create in me a pure heart

I have a confession to make:

I am imperfect. 

There are times when I am vain and boastful; I talk about myself too much, say things against others. My thoughts are impure, my actions unjust. Sometimes I just feel weighted down with uncleanliness. It’s a horrible tainted feeling which I’m sure every single human being has experienced.  

That’s when Psalm 51 comes in handy. Reading that passage is like washing off all the caked on mud in a hot shower! The words pour over you like water.  

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 

What assurance we can draw from that very verse alone!  

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…. 

We are humans—fallen short of the glory of God. But there is a difference between living in sin, and admitting our shortcomings to God and striving constantly to follow Him.  

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.  

These are only segments from Psalm 51. You have to go read it for yourself to get every bit of wonderfulness from David’s song! I’m just putting it out there because we are broken and we need to feel God’s unfailing love and the joy of His salvation!

repurposed.

While I haven’t been writing on my blog that much, I have been doing pretty fantastic things in my spare time. Like going to the contemporary ballet, playing for piano competitions, and dancing my feet off at the Spring Breakdown. (If you’ve never been contra dancing, then you’re missing out on a huge part of life!)
Most recently I completed this décor piece—an idea I got from pinterest.

When the opportunity arose to get some piano keys, I greedily snatched them up and promptly set to work. They were off an old upright that was made somewhere around 100 years ago—worn and yellowed with age and use. Their antiquity made them even more visually appealing (to my advantage.)

I used a coping saw to cut off the long wooden ‘arms’, sanded the ends, and lined them up in order. Fitting the keys together was like putting puzzle pieces in the right places—I had to number all 88 of them to keep them straight.
 

Lo and behold we had a useless board lying around that was the perfect size. Not only that--we also happened to have some black spray paint from leftover projects! Things like that need to happen to me more often…. It was a slow and painstaking process to line up the keys in order, place them in a straight line and glue them solidly to the board.
 

Finished product! It’s a quaint little wall piece (if I do say so myself.) I may have found an entrepreneurial opportunity as these things are selling for a pretty penny online. If you have any old pianos that aren’t serving any purpose----you now know where to send the keys! ;)