I can’t tell you how many times in the past few weeks that I’ve heard folks say, “Do you know what they’re going to do with the old garage on the highway?”
That garage was a large building that had been home to an auto mechanic business for as long as I can remember. It was a place we never really noticed in our little country community other than seeing cars in various states of repair parked all over the front lot and an empty half-burned-down house that sat next to the garage.
But awhile back, we started noticing changes. The old house was torn down. All the cars from the mechanic’s shop were hauled off or returned to their owners. The business was cleaned out and the lot sat vacant.
Then some cool things happened. The garage doors on the building were washed. The roof was fixed. The lot was cleared until it was in pristine condition. Workmen cleaned inside the building. Shiny new glass windows and a new front door were installed.
My husband and I have lived in this community for almost 40 years. We’ve driven by that building countless times, but it wasn’t until the junk was removed and the building was cleaned that we realized for the first time that the old garage was beautiful. We were both stunned by that—and we weren’t the only ones. I’ve heard dozens of conversations these past few weeks about how gorgeous that large old building is.
How to Declutter and Let Go of Family Treasures
The lines of the garage are classic, and there’s a charm to it that we never saw before. It’s one of those places that cries out to be a really quaint restaurant where they can roll up the extra tall garage doors and have indoor/outdoor seating for meals. Or we’ve talked about what an awesome place it would be for a unique vintage store with handcrafted items.
But here’s the thing that hit home this week as I drove by–it wasn’t until the junk was removed and the building cleaned that its beauty was revealed.
The same is true of us. When we get rid of the soul-clogging junk from our lives, when we clean up our hearts until everything is pristine, then others can see the person of beauty that God has intended for us to be. That’s what I want to become. How about you?
