What's your favorite place to explore? ... Wait till you see mine!!

Do you have a favorite place to go and explore? I do!! A couple of years ago I discovered one of my favorite places! It's probably not for everyone, but I find so much inspiration from exploring this new little hidden gem. At first glance it doesn't look like much. But as I peel back the layers, the inspiration of endless possibilities are all around me! Now, you're probably wondering, what is this beautiful place and how do I get there?? But.... before my grand reveal, you will need to remember to use your imagination, aaaand remember... the endless possibilities that are hidden before you!!! Keep scrolling to discover this little place of beauty 👇....

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Here it is!!!! Isn't she BEAUTIFUL?!?!?!❤️

Now I know what you're thinking... but remember, I said you would need to use your imagination to discover the endless possibilities of true beauty!!!

Just look at that barn and all the treasures that await underneath its falling frame! You can't see it all in this picture but there's old corrugated tin, chicken wire, old pipes and soooo much great barn wood just waiting to be put back to use!!

I love to create, but my favorite way to create is taking something old and making it new!! There is something so satisfying about taking an old piece of beat up ugly wood and finding the beauty that was once there and bringing it to life again. This old fallen down barn is exactly where all that old beat up ugly wood is at. You will find it buried beneath the dirt or wedged between broken parts of the timber framing that once held this barn together in its original state.

This piece, all pieces from the old barn, were once just a bunch of dirty pieces of wood that most people would never give a second thought. 👇

But with a little cleaning and scrubbing 🧼, a little sanding and varnishing 🖌️, a little creativity and building ⚒️ this masterpiece made its debut as the center piece at my brother and sister in laws wedding shower!

This dirty old board is currently hanging in our kitchen and we use it to watch our kids grow each year. Don't worry, this is the before 👇

But with a little TLC... This is our new and improved beloved measuring ruler we use to record the growth of our girls ❤️

Anyone else obsessed with cute baskets or trays?🙋‍♀️. I love to add a cute look to any room with a unique wooden basket, box or tray!! All I had to do was clean, varnish, cut, and assemble some old barn wood and look... Out popped these cute hidden finds! I even found those cute handles out in the junk yard at the farm... another one of my favorite places 😉. They were pretty nasty but nothing a little washing and spray paint can't fix!

What about larger pieces?? .... Anyone love having a cute looking coffee table to make your living room pop?! Well, have you ever tried shopping for one at your local fallen over barn supply stop?? The best part... It's completely free of charge!!

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Pallet boards, all the pallet boards!! Have you ever thought of what you could turn these beautiful pieces into?!?!

Now I have to admit... It takes a lot of time and patience to pry off each board with a hammer! I may have wanted to quit once or twice! But I had a vision and I am so glad that kept me going, because this piece below is one of my favorites!

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Oh and let's not forget about the old windows!!

I LOVE old windows!!! Eeek!! I literally leap inside with excitement over this one!! It took lots of cleaning, a little gentle sanding and some fine razor paint chipping to clean this one up! But I think this one is my ABSOLUTE favorite!! 👇

Now there are also plenty of windows with the glass broken out!! But oh don't you fret!! There is a place for those ones too!!

This one here was transformed into a Christmas gift for our Mullet Christmas exchange!! I may have secretly been hoping I would win it during the White Elephant game!! 😅

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Creating, oh how I love creating things! When I create and use my imagination to turn a piece of nothing into a piece of something I can't help but think of the Greatest creator of all time!! The creator that literally turned absolutely NOTHING into this beautiful place we get to call home each and every day!

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalms 19:1

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, and I know that full well. Psalm 149:13

Isn't it amazing that we serve a God who finds US in our wreckage just like that dirty old buried up good for nothing piece of barn wood wedged between the timber framing that once stood solid! He rescues us, cleans us and molds us into something new! He sets us out as His masterpiece ready to serve Him with the specific purpose He intendeds for us.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. Psalm 40:2

Just like that old pallet board, sometimes God has to pry off the ugly in our life in order to transform us. This process can be so incredibly painful, but oh so worth it in the end!

I believe that God is continually at work in our lives, molding us and shaping us as we face the storms of life. The process of refining is unpleasant, but he has a specific purpose!

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Don't you see, being a Christian doesn't mean a life of ease and pleasant living. This side of heaven we will never see that. We live in fallen world that will always make us filthy and dirty. I'm so thankful for savior who cleansed us!! So where is our foundation?!?! If we put our hope in the things of this world, will they stand during the storms of life? Or will they crumble and bury us bellow the old timbers of framing that once held their shape?

Standing in Christ is standing in hope, not for a life of ease or the absence of trouble, but for a hope in a future unlike this world has ever seen. Hope in eternal life with God, the same God that created this whole world and everything in it , including you and me! Where is our foundation then? The Bible tells us that a king is coming! He came once to save us! But He's coming back again to bring us home!!

"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 a future". Jeremiah 29:11

So next time you walk by an old crumbling and falling down barn consider the hidden gems buried beneath the rubbish.