Getting hammered – and cut and bruised
A blood blister, several splinters and a bruise on my leg. These are some of the things I have to show for my efforts at reclaiming pallet wood into useable, sometimes functional pieces. But I’m getting ahead of myself a little. Let me give you the background.
A few weeks ago at church, our missions committee made an announcement. They had decided to sponsor a “talent project.” Based on the Parable of the Talents (found in Matthew 25), each willing family was given $40 to use as startup money for a project of their own design. Given three months, we were asked to use our talents to grow this money into a larger sum and return it to missions in May.
I eagerly accepted an envelope from the committee. But as I sought input from my family as to what our project could be, my anxiety sprung up. What could I do that everyone could be involved in? What could I do that wasn’t already being done?
Do I have any actual, marketable talent?
A week went by. I began to hear about the wonderful projects of others: homemade pies, babysitting services, fused glass, floral wreaths. Somehow my talents for sarcasm and witticisms didn’t seem quite so exciting anymore.
After some serious consideration of what materials we might have lying around and how I could stretch our budget, I came up with the idea of reclaiming pallets into art and furniture. (All right, there might have been a bit of a Pinterest binge involved, as well.)
My husband cuts the pallets apart for me according to my descriptions and crudely drawn blueprints. My kids and I paint them and attach various hardware. Don’t I make it sound so easy?
I have managed to make a cup holder, two different sizes of coat rack, various signs from old fence boards and several prayer crosses. I have other projects in the works, too. Christmas trees, paper towel holders and American flags are on the list. I’m having a good time. But it certainly hasn’t been easy.
Let’s go back to the beginning: I have blood blisters, bruises and splinters everywhere. You see, there is something uncommonly difficult about tearing a pallet apart. My husband says it is because they are generally made of oak, but I wonder if it is also due to me being semi-unskilled with a hammer. And also a weakling.
Regardless of reason, I have pinched my hands, hit my fingers, scraped my knuckles and basically beaten myself up. I have gotten frustrated and walked away. I have also beaten a board with a hammer and cursed a time or two. I have seen my many weaknesses throughout this project. I have seen my need for Jesus.
That has been the truly awesome part of the project. Not just seeing the wood take shape under my amateurish hand. Not just working with my entire family to create something cool. But also seeing that, I can fail, become hurt, show weakness – and no matter what – God is always with me.
That is a gift far more precious than my meager talent could ever be worth.
Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@verizon.net.