The Christmas Trunk ... A true story :)

Dear Friends,


I wanted to share with you an amazing story that happened 2 weeks ago.  We put the event into written form so we could share it with friends and family!   This story is such a great reflection of the wonderful Jesus that we serve ~ I hope you enjoy it!


Merry Christmas! 
Christa 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE CHRISTMAS TRUNK

A Story of Restoration and Blessing

The day started out with a little nervousness and anticipation.  Our family had been preparing for this moment for the last six weeks.  I t had been at that time that we agreed to combine forces to man a booth at the Douglas Co. Christmas Fair.  Would we sell anything?  Did we have a good spot?  Would we sell enough to make all the time and effort worth our while?  After all, Tom & I needed to finance our upcoming mission trip to India, and Christa wanted to augment her finances in order to pay bills.

We knew that the Lord had already blessed us by giving us a booth in Douglas Hall.  When we set up, several old-timers around us marveled that we first-timers had made it in.  As we met our neighbors, we found that the Lord had positioned us between Christians.  Here we were----three Christian booths in a row!  And to top that off, the women on our left had just started putting their booth together two weeks ago.  They believed that the Lord wanted them to sell silk-screened tee shirts with Christian logos on them in order to have a venue to share Jesus with those who walked by.  Wow!  Thank you, Lord!

Among the items we had for sale was an antique trunk that we had restored.  Even though we sold practically everything in our booth, on the last day, it was still there.

As I sat reflecting on that trunk, I remembered driving down Keasey St. this last summer.  I spotted this filthy dirty, burlap covered, stinky old trunk sitting beside the road at a garage sale.  They only wanted $25.00 for it; so I just couldn’t pass it up.  Surely I could do something with the trunk!

When we decided to participate in the Christmas Fair, I took on the project of cleaning and preparing the trunk for painting and fixing up.  Oh!  I didn’t know what I was getting into!  Armed with a face mask and gloves, I ripped off all the old, dirty burlap.  (The owner told me that her dad had used it during two tours of Vietnam; so who knew what germs lay in all the dirt?) I then took an exacto knife and cut the burlap away from the metal hardware and wooden slats.  Whose idea was this anyway?  Underneath the burlap was a thin fabric lining that covered the entire trunk inside and out.  This had to be stripped off too!  Was the smell getting any better?  No!

I decided to use bleach water to cleanse the trunk of any possible mold and hopefully take care of the smell.  (It didn’t!)  Now, I was down to bare wood that was spotted with dark imprints from the burlap and faded looking wooden slats and metal.

At this point, Christa took over and put several coats of soft grey paint on the trunk, distressed it, and waxed the exterior.  She also rubbed a reddish brown Restorafinish on the wood and metal.  The trunk was suddenly stunning!

Since the smell still existed inside the trunk, Tom put a cedar floor in the bottom.  What a difference that made!

We hauled the trunk out to the fair with high hopes of selling it at a very reasonable price.  It ended up sitting there for three days.  One of Christa’s friends said she would buy it, but she never came back to finalize the deal.

During the course of the three days at the fair, we had gotten to know our neighbor, Tammie.  She shared a grievous story of how she had been dishonored by the rest of her family when her father and mother died within months of each other.  She actually was the only one that had been in contact with her parents, but her two step-sisters swooped in after the mother died and claimed their inheritance, which was the home and all of its contents.  They even got a restraining order against Tammie so she couldn’t step foot on the property!  The step-sisters piled all  the “junk” they didn’t want outside the house.  The old family photos that Tammie loved were allowed to be rained on and left to ruin.  Some of Tammie’s neighbors did rescue some things for her and called her to come take what she wanted.

At the same time, Tammie’s biological brother and sister were encouraging her to join them in a law suit against the step-sisters.  When Tammie refused, they also turned against her.  Suddenly, she found  herself in a situation she had never been in before.  Tammie had always been the one that had gotten along with everyone, even when her siblings had been at odds with each other!

After the loss of both parents and the falling out with all of her siblings, Tammie was devastated.  It was at this point that the Lord began leading her on a journey of releasing bitterness and unforgiveness and replacing it with a heart of peace and forgiveness.  Having met Tammie, we would never have guessed that she carried this story of betrayal.  We could only see the woman who was full of the joy of the Lord!  She had a vibrancy and warmth about her that radiated out to all she met.  We also didn’t know that the Lord had positioned us to have a part in her continuing story of restoration and blessing.

Toward the end of the fair, I commented to Tammie that I was surprised that the trunk hadn’t sold.  Many people had stopped and commented on its beauty.  She gazed at the trunk for a long time and, with tears in her eyes, finally said that the trunk reminded her of the one that had belonged to her dad.  He had used it during two tours of Vietnam.  Her father’s trunk had been in the junk heap created by her step-sisters, and one of the neighbors had retrieved it.  She had kept the uniform and pins that had been in the trunk, but it was so dirty and beaten up, that she decided to sell it for $25.00 at a garage sale.  She had regretted selling it ever since, because it had been one of the few items that had been left that had belonged to her dad, and she had gotten rid of it.

I gulped and asked her if she wanted to hear the rest of the story; then I began to tell Tammie that I was the one that had bought her dad’s trunk and to tell of the process we had gone through to restore it.  As I shared the story, Tammie looked over at the trunk, and there it sat----cleaned, restored and lovely!  I couldn’t wait to share what had just unfolded with Tom & Christa.  When they returned to the booth I excitedly shared with them the conversation Tammie & I had just had.  It was at that moment that we all realized why the trunk had never sold!  We marveled at the faithfulness and kindness of God.  It could have only been through His divine orchestration that events turned out as they did: Both booths were put together in a matter of weeks.  Both of us were last minute add-ons in Douglas Hall, sitting side by side!  Last summer, I had bought the trunk not knowing we were going to do a Christmas Fair booth.  Now, I am looking at the young woman who had regretted selling her dad’s trunk.  We knew that this was not about profit or loss of revenue, this was about being an instrument of blessing for the purposes of the Lord. We ended up giving the trunk back to Tammie as we all cried and thanked the Lord for this glorious sign of restoration.

Think about the antique trunk.  It was caked with dirt.  It smelled like decayed fish.  It had been discarded as an unusable piece of junk.  It had set on the curb, stinky and dilapidated, past its prime and of no value.  Anyone could see that it would have taken a lot of hard work just to bring the trunk to a place of usefulness---let alone make it a thing of beauty!

Like the trunk, some of us have been told that we have no value, that we are dirty and steeped in sin or that we are past our prime, and we have been dismissed and dishonored by others.  Others view themselves as junk.  They have believed the lie that that they aren’t good enough or smart enough or pretty enough to have any value to anyone.  They put themselves on the junk heap.

Nevertheless, our Lord sees our value and worth, because He views us as He created and designed us to be.  He is in the business of restoring  His tattered pieces of art.  He views us as His special treasure; so when we choose to call Him, Lord, He begins His work:  He peels off the layers of dirt, tears off any labels attached to us, removes stains, sands off the rough patches, bleaches out any smell, cleanses us better than Murphy’s Wood Oil Soap, repaints us and forms us into His image and polishes us with His love, acceptance and forgiveness.  His creations are in a continual state of conforming more and more to His identity; so our old selves are being remolded into His likeness.  He never gives up on us, and He continually sees our value.  That’s our God!

The trunk now sits in Tammie’s home as an unending sign to her of what lengths the Lord will go to provide restoration and show His love to His children.

And the Pitcairn’s?  We have continued to marvel at the Lord’s goodness and grace, and we find ourselves reflecting on this story of restoration.  We feel so blessed that the Lord chose us to play a part in His plan to show one of his daughters how much He loves her.  We know that a lot of you reading this story can identify with the antique trunk.  You have been set aside by others or yourself, and the Lord desires to peel back some layers and begin to reveal the beauty and value that He has always seen in you.  Although we are at the end of this story, we know it is not done being told.  We felt the Lord prompted us to write this story down and share it with our friends and families during this holiday season.  We felt it was such a wonderful picture of the essence of Christmas---covenant, redemption and, of course, hope!  We want to encourage each of you to take a moment and reflect on your own life.  Are there areas that are just like that old trunk?  They’ve been put aside, not cared for and forgotten about?  Jesus wants to restore those hidden treasures within your life!  We would love to invite you to pray a prayer with us that opens the door to the journey of restoration in your life:

Pray with us:

Jesus, thank you for Your love for me.  I am grateful for the plans You have for me; plans for a hope and a future.  I ask You to come into my heart right now and peel back any layers that are between You and I. Sand away the rough patches and smooth out the disappointments and hurts.  Fill my heart with Your love.  Open up my eyes to see the value that You put on me.  Jesus, I want to start the journey of restoration with You.  Restore the things that have been stolen and lost.  I know that You are kind and gentle, and I choose to trust You in this journey.  Thank you, Jesus, for loving me so well .  I know it is Your love that heals, restores and transforms me; so right now, I receive Your love.      Amen

We love each of you and pray that Christmas, 2011, comes to be known as the season of restoration in your life!

Tom, Cheryl & Christa Pitcairn

20 Days Deep ...

Back in July I ended up unexpectedly visiting ihop (International House of Prayer in Kansas City, MO.)  It was a whirlwind of a trip and I ended up only being able to have 1 hour to bask in the House of Prayer.  During that 1 hour the Lord surprised me by asking me to give Him the month of September.  I heard Him so clearly.  He asked me to give Him that time to consecrate myself and allow Him to establish a House of Prayer in my own personal life (Mark 11).  Without hesitation I said, “Yes.” I didn’t know how it would work out or even how financially how I would be able to pull it off.  But, I knew that when He asks you to do something He works out all the details.  He was calling me to obedience and surrender, not to understand and worry about all the ins and outs.  With an open heart I approached this journey not knowing what to expect, but knowing that it would be difficult and outside my comfort zone for sure.  Never in my life have I taken an entire month to consecrate myself totally to Him and do nothing else.  No TV, no social life, no distractions.  Just Him and I, 24/7.  It sounded amazing and scary.  It’s been both.  I’ve been on this journey for the past 20 days and as soon as I started this journey the dying process begun.  Day after day the Lord has touched different areas of my heart that He is after.  Things that I didn’t even know were in me have surfaced.  It’s always amazing to me that when you step into light ALL the dirt and dust within us is exposed.  When we step into Him His light shines into the uttermost depths of who we are going after every crack, every piece of dust in our hearts that contradict the fullness of covenant He has designed for us.   In His ever kindness and gentleness He takes them, one by one, and replaces them with Him.  Although this journey is not over for me, I hope it never ends because it has been a time of exchanging hearts, He has allowed me to feel what He feels, love what He loves and hate what He hates.  I have cried over the broken and wept for the abandoned, constantly exposing the hardness of my own heart and the softness of His.  As I weep His tears I feel the calluses of my heart began to peel away.  Each day here I feel His heart continually being shown to me and I’m getting rocked with the truth that He LOVES us.  Oh my goodness, how He loves us.  I know we hear this over and over, but do you really understand this?  Have you mediated and rested in the truth that He just loves YOU.  Not for what you do, but simply because you are His.  He delights in you, not just you in Him.  He, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Great I AM delights in you.  It’s an overwhelming concept that wrecks my heart and blows my mind.  It is His loves that undoes me every day.  It’s His love that draws me in and breaks me down.  It is His love that moves me to weep for the things He weeps for.  It’s His love that restores my souls and breaths life into my bones.  It is His love that He gave His only Son to be crucified for me.  And for you.  He allowed His Son to be murdered, so you and I could have eternal life, to be blameless before the Father.  The kindness, beauty and love of that sacrifice are beyond comprehension for me. Everyday I am asking for more understanding of the depth and width of His love.  And everyday He undoes my heart that much more, unlocking an unquenchable flood of love, deep and enveloping.  The depth and breath of our Jesus.  I stand in awe, humbled in His presence.    The prophet Isaiah says it best:

So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone!

Because I am a man of unclean lips,

And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;

For my eyes have seen the King,

The Lord of hosts.”

~ Isaiah 6:5

My prayer is that all of us take time to meditate daily on who He is and the love He has for us.  Let us not go through this life not understanding the His heart for us because it is when we encounter His heart for us that we are truly transformed into laid down lovers, fully surrendered to loving Him with all of who we are. What could be more fulfilling than this?  

Untangle Me From Myself ...

I sit in Your presence crying out for more of You in my life.  As the words come from the depths of my soul I feel the peeling of my heart. Layers of self-sufficiency, ego and self-promotion being pulled away.  The layers are old and have laid deep in the depths of me for too many years and I feel You Lord calling me deeper.  But, to go deeper the dark places of my soul have to be uprooted and replanted.  Some are being uprooted through groans and grasps ... it's hard to catch my breath as I feel the upheaval of my soul.  I cry out STOP and MORE at the same time .... wanting the process to end, yet recognizing the need for the uprooting.  For me to go where You have called me, the ego and self-sufficiency within me must be conquered.  I am nothing without You.  YOU are my strength Jesus.  I can not, will not, move forward without Your presence. As the threads are pulled from my soul I ask You to pull every one.  I must decrease so You can increase.  This is my prayer.

When Maples Bars Becomes Miracles ...

Yesterday was quite an amazing day.  I preached Sunday morning at a church I had never been too and the presence of Jesus was so sweet and many of us wept as His presence gently moved throughout the service.  After service I wanted to bring my Dad some donuts, simply to bless him.  My Dad loves donuts, but because all us girls, including my mom, are always eating healthy he rarely gets them.  But, yesterday I just wanted to surprise my Dad with something he would love.  Freshly made donuts.  I tried one donut shop and it was closed.  Tried a second one and it was open!  Yes! As I approached the glass case where all the donuts were, I observed there wasn't a huge selection, but what was there looked good.  I thought to myself, "Just get a few - you don't need a lot."  So, I got some of our favorites 2) Buttermilk glazed and 2) old fashioned one plain and one with maple ... I hemmed and hawed over whether to get Maple Bars too, but over a long deliberation I decided 4 donuts were enough and I would just get maple bars another time.  The woman pulls my 2 buttermilk glazed donuts aside and places them in a white pastry box and then adds 1 plain old fashioned and 1 old fashioned with maple frosting.  She then places the box, with the lid open, on the counter.  I look in the box and there laid the 4 donuts I had chosen. The 2 buttermilk donuts cost $1.90 and the 2 old fashioned donuts cost $1.50 totaling $3.40.  As I walk to my car I am excited to present my Dad with a fun little surprise!  As I drive home I wonder if I had made the right decision in bringing home donuts, as none of us really should be eating donuts, but decide I made the right decision.  I walk into the house and find my Dad sitting on the couch reading the Sunday paper.  Upon requesting his attention, I whip out the white pastry box and I begin my spiel about how I just wanted to bless him, simply because I know he loves donuts and doesn't get them much.  So I thought it would be fun to surprise him freshly made donuts!  He was elated! 

Then, I opened the box.

And there I see 2 large Maple Bars laying on top of my 4 donuts.  I'm speechless.  I'm replaying the events in my head.  I only ordered 4 donuts.  I only paid for 4 donuts.  I saw her put the 4 donuts in the box.  With my own eyes, I saw only 4 donuts in the box before she closed the lid.  I'm sure there were only 4 donuts in that box when I left the donut shop that morning.  And now there were 6.  There they were, two, perfectly placed, Maple Bars on top of my donuts.  They were huge.  I couldn't have missed them.  With wide eyes I looked up to my Dad, who is watching this whole moment unfold, and I say, "God, gave us 2 Maple Bars."  I tell the whole story to my Dad and we both just sit there looking at each other.   As I am telling my Dad the story I hear the Lord say to me, "You just wanted to bless your Father and your Father just wanted to bless you."  


The Lord did this creative miracle simply to show me He blesses just because He can and He loves to do it.  It brings Him pleasure to bless His kids.  When I was at the donut shop I had almost selected the Maple Bars, knowing they are one of my Dad's favorites, but had thought I had enough.  But, then God comes in and gives me 2 huge Maple Bars simply because He knows they are a favorite and we would enjoy them.  There doesn't have to be reason for the blessing and it doesn't even have to be for anyone else to understand or make sense of.   The bottom line is our Father loves to pour out blessing on His kids and He knows our favorites.   

I tell you what, it rocked me.  It rocked me that He gave us 2 Maple Bars just because He loves to bless us.  It just showed me He can give even when it hasn't been asked for and 'maple bars' can be created in a moment.   

As we revelled in the miracle we just experienced, with donuts in hand, we sat back and unanimously  agreed ... "These are by far the best donuts we have ever had."  

RUMBLING & SHAKING

Joel C. Rosenburg stated in his blog a few days ago ... 

"In the last few weeks, the U.S. stock markets have tanked. Americans have lost more than $2.3 trillion in personal wealth. Our economy has nearly stalled. Some 14 million Americans are out of work. We may be facing a double-dip recession. Our debt is exploding. And Washington is nearly paralyzed with partisan gridlock, even as Iran is building nuclear weapons, Syria and Libya are slaughtering thousands, Egypt has imploded, and Israel is increasingly threatened. Put it simply: Storm clouds are gathering. The winds are picking up. The tectonic plates beneath us are shifting. America is being shaken. Israel and the Middle East are being shaken. The Church is being shaken. Why? Where are we headed? What is God doing? And what is He asking followers of Jesus Christ to do?"  

We all woke up this morning to the current uprising happening in Libya. Tripoli Square has been over taken by rebels and the people chant FREEDOM!  More than ever, we have felt the rumblings and shaking of government structures and economic systems.  Systems that once seemed so strong are now dangling on delicate threads threatening to break at any moment.  Never in history have we faced what we are facing today. 

I think many of you would agree there is a hunger in people we have not seen before.  As the unrest becomes more apparent so does people’s hunger.  I am convinced, the more the fragile the world becomes the more people’s hearts become awakened to God. I would rather of course have people’s awakening come without the crisis, but my prayer has and always will be, “whatever it takes”.  No way, am I pointing a finger or would even attempt to blame current world events on God.  No, this is the power of free will at it’s finest.  But, I do believe that God can and will use ALL THINGS FOR GOOD.  So, when things get bad, I look for the good.  Honestly, everywhere I go right now the Lord is bringing people into my path that need an encounter with Him and His love.  I can feel the pursuit of the Father over His sons and daughters and the flow of releasing His heart over people has never been so easy.  People are more open right now than I’ve ever experienced.  Again and again, with tears streaming down their faces people share with me how they have been praying, for the first time in years, asking God if He is real to reveal Himself.  Then here comes the kindness of the Father showing them how much He loves them, speaking to them on such personal levels, things only He would know.  As they share, my tears flow freely too. 

One of my favorite encounters happened two weeks ago. I was on one of my many flights and as the flight began to prepare for take off I begin to do my usual routine.  I got out my head- phones, the book I was reading and just as I was opening up my book the Lord said to me, "Close the book and start a conversation with the girl next to you".  As I did this, I looked at this beautiful, free spirited young woman sitting next to me.  She was in her early twenties with hair in dread-locks and she carried this essence of adventure about her.  Just as she was about to put in her headphones I asked her the classic travel question, “So, are you coming or going?”  This simple question led into us talking the entire flight about the Lord.  She, being a new Christian, was on her way to spend a week with her sister and take some time to figure out ‘what in the world did she want to do with her life’.  And here I sat next to her.  What a gift I was being given.  As she and I shared our hearts I began to hear the Lord speak things over her.  Things the Lord was calling her to and how He wired her and the way she approached things was of His design.  In the natural flow of conversation I began to share with her what the Lord had showed me about her.  With tears in her eyes she said what I had just shared were the answers to the things she had just been praying about. I know, right there on that plane, this girl fully searching for her purpose, just encountered God.  Her life can never be the same.  When we are led by His spirit the course of one’s history can be changed.   I know on that day, this young girl’s life was being re-written by Him. 

So, I say let the world shake! Let the rumblings take place!  Hearts are being opened and you and I are alive for this time, for this place!  Open your eyes and look around you and share His heart! People are hungry and people are searching and we have the answer.  JESUS.  In all this instability people are looking for security.  The only security we have is Jesus Christ.  Share that with someone today.   

Welcome to CHAMBER!

Welcome to CHAMBER!


This is going to be my blog about my life and all its crazy twists and turns!  I am convinced that following Jesus is the greatest adventure one can embark upon ... I wanted this blog to be a place where I could invite family and friends to read about my journey and know what in the world I am doing and where in the world I am at :) !  I hope this turns out to be something you enjoy reading and connects you a bit better with the journey the Lord has me on.   I've never had a blog and this week I started two!  One with two friends of mine for a little furniture business we started called '503 Couture' and now 'Chamber', my own personal blog.  Who knows what I'll do next! 


As many of you know two weeks ago I attended Jesus Culture Chicago and I was incredibly impacted by what Jesus poured out.  Reinhard Bonnke spoke one session and it was one of those moments where I walked away never the same.  Since that session, the Lord begin to download a word to me about the Generations and the importance of each age group.  This past Sunday I had the privilege of releasing this word to Garden Valley Christian Assembly.  As soon as it's available online, I will post the link so you are able to listen to it.  God is doing such an incredible thing right now and it really is an honor to be alive at this time in history!  Here are some pictures of Jesus Culture Chicago .... Let me also say Jesus Culture Chicago was NOT an event, but a commissioning in the Spirit to the generations!  Let us all take our place because IT IS TIME! 


Created To Love,
Christa Lee 

Jesus Culture Chicago 2011

18,000 People Were Estimated in Attendance 

Hillsong United Leading Worship