Old barns and old people . . .

(source)

 A stranger came by the other day
with an offer that set me to thinking.
He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway.
I told him right off he was crazy.
He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes,
his car, his hands, and the way he talked.
He said he was driving by and
saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall grass
and wanted to know if it was for sale.
I told him he had a funny idea of beauty.




 Sure, it was a handsome building in its day.
But then, there's been
a lot of winters pass
with their snow and ice and howling wind.
 The summer sun's beat down on that old barn
'til all the paint's gone,
and the wood has turned silver gray.
 Now the old building leans a good deal,
 looking kind of tired.
Yet, that fellow called it beautiful.



 That set me to thinking.
 I walked out to the field and just stood
there, gazing at that old barn.
The stranger said he planned
to use the lumber to line the walls of his den
in a new country home he's building down the road.
He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful.
Only years of standing in the weather,
 bearing the storms and scorching sun,
only that can produce beautiful barn wood.



(source)

It came to me then.
We're a lot like that, you and I.
Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us.
Sure we turn silver, gray too...
and lean a bit more than we did
when we were young and full of sap.
 But the Good Lord knows what He's doing.
And as the years pass
He's busy using the hard weather of our lives,
the dry spells and the stormy seasons
to do a job of beautifying our souls
that nothing else can produce.
And to think how often folks holler
because they want life easy . . .



They took the old barn down today
and hauled it away to beautify a rich man's house.
And I reckon someday you and I'll be hauled off to Heaven
to take on whatever chores the Good Lord has for us
on the Great Sky Ranch.
And I suspect we'll be more beautiful then
for the seasons we've been through here . . .
and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father's house.
~Red Johnson


(source)   

I have always loved old barns, and when I found this I just had to share with you.   There is a lot of beauty to be found in something or someone whose been around the block a few times.   Yesterday I remarked to my hairdresser as she was cutting my hair that I seem to look more grey each time I get it cut . . . but that's okay with me.   I rather like it that way.  It shows that I've lived, and I'm not a very vain person anyways.  Being the me that I am is just fine. 

A thought to carry with you through today . . .


✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿

"Do not think that love in order to be genuine 
has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love 
without getting tired. Be faithful in small things
because it is in them that your strength lies."
~Mother Teresa

✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿
  ╬♥═╬╬═♥=╬╬═♥╬╬═♥╬╬═♥=╬╬♥═╬
░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░  

   

Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . Hawaiian Hots!  Scrumptious! 

Have a great Thursday!