For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life – Ephesians 2:10

One of the (many, many) things I love about my wife, Rebekah, is her constant creativity. She’s always “up to something,” and I’m never quite sure what’s coming – especially in the home improvement department.

Our daughter, Naomi, has many of the same proclivities. Now that Naomi and Craig have moved from Connecticut to Richmond, and have the tabula rasa of a brand new house to play with, collaboration is only a couple of hours away.

SAY WHAT? Case in point a recent mother-daughter conversation:

Naomi: “Mama, I’ve designed built-ins for my studio. Do you have any ideas?”

Rebekah: “How about some reclaimed wood, like the open shelving in our kitchen? I think they have some vintage wood at the Habitat Re-Store in downtown Raleigh.”

Naomi: “That sounds great. David and Beks can have some grandaddy time and we’ll go explore.”

So that’s how I got to enjoy the morning with my grandkids last Monday. We had a great time, and – evidently – so did the designing women. They found some good wood behind the store (last year Rebekah had discovered ours under a barn over in Bunn) and apparently, “it won’t quite fit in the SUV.”

“Where’s the wood,” I said when they got home.

“Oh, it won’t quite fit in the SUV. They’re going to deliver.”

Evidently not. That’s why, yesterday, “picking up a couple of piece of wood” required the help of our friend Armin (thanks so much, Armin, we really appreciate you!) and his big red pick-up truck. That’s right, “just a couple of pieces of wood,” looks like this!

The boards ranged from 11-ft to more than 14-ft, and it wasn’t exactly lightweight timber. But we stacked it, we tied it down, we hung the requisite red and yellow warning flags, and we made it home in one piece.

RECLAIMED: There are a lot of good “R”-words in the story of faith: Relationship, renovation, renewal, redemption, restoration, resurrection, reconciliation, and more… But I really appreciate the theology held in the word “reclaimed.”

You see, God doesn’t just save us; God finds us, values us, pays off our debt, loads us in the truck, brings us home, and then works us over but good.

I like this application of reclamation, defined as “to claim or demand the return or restoration of, as a right, possession, etc.” As sapient beings, imagined and created in the image of the divine, we are God’s possession. When we return to God, then, via the process of reclamation, the relationship – intended from the foundation of time – is restored.

Just a few old boards? Maybe to you! – DEREK

(the whole show)