Creating a Masterpiece
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| A masterpiece? Well, um... |
Transforming a gourd straight out of the garden into a birdhouse, drum,
bowl or other object isn’t as easy as it appears. From beginning to end, it’s a
very labor intensive hobby involving several steps over a long period of time
and requiring lots of patience.
The easiest part is growing the gourds. About two and a half years ago,
Al and I worked on a small patch of the garden, putting in compost and setting
up the watering system so that I could grow them. After planting a variety of gourd seeds, everything
from bottles to baskets began appearing on the vines. It was exciting watching
them grow. In spite of thinning many immature gourds, about fifty were
harvested in the fall before the weather changed.
After drying on a shelf in the garage all
last year, it was time to figure out what to do with them. The first step was
to clean off the moldy outer skins. Here’s where the manual labor came in. After
soaking overnight in buckets of hot water, they had to be scrubbed and sanded
to remove the tough rinds... a very wet, dirty business.
Three fairly clean specimens were selected out
of the whole lot. An entire afternoon was spent sawing, sanding and cleaning
out the seeds. Not as easy as carving pumpkins, believe me. One of them was
turned into a symmetrical vase by cutting off the top with my tiny gourd saw.
Another made an interesting bowl; and the last of the three, shaped like a
large pomelo, was perfect for a small birdhouse. They are very rough to be
sure, but do have potential!
The most enjoyable part for me has been
envisioning what they might become and then working towards that vision. The vase
and the bowl turned a rich honey-color when covered with an oak stain. Two
coats of brown acrylic paint transformed the birdhouse-to-be. I’m still thinking
about how to finish them up. It is a good thing that there isn’t a deadline to
meet!
My gourd hobby reminds me of the way God wants to change us to become
more like Christ. Transformation doesn’t
happen overnight. In fact, I’m coming to the conclusion that it begins when we
accept Jesus into our lives as Lord and Savior and ends when we take our last
breath on earth. However, it is encouraging to know that He is constantly
working on us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Of course, we can slow that
work down by not cooperating and sit on the shelf for awhile, if we so choose.
Do you think God enjoys envisioning our becoming more like Christ and
working to accomplish that goal? I’m sure He does! Let’s cooperate with Him!
“In
all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your
partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of
this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until
the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 1:4-6 NIV
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