You're grimey. And that's ok.

I was standing in line to get my kindergarten picture taken.

I was hoping they wouldn’t notice the tattered, stained and much-loved snoopy in my arms. To be fair it was more in my armpit as I had him by the neck cinched under my arm.

Of course they would let me hold Snoopy for my class picture right? Why wouldn’t they?

He was adorable! And precious! And I loved him.

He was also dirty, stained and down right grimy looking.

But I didn’t see any of that. Maybe others did, but I only saw my favorite stuffed animal who brought me happiness.

I think that’s how God looks at us. Scan0029 (582x800)

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isaiah 1:18

When God looks at you He sees only beauty and potential and it brings Him such sheer happiness to call you His own.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1)

You are His and you bring Him joy. Even in your grimiest moments, when you’re at your worst, He doesn’t see a tattered snoopy, He sees someone He loves unconditionally, He sees one of His favorites.

“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 17:8)

Now moving onto the tattered furniture.

There are many folks that can look at something dirty and past it’s prime and envision something beautiful.

I needed to do that with this particular piece.

We bought it from a friend of ours for $4. He said it was passed down to him from his family but had seen better days. Uh, yeah. It was heavy and solid but dirty, smelly and beat up. I’m not sure it was ever cleaned. EVER.

But that’s ok. I pictured it in pink and knew it would be ok. Since the top was so scratched and had such deep grooves I wanted to cover it with something. I originally thought I’d use fabric but then found some vintage contact paper at a flea market that looked great with the pink paint color I was using.

I primed the piece first since it was so old and stained in some areas. The color I used is called Sweet Pea by Vintage Market and Design Furniture Paint. It took two coats. I painted the top as well even though I knew I was going to cover it – this way in case I didn’t get the contact paper lined up to perfection, pink would show instead of white primer.

Once everything was dry (I typically wait a few days for everything to harden and begin curing) I sized and cut the contact paper. The paper was in great shape and was plenty sticky! After I put the paper on, I added a few drops of regular glue on the corners to ensure it would stay put.