Repurposed

Dear Friends,

If you’ve ever been to the National Arboretum, you’ve probably seen the old Capitol pillars.  When the addition to the east side of the Capitol was added in 1958, these columns were removed, and were moved to the Arboretum in 1984.  

If you’ve been to the Arboretum, you’ve probably seen engagement photos or family photos being taken, they are a fabulous backdrop and are strikingly beautiful.

My son and I were walking in the Arboretum several weekends ago, and I was thinking about those columns.  They held a special and important purpose when at the Capitol building, and their purpose has changed into something entirely different from what the builders originally intended for them.  They are not as they once were, they do not have the same purpose.

But even in their different state, they are still so very beautiful, they are still so special.  Their purpose might have changed to something entirely different from their original intention, but that doesn’t mean their meaning is lost.

I was thinking, as I was walking with my 16 year old son, how those columns mirror life.  My relationship with my son is fundamentally different than it was 16 years ago, and in a few short years will be entirely different again.  Our relationship through the years has, and continues to change in essential ways.

But it’s not just with kids, right?  So much of our lives are spent adjusting to new and different phases of relationship with those in our lives.  Sometimes that adjustment is ease-filled, and other times it is profoundly hard.  Can we, this week, find a little more beauty in the new and different phases of relationship in our lives, both in the easy and the more complicated?  Perhaps we can embrace the new, and find meaning in the repurposing of the old in a fuller way. There is beauty in the old, and there's beauty in the new, can we see that beauty and value it a little more this week?

I hope you have an amazing week dear friends.  I am so grateful for you.

Love
Krista