My He Shed

After years of loosely planning and dreaming, I finally built myself a workshop. I have decent carpentry skills, and for the past year and a half I have been creating rustic cottage decorative pieces, mostly from used wood. My little workshop holds my tools, supplies, a wood burning stove, and a place for me to just, be. As I sit or stand with a cozy crackling fire and a cup of coffee, I am surrounded by old wood, saw dust and my tools. What makes it complete is the presence of God. I have no distractions of a phone, music, or internet as I just soak and create.

If this sounds like a dream, it is not. It is real and I am blessed to be doing something with my skills that I am still discovering. This season I will be building my wife a she-shed for her to have as her own place of tranquility as she once again picks up her artists paint brushes. She now affectionately calls my workshop my he-shed. As I think about this, I see something much deeper. Yes, my shop is a realized dream where I can go to turn old and new lumber into something creative, useful, and meaningful to others. Many sentimental family pieces have already come from there, and my hands. It is important to me to have a bit of “Uncle Mike” in some of the pieces for my family members. God gives me the space and peace to take something that is discarded, and transform it into a piece of art. I haven’t yet figured out why, but He’ll let me know in His time.

God has shown me the parallel of Him and my shop. He has given me, and you, a secure, quiet place to go as He invites us into His presence. Each one of us can retreat from the world and into His arms whenever we need or want to. He will take all of the damaged and discarded pieces of our past, throw them away and help us to transform into something and someone brand new . We all dream of peace, like I dreamt of my shop, so He offers us the opportunity to make those dreams His reality. We need only say yes to the invitation. It’s easy to do. Just take your cuppa, sit and soak and just talk to Him like you would your dad, or dad figure. He will settle inside your soul so deep that before you know it, a new creation will come out.

My first pastor told me that our past has no place in our future. What a prophetic statement that I still carry with me each day. If Jesus chose twelve disciples that were certainly not perfect, to carry His message, then we must surely be special because He chose us. Even when He was on the cross dying, He chose us over His own life. Just consider how much He loves you and me as individuals to want an intimate love relationship with Him. He comes to our door and knocks, waiting patiently for us to open and allow Him in. It is that easy. We don’t even have to speak out loud, as even a thought or a whisper of His name is all that is needed for Him to hear us.

I encourage everyone to close out the noise of the world and your past and head out to the ultimate He-shed. That would be God’s arms. He has a reserved seat, a warm fireplace called His heart, a warm cup that is overflowing for each of us, and a safe room for us to just, be. My little workshop is my hobby sanctuary, my withdraw space. My He-shed is my Heavenly Father’s arms where I can retreat to recharge my soul. It’s where all of us can go whenever we want. It costs nothing, yet the value is priceless, as it’s been paid for. So whenever I want or need, I will just unplug. I won’t be far away as you will find me just hanging out with my Father in my He-shed.

Mike Shindruk

Master’s Hand Ministry

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Take a look at the new site and let us know what you think.

PT