I was just reading ahead in the Forward Day by Day looking for inspiration for this article and I found the reading for October 29^th.  It talked about beach glass and how collectors who find the clear, jagged pieces of glass urge that they be returned to the sea because they are “not finished yet”.  I got thinking about how beach glass is made and what it really is.  Beach glass is trash.  It starts out as somebody’s refuse.  A boater, fisherman, sailor discards his drink bottle over the side and watches it bob up and down in the water until it fills, over come by the waves, and sinks to the bottom. There broken by stone and the action of the waves.  Then the pieces are smoothed and gloss worn off to form these beautiful pieces of art.  After finishing they are then washed up on a beach to be redeemed by someone and put on display often in another bottle.  God has taken the piece of trash and turned it into a piece of artwork. 

As I look out my window I see a world of dust and dullness.  Trees tired of their summer’s work of refreshing our air are now covered with the dust and grime we have repaid them with for their work.  But there are splashes of jubilation as they celebrate their accomplishments and approach their time of rest.  As they enter their harvest celebration God clothes them in brilliant colors, reds, oranges, yellows, browns.  They have filled their roots with sugars to nourish them through the long winter sleep and bring them to life in the spring. God has taken the tired and turned our Berkshire Hills into a marvelous glowing landscape that artist can only envy and try to emulate with paint and canvas.

We used to have covered dishes suppers with a different program each month.  I remember one where my two “little girls” and one of their friends entertained us with song by “The Bill Gaither Trio” called Kids Under Construction.  The chorus went: “Kids under construction – Maybe the paint is still wet _ We’re kids under construction _The Lord might not be finished yet.”

What do these three things have in common? They are all about change.  All about God changing things for the better.  We all live a life of change. And it doesn’t matter whether we have our lives a piece of trash, have grown old and noble like a giant sugar maple or are just starting out with wet paint behind our ears, God has a plan to make us better.  In my life a new chapter started when I lost my job the end of May.  When Pastor Daina asked me if I had any idea what God had planned for me I answered “no”; then, I got a clear message that I was to write.  I have been trying all summer to figure out how to make it work by my own means.  I have tried to fit my writing into what I thought I should be doing.  I now know that I must open myself up to His plan and look for His guidance.  Writing has become easy again.  (Hopefully a job that will allow me to follow this and keep body and soul together will come along.)

I ask you now to consider how God is asking you to change: to look for how He is working in your life to smooth out the sharp or rough edges and turn you into a work of art.

BD