rebekah probably won’t get the next coat on the coffee table (read, “big chunk of raw wood”) for another week. Plus she’s still looking for the right (read, “quirky enough”) hardware for the coat rack (read, “junkyard door”).

In a world saturated with demands for “instant” fixes, however inadequate they may be, it’s reassuring to watch the progress going on in our garage, and to be reminded of how the Master Craftsman, the Creator and re-creator of all Creation, lovingly and deliberately works in our lives over time, and to a depth where color, character, and possibility are all revealed.

Hope, sometimes, can start out looking like an old piece of wood from a junkyard.

In hope, and in the promise of believing – DEREK