June 5 – “Not really necessary”

I started in the garage working on another Ike survivor recovery project yesterday.  This one was an old high chair that we used when I was a kid.  Our boys used it for a long time, too.  A bottom section is hinged to fold over and form a floor level desk as well.  Pretty ingenious contraption.  I don't know how this one will turn out, though.  It's in pretty rough shape.    When I started sanding it the slats started falling apart.  They were just glued together in the first place, but that was an unexpected development.  The old glue had dissolved in the flood waters.  An easy fix, right?  Just slap some glue back in there and we're good to go, right?  Did I mention flood waters?  There was just enough of a warp in the wood to make the grooves not quite fit in a few places.  I got it to go back together, but there are some tiny gaps that are filled in with glue.  It seems to be holding structurally.    The sanding process was easy at least.  The old stain was peeling off already.  Now the dried glue was another story.  I guess I didn't let it dry long enough or something, because it is very difficult to remove with sandpaper.  And using my dremel didn't really help.  That just heated it up and made it gooey again.  I'll try again later and see if it gets any easier before I start staining.  I did try to save the original stenciled pattern.  It's a baby duck.  I'm hoping the new stain will just seal it back in and not obliterate it.    The thing I like about restoring this old furniture is its simplicity.  Not too many extraneous parts to confuse you as to their purpose.  We did decide that there is a part missing.  It locks the bottom and top together when it is in the upright position.  I have no idea what it originally looked like, and it's not really necessary.  That's probably why it's gone.   Not really necessary.  Now there's a concept.  Who gets to decide what's not really necessary?  The designer?  The carpenter?  The consumer who buys the chair?  The government?  What about with body parts?  Who needs a spleen?  Or an appendix?  Or tonsils?  Why were they put there in the first place?  And who gets to decide?  The doctor?  The scientist-researcher?  The person with the body part in question?  I guess the ethical debate could rage on and on.  There ultimately comes a point in every ethical debate where you have to take a step of trust and say, "I trust."  I trust that the designer knew what he was doing.  The carpenter knew what was practically needed.  God knew what I needed to be made of.  Not really necessary?  Hmm.  I choose to trust.   Psalms 139:13-14 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."   Father, I trust you to decide what is necessary.  Best I can tell, Jesus is all I really need, but there sure are some powerful distractions. Amen.