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Shelves
My world came crashing down this week. Okay, that may be a bit of a hyperbole. My shelves came crashing down this week.
When I first moved to Cornelius, I spent a day building the shelves you see on the left. From cutting the wood, staining it, to measuring and hanging the supports. It was a monumental step forward in making my new house feel like home.
This past week, that all changed when I hit the corner of one of the planks and sent both bottom shelves crashing down to the floor. Evidently, the screws that came with the original supports were far too short to hold the weight of my books. It shattered the mirror that sit atop it, broke one of my pottery pieces that I had made by hand, and left me feeling defeated by more than just the shelves.
I won't sugarcoat it, I cried. It felt deeper than just the shelves. I put all of my effort and energy into something, felt prideful for six months about it, and watched it come crashing down because of one small piece I had misjudged. I stood staring at the wall, tears running down my face, and said, "I can't do anything." Dramatic, I know, but I am who I am.
What I failed to appreciate in the moment was the company I was surrounded by. I happened to have friends and family in town for the New Year. As I stood there crying, my twin sister started picking up the pieces of my shattered pottery and putting it in a bag to piece together later. Her boyfriend moved the pieces of wood to the side and picked up every scattered screw. My friend picked up my books and stacked them neatly on the wall. My boyfriend went to Home Depot and got new screws and new supports.
When things came crashing down, my people were there to pick up the pieces.
I finally got my wits about me and rebuilt the shelves last night. The picture on the right shows the shelves with their new supports; metal instead of wood, installed with longer screws. You can also see the tools scattered about, evidence of my labor. Evidence of rebuilding. I went ahead and replaced the top shelf supports too. They don't look quite as nice as the original shelves. They have wires hanging out and hard metal edges, but they are stronger, nonetheless.
Sometimes we need to rebuild.
And just maybe, we'll be stronger on the other side of the crash.
When things come crashing down, for us, for our youth, may we as the church be the people that show up and pick up the pieces. And may we have the courage to rebuild.
Surely the kingdom of heaven is like this.
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