My great-grandfather was a house mover during the great depression and held that occupation all the way through the 1970's. Being born in 1901 and growing up during this era, he, like many others from that time, tended to collect things and also tended to not get rid of many things. If they could find a second, third, or even fourth use for an item, they would.
He and my great-grandmother were both strong willed and very self-sufficient people. They resided in humble dwellings. The house that they lived in, and the house that my great-grandmother later passed away in more than 50 years later, was quite simple. My grandfather moved the house to it's current location back in the 1940's and they raised 7 children in it. Surrounding the house was at one time, wide open property. On that property my grandparents over the years raised sheep and cattle. Being that my grandfather was often working with various automobiles and other machinery including tractors, boats, trucks and the like, he eventually accumulated many skeletons of these things which also became part of what to many people looked like a junk yard.
When I was a child, my parents would go to grandad and grandma's house every week to play Canasta. If you're not familiar, Canasta is a card game that sometimes would take them hours to complete, or at least it seemed like that for me. After becoming bored within minutes of being there, I would slighly sneak out to explore grandad's "stuff". There were all kinds of treasures to be found and with a little imagination I was able to keep myself occupied until either the sun went down or until I heard the beckoning call of my parents announcing it was time to head home.
Sometimes my imagination would take me to places like the high seas, where as I sat in my grandad's boat, I would navigate the rough currents in hope of conquest over a rival's ship or of finding a deserted island with buried treasure on it.
Although grandad's place looked on the outside to be a cluttered mess, he seemed to know exactly where everything was. If my dad needed a spare part or some hubcaps, or even to borrow a tool, grandad knew exactly where to send him without even having to evacuate his rocking chair.
That's the way God is with us, isn't it? He keeps us around even when the world says we're used up or useless. He knows exactly where we're at and how He wants to use us. God has a higher purpose than even the world can see for every one of us. Although our talent may look cluttered, unkept, and maybe even a little rusty, God sees through that. He sees the possibilities that are oblivious to most of the others out there. Where they may see a rusted out old car, with little or no value, God sees a strong individual who has weathered many storms and is filled with experience and the strength needed to help another individual who needs loving counsel to make it through a divorce, death of a friend or relative, or another life circumstance that may seem like a catastrophe.
God is the great "junk" reclaimer. When the world or the evil one is trying to get you down or tell you that you're not good enough or not ready to be used or that you "you're all used up". Remember that we are to "wait upon the Lord", not upon man. In God we find our worth, our strength and our purpose.
Blessings!
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, "declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Philippians 4:12-13
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
