I can smell the saw dust.

I stare quietly, out of the yellow stained window pane, through the kitchen curtain, pressing my nose up against the glass.

I watch him as he holds the saw in his hand.

Small shreds of sawdust fill the air around him.

I can smell the sweet aroma of the wood as it turns to dust.

It's the smell of something new.

When I was a little girl, my dad was always building something.

I remember on many occassions, coming home from school, running towards my afternoon freedom,
 and as I swung the door open, the sweet aroma of dust would hit my nose like a welcome sign.

I knew from that smell, that my dad was building something new.

Something to make our lives better.

And with his aging, calloused hands, he held his hat, as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

As I watch my husband building with those same aging hands,
I have no count of the number of times he has held a saw or hammer, working hard to rebuild our lives, giving us a fresh new start.

Something to make our lives better.

He works with his whole heart as the sweat trickles down his forehead.

He wipes it away with his strong calloused hand,

sighing,

but not stopping.

Never giving up on the task of rebuilding.

My thoughts leap within my mind.

Flashes of our life together pile up like the saw dust around his feet,

as I think of all the times He has rebuilt us.

I have no count of the number of times He has held us in His hands, and rebuilt our lives, giving us a fresh new start.

The sweat dripping off of our lives, from the hard work and exhausted years.

The smell of the dust is intoxicating.

It fills our lives with it's sweet aroma.

As I read the words of Ann Voskamp,

The bravest of love is wildly faithful and it falls hard again every morning.
It knows what we seek may be found in what we already have.

God knows the passion of a covenant.

my heart cries out with relief,
 thanking Him for the Grace He has shown our covenant together,

when we couldn't see a glimpse of hope amidst the dust of our lives.

He never gave up on the task of rebuilding us.

 As our Father holds us in His timeless hands,

in this new place,

I smell the sweet aroma of  the saw dust falling.

Into the dust, He breathes life.

He's working in us to build something...

to make things better.

I can smell the saw dust.

It's the smell of something new.

Genesis 18:14
Is any thing too hard for the Lord?

Jeremiah 32:17
Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.


Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.