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At our cabin we are in need of some doors for the laundry closet. The opening is an odd size so going to the big box stores to pick up a set of by-fold doors is not an option. Ordering custom doors can be costly and that is a route we don’t want to take. The cabin has a very rustic mountain feel to the decor with old barn wood for cabinets and rusty tin from roof for some of the ceiling. We want to stay with that theme which means having something unique. 

Another project we have going on at the cabin left us with ten unused pallets stacked up outside. The thought occurred to me, could we not use those pallets to make the closet doors? I began to do some research on the internet about closet doors made from pallets. The options were almost endless as the creativity of people is amazing! After looking at numerous photos I finally found a picture of a door made from used pallets that we liked. This specific style could be custom fit to any size door opening. My idea was taking shape. 

We had the material for the doors and a plan of exactly what we wanted. There was one small problem. Who was I going to get to build these custom doors? My wood working skills are not to that level, plus I don’t have the machinery to build doors. Scott, my friend who does our carpentry work is busy working on another project. Finding someone was going to be a challenge.    

A little later I was speaking to my mother and in our conversation I mentioned the custom doors we wanted to have made. She told me that my younger brother had started doing wood work and had built a desk and some other pieces. Sometime after our conversation, I was over at my brother’s house and he showed me the custom desk he made for his son. It was a very nice wooden desk. I then asked my brother if he would be willing to make these custom doors for us. He is an engineer, very detail oriented, and does things to the best of his ability. Because my brother is a teacher and has the summer off, he agreed to make these doors. We delivered the pallets to him a few weeks back and he is beginning the project. 

Michelle and I cannot wait to see the completed closet doors. They will be another item in the space that was old and may have been discarded, but instead has been repurposed into something useful. The pallets would have otherwise been tossed away or destroyed and I have a passion to see old things reused. 

Repurposing has been around for some time now. Many people have businesses that cater to taking unwanted products and transforming them into something new. Repurposing is not a new concept; God has been doing it for centuries. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, we read, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 

God can take a person who is riddled with a plethora of sinful ways, living a life that is filled with darkness and transform them into something different. God makes a hard person soft. He can change an individual who is angry and bitter into a person who is joyous and sweet. The wicked become righteous by and through God. God specializes in repurposing people. 

God’s ability to repurpose is not limited to people. Dreams that seemed to be dead, God breathes life into causing them to be revived. Churches that appear to be declining to a point of no return, God transforms into vibrant and thriving. God can, and does, take things that we would otherwise throw away or discount and repurposes them into something new. Perhaps you have something in your life that is in need of repurposing? Take it to God and trust Him to transform it into something that will be wonderful and new. All things are possible with God!