Dryer Vent Pumpkins

Every year our church holds a craft fair called “Fall on the Mound.”  Vendors from all over North Texas come to sell their artistic creations with the proceeds from the booth rental fee going towards women’s ministry activities and missions.

As I was walking around all the booths, I spotted an unusual, yet beautiful array of bright orange pumpkins displayed by a women’s group from our church. As I admired them, the pumpkin artist chirped, “They’re made out of dryer vents!” I thought, “How could something so cute be handcrafted from something so ordinary?”

It occurred to me that Christ does the same with our lives!  2 Corinthians 5:17 assures us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” God loves to take the ordinary and transform it into the extraordinary! I bought a trio of dryer vent pumpkins to serve as a reminder of Jesus’ transforming power.

I remember hearing a story in seminary about St. Augustine that I have never forgotten.  Before his conversion, St. Augustine was involved in loose living that involved drinking and many women. After he committed to Christ, a woman from his past was trying to get his attention as he walked down the road. He didn’t answer her calls.  She finally caught up to him and said something like, “Augustine why didn’t you turn around when I called you?” He replied, “Young woman, I am not that man anymore.”

And so it is with us.  When we give our lives to Christ, we are no longer the same person. God takes a life headed for the dumpster and creates a treasure- YOU -to be used for his glory. The problem is sometimes we see still see ourselves as junk rather than a piece of art. We must claim the truth about our new life in Christ and realize God is molding us into something very special.

The next time you doubt your value to God, make yourself a promise to remember the dryer vent; and know that God has blown new life into you!