By Julie Garmon @DiAnnMills

This week’s blog post is from Julie Garmon, a long-time friend and great writer.

For months I pretended not to notice, but last week there was no denying it. As I vacuumed the den, the late afternoon sun poured through the windows, highlighting the scratches in our pine floors.

Our floors had been through hard times.

Life had beaten them up.

Healing From Life’s Scratches

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The next day at Home Depot, I found special markers called Rejuvenate. They came in different shades of brown, and the package claimed the product would repair wood furniture and floors.

Why not give it a try?

Rejuvenate did a fine job covering the scratches, but something even more remarkable happened.

My soul was rejuvenated.

I knelt and began covering marks in the floor and thought about the scratches in my heart.

My life.

My journey.

My choices.

History history.

My mistakes.

The times I’d allowed fear to consume me.

Times I’d tried to please people rather than please God.

Times I’d run from Him.

All the time I’d wasting by comparing myself to others.

I wondered if there was a parallel between restoring my floors and restoring my heart.

Kneeling over my bedroom floor, I thought~

Lord, You’re only a breath away.

Nothing is hidden from You.

Everything is laid bare.

You know me.

You know my heart.

My story.

My past.

My future.

My weaknesses.

My strengths.

As I covered each mark in the floor, I considered the marks in my life and imagined Jesus kneeling with me. Side by side.

He didn’t say, “Julie, pay attention! You missed a spot. Why didn’t you take care of your floors to start with? Are you ever going to learn? When are you going to get it right?”

I felt no condemnation.

None.

Only Love.

He loves us. Oh, how He loves us.

As I restored my worn floors, God restored the worn places in my heart.

Lord, You are intimately acquainted with all my ways, and still, You love me. From Ps. 139:3

There’s something powerful about kneeling when we pray.