I changed things up a bit today. With the ongoing-ness of TMBWitW, and a hope chest that really needed to get started on (I’m refinishing a thirty-plus year old Lane Furniture “solid” cedar chest – ‘nother story, ‘nother time), I stayed at home today. I was working in my shop (my wife insists on parking her car in the middle of it, and calls it the “garage”) and sanding away on the old, dark, contemporary finish of the chest and the numerous deep scratches that come with age, and naturally my mind started wandering and making a connection between what I was doing and what God does.

First, though – the surgery has been scheduled, for the 18th – the latest possible date for the surgery, according to the doctor, and well after month end stresses. Also after the church retreat on the 11th through the 13th, so the pastor’s wife is happy about that. Thank you to all who have expressed concerns and prayers.

Back to the hope chest. I kept thinking about how much work it was to sand off the old finish (the outside of the chest is veneered with walnut), and at the same time I was trying to avoid digging too much wood off the veneer, I was trying to remove some pretty deep scratches from the lid. I kept thinking how much this action compared to what God is trying to do in each person’s life – removing the marks of hard hits, bad positions, a history of unhappy encounters; while stripping off the facade of the life we placed upon ourselves and at the same time preserving the foundation that He had laid in our life to begin with. I finished working on the lid – that is, the sanding part – and I had to leave one particularly nasty and deep scar on the surface. I had taken off a lot of material around it – in fact, I am afraid to work on that section any more for fear of revealing the substrate beneath the veneer – but unless you know where to look for it you can’t see it right now in the sanded version. I am pretty sure that once I put a finish back on this piece, the scar will jump back into prominence. This is where the analogy really starts to come together – you see, I am going to use some of “God’s Grace” (wood putty) to fill in the last part of this deepest scar, and to cover the result of a long and hard life so that only the beauty of the walnut shines through, much like God’s Grace in our lives covers our old sins and falls and bumps and bruises of life to where only the beauty of God shines though us.

I know that not all of the people who happen to stumble across this little corner of the internet will know what I am talking about – but the ones that understand what I am saying will see what I mean.

Yes, I will post pictures of the finished product. I didn’t take a “before” shot of the lid, so you’re just going to have to take my word for it. Here are some shots of the body, with a sanded picture of the lid:

You can see where I’ve started the detail sanding on the front left “waffle weave” – a feature that really dates the piece. This is going to take some serious time; I told the customer the charge would be for my labor more than anything else. I will also be building a drawer to replace the missing one. The toughest part of the build will be to match the drawer front with the rest of the chest. I’ve been researching and tracking down a supply of walnut veneer – pricey stuff, that.

UPDATE 8/31/09:

A 4×8 sheet of walnut veneer lists at about $240. At the same outlet (Woodworker’s Source) I found they also offer “hobby packs” of veneer – about seven square feet of veneer, for about $14. Perfect! that will take care of the needs for this project, and even leave a little bit left over.

Chat ya later…

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