Mantel Makeover

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After a few comments from the peanut gallery I decided it was time to spruce up the mantel. I had been told it was “boring” compared to some other areas in the house. This was a true statement. I have hung the same thing over my mantel for years now. I absolutely love this genealogy chart and get tons of compliments on it, but it was time for a change in scenery. (BTW – the chart is from the Martha Stewart catalog from LONG ago. I haven’t found another like it since and they don’t make it any more. Hint Hint Martha, you should bring it back!) Part of the problem was I had no inspiration or ideas of what to replace this mantelscape with! Then my sweet junkin friend invited me to go crawl through some old barns full of treasure with her. As quick as I could get my boots on I said yes and off we went. We loaded up our cars with piles of rusty chippy delight. It was such a fun day. And inspiration hit me. It came in the form of a $15 table with a missing leg. There was no fixing this table. The leg was missing altogether. The fellow junk lover that let us sift through her barns had painted the French words across the table a time ago. She had loved on this table till it fell apart and it was time for her to move on. I quickly went to disassembling this dainty little table. All the parts and pieces where going to have a new home in my mantel. I knew the tabletop would be a great anchor piece and it had just enough worn in goodness for my taste. The leg spindles found new purpose as candle holders and display pieces. All the little things I had been collecting and holding on to suddenly found a home. They all worked together to make this happy space. I believe to make a vignette it takes all kinds of different sizes, shapes, materials, textures, colors, heights and always meaning. The books came from a thrift store. $5 The old school J sign from my shopping buddy. $1 The chippy peely architectural piece came out of the same barn as the table. I just liked it. $2.50 The gold circle is an old architectural salvage that surrounded a light fixture on the ceiling. Another (but different) barn hunt find. $3 Large white platter. Garage sale steal. $1 Aluminum gravy plate. .10¢ The super worn old books, garage sale loot. $3 Bullet vase $1 Carolina street sign is the splurge of the bunch…$20 at the Sweet T Vintage Show. The bunch of moss, flowers and bird’s nest were all free from my yard. It’s easy to look at these things individually and think they don’t count for much. But put them together and they create a mantel that will make a junker’s heart melt. It’s also easy to think of yourself as someone who can’t make much of a difference. Especially when it comes to the church body. You might feel unnoticed at social gatherings and church functions. You might feel less effective than those who travel abroad on mission trips and start global missionary campaigns.

Maybe you are still on the fence about this whole Jesus thing and think no one would want you and all your baggage. Perhaps you have been hurt by other believers and feel like you have nothing to offer. The devil likes to tell us we aren’t needed, we are unimportant and that God can’t use us. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 1 Corinthians 12:14 The body of Christ isn’t about any single one of us, it’s about all of us. God doesn’t need any of us, but he wants all of us and all we have to offer. He wants us to join together to offer up the gifts he gave us for his glory. United together. We each are individually beautiful works of Christ’s art, but together…together we can be so much more. So stop seeing what you can’t do. Don’t look to what others do better or different. Instead ask, “How can I contribute to the body of Christ, to grow the kingdom of God?”

When the table didn’t work the same as it used to before, all the parts and pieces came apart. Then they were mixed up, combined with new parts and used in a different exciting way. So, if you find yourself in a stagnant situation, one that isn’t working anymore, you feel like you can’t contribute for any reason,  or the lie that you aren’t needed is creeping in, maybe it’s time to shuffle things up a bit. You are always a much needed part of a bigger picture. Things just won’t be the same without you. Gather more creative inspiration here!