Splintered Art

Sage Brush and Juniper Trees

God's Blue Ribbon Handiwork

Flying T Ranch

Sprague River, Oregon

June 2011

Deuteronomy 9:23 NIV

And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take possession of the land I have given you." But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You did not trust him or obey him.

My art teacher didn't like me.

When she conviscated the library book I was reading at the end of class, I knew she had it in for me. Being a mature 13 year old, I decided I wouldn't like her, either.

I adopted a passive aggressive attitude designed to irritate her. I had enough sense not to cross the line with her because trouble at school equated trouble at home, but at the first opportunity, I set forth to irritate her.

She assigned toothpick art for our project.  Everyone in class made an object on a piece of wood that was recognizable: a house, a table, a car, and so on.

I, however, had other plans.  Since my attitude was sour, I didn't care what I designed. 

I dipped toothpicks into glue and let them drop where they wanted onto the baseboard. 

As my random creation grew, it reminded me of a giant triangle on the back of a pirate ship. I continued to dip and drop. 

I laughed, I was gleeful, and I had a great time as I worked on my project. This would certainly elicit a negative comment from my teacher, and then I would have more proof she didn't like me.

My friends wanted to join the fun. They unloaded their excess toothpicks onto my mess until the monstrosity was about a foot tall.  As they added toothpicks, it began to build girth and dimension around the middle. I witnessed a three-dimensional object taking on a pattern all its own.

When our projects were due, mine towered over my peers' offerings and assumed no recognizable shape. 

Surprise!  The teacher didn't fail my project. Instead, she completely confused me by placing it in the middle school art show, which was the only time I've had an entry in such an event.

I didn't expect that kind of attention from her. Maybe she liked me after all.

Even as a youth, God tried to teach me not to jump to conclusions.

I would like to say--"Yeah! Learned and mastered that concept!" but the truth is I still fall into the old habits of jumping to wrong conclusions. 

Now I understand the reason the library book was taken from me had nothing to do with whether or not she liked me, but it had everything to do with my obeying her in class when she told us to put our books away. I got caught with my book out, so I lost it.

I have had to accept there are times in life I don't understand the "Big Picture," so I need to trust and obey God. 

Thankfully, He can take a mess like me and turn my life into a beautiful piece of art ready to be put on display. 
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Thank you, Lord, for the beauty you have created out of my splintered life.