Miscellaneous, etc.: Service Is Like a Mosaic

By Laura Lofgreen my wonderfully, talented sis-in law. Thanks La-La. This piece exemplifies why you are such an eclectic masterpiece. Just as beautifully constructed as a mosaic. :)

Mosaic art by Sandy Robertson Image found here.

I went to a yard sale a few weeks ago and purchased this beautiful hope chest for $40.00.

The woman who sold it to me was kind, like so nice I wanted to her to adopt me. Her name was Loretta and she had the beauty of an artist. You know what I mean. Beautiful olive skin, thick hair that looked like it never had a bad day, eyes with light beaming out of them (like she knew more then the rest of us) and a certain humility that made me want to learn something from her.

“I know I have the key somewhere,” she said, pointing to the lock on the hope chest.

Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about the lock, but Loretta took my name and number and promised to give me a call when she found the key.

What Loretta didn’t know was most things I purchase at yard sales I bring home, clean up and resale on EBay or Craig’s List. I feature all my finds on my blog, My Dear Trash (www.mydeartrash.blogspot.com). I was certain the hope chest would be sold by the end of the weekend for $100.00.

But there was something so lovely about the hope chest and I wanted to keep it. Still, ambitious and curious as I am, I put it on Craig’s List. I received numerous inquiries, but never called anyone back.

A week later I received a call from Loretta. She’d found the key.

I drove out to her house and this is what she handed me; the key, the original booklet and the original tag.

Seriously, who’s this organized? Who keeps this stuff? Obviously beautiful, artistic, nice people.

I gave Loretta a hug and knew I would keep the hope chest; I just wasn’t sure where I would put it.

Loretta told me her garage was full of items left over from the yard sale.

“I’m going to donate all this stuff, so take what you want,” she said as she opened her garage.

It was so much fun looking through all her stuff, but to my surprise she had something special saved for me.

It was a dresser full of broken china, broken crystals and trinkets.

“This is my box of mosaics,” she said. “I can’t keep them because I’m moving out of state and have no room to take them with me. All these pieces I have some sentimental value to me. I want you to have them.”

I did take Loretta’s dresser full of mosaic pieces, but I had someone special in mind to give them to.

This is Rachel.

She’s a beautiful girl in my church who I greatly admire. I always see her serving her family and with a single mom and 5 younger brothers, it’s easy to see why.

Rachel also has an artist’s beauty and I felt impressed to offer Loretta’s mosaic’s to her. I can’t wait to see what she creates.

And what happened to the hope chest? Let me tell you.

This is Kelly, a darling friend of mine.

Kelly is also an artist, a sharing artist. She takes trash and turns it into treasure. So much of what she makes she gives to others. She saw my hope chest and wanted to make it beautiful for my new baby daughter, Eden. Here’s what it looks like now.

She also took a few pieces of a broken chandelier from Loretta’s mosaic box.

And made the pieces into a crystal mobile for my baby’s room.

Service is like a Mosaic; piece by piece it becomes something beautiful.

Like how my sister Becky brought us pizza for dinner last night.

And how my son Payson helped Eden with her first bath.

Like when Jann brought flowers to the hospital after Eden’s birth.

And how my mother-in-law gave Mayer a tennis racket because she knew he would love it.

And now my brother Sam spends time with Mayer, teaching him tennis.

And how Heather made my baby girl this beautiful sign for her room.

I could go on and on. Isn’t it touching, to think all this is done in the name of Christ.

We may all be a bit broken, but beautiful in are own way. Bit by bit, we love & serve others and it comes together into a beautiful creation; even more beautiful then a mosaic.