The Bottom of the Barrel

My writing for today has a single message, one which is very easy to understand. If you, the reader, cannot personally relate to what I have to say, I feel quite sure that you more than likely know someone who can.

I would like to start by asking an unexpected question. "What does one normally find at the bottom of a barrel?" Although we might choose various descriptive adjectives, I can say with assurance that we will agree upon certain facts. The bottom of a barrel stinks. It appears to be rotten. It gets corroded, is dark and is very cluttered. It reeks of something that is old. It is most certainly disgusting.

If you haven't spent any time at the bottom of the barrel, I feel sure that you might know someone who did. I, for one, spent way too many years down there. I cannot tell you how many times I heard my mother say, "Michelle, you are really scraping the bottom of the barrel." Of course I was! That is how I lived. That is exactly what I chose to do. That's what I enjoyed. It seems like the worse I could do, the worse I could become, the better I liked it!

I had become queen of the bottom of my barrel. It was everything you could imagine the bottom of a barrel to be. I swam in it. I laughed in it. I played in it. I had many friends who loved to enjoy the bottom of my barrel right along with me. We didn't ever even look up. We had no desire to see even a glimpse of the light that might manage to shine through all of the trash at the very bottom.

But then, one day.................

I had truly reached the bottom. I found myself crushed and trapped all alone at the deepest bottom of my barrel. I was completely alone. I had no one who would even come to my rescue. I had no choice but to look up. In fact, my dirty, disgusting, comfortable barrel had been turned upside down.....and there I lay. Dirty, stinking, alone and cold. So nasty that even the people who once loved me found me unrecognizable.

But.......

There was one person who still recognized disgusting, old me. I still appeared beautiful in the eyes of someone. In His eyes, I shined like a diamond. I smelled like the most fragrant rose. This person picked me up, offered comfort and showed me love. This person made me forget that I had just been dumped from the bottom of a barrel. He made me see that I wasn't created to splash around in filth. He made me realize that I had only convinced myself that I had ever even liked it there.

And that's why I wrote this message today.

The Lord has been so good to me. He has brought me to places where I have never been. I love living in the light. I love to see other smiling faces. I love being part of my family. I love knowing the Lord!

It is my hope that these words offer encouragement to someone. The Lord truly loves us all. He has proven this to me in so many ways. Please feel free to share this message with others. If God did it for me, He can and He will surely do it for you or anyone else!

God Bless!

Love,
M

Miss Michelle if I may be so bold to call you by your name and not your avatar, I was moved to tears by this story. Not tears of sadness mind you, but tears of joy to see how Faithful God is to us and giving. He can take the worst of us and make the best of us !
God Bless you.


p.s.,
With God's Divine intervention,
There is always a but......

It is an amazing perception you have of yourself. I'm so glad you accept that who you are today is who God intends you to be. I too wallowed in my bottom barrel for many years before God bathed me in His light. Or should I say, I looked up to accept the light? Cause the light was always there. All glory to the Father.

It seems many people on this site are very familiar with barrel bottoms, including myself. It is so liberating to be fresh, clean, and truly alive, all Glory to God. You expressed this message so creatively in your story. It was very succinct, and packed a punch. Loved it.

I would like to add that I too experienced this:
"There was one person who still recognized disgusting, old me. I still appeared beautiful in the eyes of someone. In Her eyes, I shined like a diamond. I smelled like the most fragrant rose. This person picked me up, offered comfort and showed me love. This person made me forget that I had just been dumped from the bottom of a barrel. She made me see that I wasn't created to splash around in filth. She made me realize that I had only convinced myself that I had ever even liked it there."

God Bless,
I have returned to read this many times.