Gordon, one of our readers, wrote me in response to yesterday’s Catch about my dining room table marked up by 12 years of my children’s homework with a story of his own from the 29 years he has professionally repaired furniture and other items damaged by movers.
Apparently the memories I wrote about that are imbedded in the markings on our table are affectionately called the “patina” of the wood – the wear of life that eventually becomes a part of the value of the piece. And then he related a story about a 40-year old table that had been damaged by movers filling out inventory sheets on it and pressing through seven layers of copies. When the owners of the table reported that their children had done their homework on this table for years and never left a mark, Gordon gave the table a closer look and sure enough, it was as clean as a whistle minus the mover’s marks.
“Thankfully this occurred when we were pregnant with our first child,” he wrote. “When I left the customer’s house, I told myself ‘I will never do that to my children.'”
Gordon and his wife have gone on to have four boys. “We have had to patch holes in the walls, fix a broken leg on the sofa, and have learned to appreciate the general patina on the furniture and woodwork.”
I think it appropriate as we approach Easter celebrations to reflect on the general patina of the cross of Jesus Christ that our sins are responsible for. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit had a pretty neat thing going on before we came along and messed everything up. Now Jesus knows every dent of our sin, and in fact, our patina has earned our relationship with Him. It is in the paying for our sins that Christ has become ours, and we have become His. It is why we have come to cherish the cross.
Gordon concluded, “Our relationship with our boys and our neighbors is more important than living in perfection.” Fortunately for all of us, God thinks the same thing.
For those of you in the Portland area who might be interested in Gordon’s services, check out his website at www.imagerestoration.com.
John Fischer The Catch 
During his speech at his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Harmon Killebrew remarked that, when he was a boy, his mother complained that he and his brothers were ruining the lawn when they played catch. His father replied, “We’re not raising grass – we’re raising boys”.
I love this! Thanks!
It’s hard to read either today’s Catch or yesterday’s without choking up a bit. When my dad passed away last year, my wife and I had to make some tough choices about which of his belongings to keep and which to let go — largely because our place is too small to take everything. Conversations — and thinking — went largely along the lines of, “that is a piece of junk!” “But I held onto that coffee table when I was learning to walk!” or “You’ve GOT to be kidding!” “But my kids teethed on that!” (My wife is not a nasty person: she just assumed the pragmatic role that I was having a hard time tackling under the circs.) Nevertheless, praise God that He still has enough rooms in His house to keep us “pieces of junk” with the scars and the chipped edges and the sloppy paint jobs and fix us up the way He wants!
Excellent. Thanks Drew.Interesting… His way includes making us over new while Jesus keeps the patina.