The Beauty of Restoration

“I don’t even like going in there,” she shared. Shaking her head, she closed the door to the spare bedroom once again. There were piles of furniture, boxes of books, a keyboard, and items gathered from garage sales — framed art, exercise equipment, and small mementos.

To you, this was a place of anxiety and stress. A place of buried and forgotten things. One that had become painful to even look at. But to me, all I saw was possibilities.

You saw clutter. I had clarity.

You saw a mess. I saw a place for rest.

You saw chaos. I saw a place of peace.

You saw tension. I saw a place to dream.

You saw what it was. I saw what it could be.

All it needed was a little TLC. Some fresh eyes. A new perspective. We didn’t even have to go out and buy anything. No, everything needed was all right there. Just cluttered, forgotten, without a home or a designated place to call its own. It just needed to be rearranged. Sorted through. Thought about. It needed intention, vision, a purpose.

This may be a story about interior design, but isn’t the same true for me and you? We have these things in our lives that feel messy. Chaotic. Cluttered. Distressed. Our instinct often tells us to close the door, forget or ignore, and just seek the next, new thing.

But what we often really need, is to dust off those parts of ourselves that are already there. Those parts that have been forgotten, neglected. The parts that we haven’t given true intention or thought to. What you need is often already inside of you.

So take some time this week, and revisit those forgotten, messy, hurting parts of you. Don’t just settle for seeing these things as they currently are. Bring fresh hope and vision to what they can be. Restoration is a beautiful thing.