Save The History 6/3/2025

 Good Morning,

I am sitting at my desk and I am drinking a hot cup of Door County Blackberry Shortcake Coffee and it is time to write. 

Psalm 78:4 ESV We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and His might and wonders He has done. 

The drawers were finished a couple weeks later. This is the desk with the history of others and me. 

My desk is helping to provide this blog this morning and it might be one of my longer ones. Going back quite a few years. My wife Rene and I were shopping for antiques in Door County Wisconsin. She had her eye on a desk and I could tell that there was a purchase coming. I looked at the monstrosity and saw little hope for refinishing it. But she went through with the purchase. It took me a couple of days to store up enough ambition to start in on the refinishing of the desk. I cranked up my sander and really had only started with the first swipe when my wife pulled the cord on the power and hollered STOP.

Now guys I can't read minds, especially my wife's.  And that would be a whole other subject some day. Rene went on to explain that she wanted the desk to shine and be coated with a bar top lacquer finish. But she did not wan the desk to be as smooth as new. "Please leave every gouge, scratch, ink mark and dent in the wood. Just go over it and preserve the history." 

The old desk used to be part of a post office and probably dates back to World War 1. We have had lots of offers to sell the old relic. The drawers on the desk took a month alone to refinish. They needed extensive repairs, and my first picture of the old desk, is shown without the drawers. But they too did not get sanded down or chemically stripped. 

Where am I headed with this today? Our own lives are filled with our personal history and our walk through life. Some day when we breath our last bit of air, the history stops. You can't erase or grind off the impact you had on others while you were here. The impact could be for good or bad. But it is yours and no one can change it. What does your personal space, desk, books, ledgers, or journals say about you? I often wonder what made the marks on my desk. Especially the couple that look liked something hot was placed on the desk. The lacquer is hard and protective, but lets all of the imperfections and hours of work spent by someone at this desk show clearly. 

Remember to share your story with those younger than you and let it be said that you spoke the truth about your life. And before you are gone, let your former actions be written down. Don't make people wonder about you. Let your life be known. I hope when I am gone someone reads my Bible and sees all the notes that guided me for many years. 

Marty