The Blacksmith’s Shop
by Max Lucado

In the shop of a blacksmith, there are three types of tools.
There are tools on the junk pile: 
outdated, broken, dull, rusty.

They sit in the cobwebbed corner, useless to their master, oblivious to their calling.

There are tools on the anvil:
melted down, molten hot, moldable, changeable.

They lie on the anvil, being shaped by their master, accepting their calling.

There are tools of usefulness:
sharpened, primed, defined, mobile.

They lie ready in the blacksmith’s tool chest, available to their master, fulfilling their calling.

Some people lie useless:
lives broken, talents wasting, fires quenched, dreams dashed.

They are tossed in with the scrap iron, in desperate need of repair, with no notion of purpose.

Others lie on the anvil:
hearts open, hungry to change, wounds healing, visions clearing.

They welcome the painful pounding of the blacksmith’s hammer,
longing to be rebuilt, begging to be called.

Others lie in their Master’s hands:
well tuned, uncompromising, polished, productive.

They respond to their Master’s forearm, demanding nothing, surrendering all.

We are all somewhere in the blacksmith’s shop.
We are either on the scrap pile, in the Master’s hands on the anvil,
or in the tool chest. (Some of us have been in all three.)

From the shelves to the workbench, from the water to the fire …
I’m sure that somewhere you will see yourself.

Paul spoke of becoming “an instrument for noble purposes.”  And what a becoming it is!
The rubbish pile of broken tools, the anvil of recasting, the hands of the Master –
it’s a simultaneously joyful and painful voyage.

And for you who make the journey—who leave the heap and enter the fire, dare to be pounded on God’s anvil,
and doggedly seek to discover your own purpose—take courage, for you await the privilege of being called
“God’s chosen instruments.”

Hope you’ve all had a blessed week so far!  We’ve got some major storms going through now … it woke me up … lots of lightening and thunder … I can never sleep during storms like this!  Are you experiencing any of this where you are?  We now know that spring is here!  On another note … remember those Pitbulls next door?  One was loose the other day when my husband went to get the mail … needless to say, he changed his mind real quick!  I’m so thankful he didn’t get mauled!  Apparently it got lose from the chain in the front yard (they now have one chained in the front and one in the back) … we went out later that night, and it wasn’t anywhere to be seen.  We were told by a couple of people that we should carry mace, just in case!  Well now, to top that off, they’ve added 3 Chihuahau’s to the mix!  It’s becoming a regular dog pound over there!  They now have a sign in their window that says, ‘Beware of The DOG’!  Pardon me, but there is more than one!  We are praying they move!  I hope you don’t think we sound ‘unneighborly-like’, but it’s getting to be a bit much!  We are told that in our immediate area, there is no ‘animal control’ to come out to check, so the thing we are going to need to do, is call the police … they should have an answer.   

On a lighter note … I do have an update on my father-in-law, O.P. … he is doing very well!  Thank you all, again, for your thoughts, and prayers!  They were going to let him go home yesterday morning, but they wanted to get him into some physical therapy to build strength back after being bedridden this week.  Now they are saying that he’ll be going home later today.  They were amazed at how well he was doing in such a short amount of time!  Praise the Lord!  We’ll be going to see them tomorrow, or Sunday after church.  I hope you all have a wonderful Friday, and a great weekend.  We have a couple of things planned, and we’re hoping the weather will be nice.  Hope the sun is shining on you all … be blessed!  

Hugs,
         ~ Deborah <><