Thursday, January 17, 2008

Perspective About Old Barns

Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun, only that can produce beautiful barn wood.

A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking. He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway. I told him right off he was crazy. He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car, his hands, and the way he talked. He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale. I told him he had a funny idea of beauty.

Sure, it was a handsome building in its day. But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind. The summer sun's beat down on that old barn till all the paint's gone, And the wood has turned silver gray. Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired. Yet, that fellow called it beautiful.
That set me to thinking. I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn. The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den In a new country home he's building down the road. He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful. Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun, only that can produce beautiful barn wood.
It came to me then. We're a lot like that, you and I. Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us. Sure we turn silver gray too... And lean a bit more than We did when we were young and full of sap. But the Good Lord knows what He's doing. And as the years pass He's busy using the hard weather of our lives, The dry spells and the stormy seasons to do a job of beautifying Our souls that nothing else can produce. And to think how often folks holler because they want life easy!

They took the old barn down today and hauled it away To beautify a rich man's house. And I reckon someday you and I'll be hauled off To Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good Lord Has for us there.
And I suspect we'll be more beautiful Then for the seasons we've been through here... And just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father's house.

May there be peace within you today. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
I believe that friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
Someone sent this to me and I wanted to share it with my blogger friends. I thought this was a good analogy.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:18 PM

    These are great, Marian!

    I've always loved the old buildings scattered around in the country...old houses, barns, even some sheds can be pretty picturesque. I kept thinking, one day I'd drive around the backroads and just take photos of the old buildings and barns. Maybe turn them into a calendar, or a coffee table book... who knows?

    Never happened, but I'm young yet. :-)

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  2. Sure - you still have time Phillip. I remember one time when Bob and I were up in Arkansas riding the backroads and came across a lot of old barns and I was just clicking away and was so happy...got home and realized that I had no film in the camera...I was soooo disappointed. Glad you enjoyed the pictures. Come back and see me! :)

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  3. Great photos, these old barns would make alot of great looking barn wood picture frames which sell really good. Maybe one day I'll get back into making barn wood frames again but it's hard to get folks to let you get the wood without removing the whole barn.

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Have a Blessed day and please come back! :)