Webster & Wikipedia vs. Word

Okay. So once again. I was wrong.

I had always thought of restoration as it's defined in the dictionary.
Webster's says that the word "restore" means to "bring back or put back into a former or original state."

When I've thought about it in that sense, I think of a beautiful antique piece that has lost its' elegance over time and has started to look a little more like 'shabby chic'.

Sure, you can do like me and just throw a crocheted doily over the bad spots and call it a day.
That's the easy way.

Cover it up and pretend it's not there. Stack a few home decorating magazines or even a bible on top and now it at least "looks" good.

But, if you wanted to bling it out, Bob Villa style, it would require actual work and effort.
You would have to sand it down to bare wood, re-stain, varnish and put a nice protective coating on it.

Then, it would be restored to its' original beauty.

The actual example they give at Webster's online is the following:

1. The government needs to restore confidence in the economy. 

Ha! That is Alanis Morissette "ironic" right there!
Here's the deal though.
We quote all the time, "he will restore the years that the locusts have eaten."
Yes!
I will totally wave my hands all around, jump up and down, "Yes! Yes!!"
I quote Nike, "Just do it!! Already!!"

But, according to 2G, TBN and reading about it in Joel, the word's definition of restoration is totally different!
It's not about an old thing at all.
It is a new thing all together!
The latter will be better than the former.
He's not fixing the old.
He's bringing something new!

Talk about yelling, "BRING IT!!"

Basically, what I get out of this chapter is that Judah was totally blessed. They were prospering in all they did, I mean, they seriously had it going on.
Huh.
We used to be a prosperous nation.
Weren't we?

Anyway, over time, in their easy breezy Cover Girl lifestyle, they had gotten complacent, become self-centered, idolatrous and sinful.
And they had forgotten about God.

In the words of Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar, "No, no, no!! This cannot be!"

So God told Joel to warn the people about a plague of locusts that would destroy their land and crops.

It was a very real account of how it might all go down. (I can't quite figure out if there actually came a trainload of disgusting bugs or not, I think they were, "figuratively speaking" if you know the movie word for word like I do.)

These destructive and devastating locusts flew in massive swarms through the nation's capitol.
They molted like five times to get to into their frenzied, swarming state.
I'm this. No, I'm that. I'm this, no I'm that.
lol.
That sounds about right.
And I just made up the capitol part.

They actually were going to destroy the whole nation, if they did not take heed to God's warnings.

It starts out like this per my Tyndale NLT, "Hear this, leaders of the people. Listen, all who live in the land. In all your history, has anything like this happened before? Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation.
After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took what was left! After them came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping locusts, too!" 

That's hysterical! The stripping locusts!
A timely topic in my household.
I love it!
God bless the strippers!

Seriously though. It's not a joke.
It goes on to describe a people who were numb to what they had become.
Their physical and moral compasses had gotten them lost.

"Turn to me now. While there is still time. Give me your hearts," Joel 2:12.

God was saying, "I don't want your stuff. I don't need you to show up with new, pretty clothes.
I need you to show up with your heart. A changed heart.
Repent.
Turn back to God.

I'm paraphrasing here, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, (call on me) and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and I will restore their land."

I don't know about you. But I would like some restoration.
'Shabby Chic' is not as charming or as pretty as I used to think it was.
I want the new thing!

Hello? Is this my hardened and deceived heart?

Hello? Is this Capitol Hill?

I'm not a political person.
I know nothing about politics.
I don't say that proudly.
I am trying to better educate myself, but I don't know who to believe or who to trust anymore.

Still though, I'd like to see us better. Healed.
Individually and as a nation.

As the United States of America, can we unite?
Can we come to a place where we love God and one another, as much as we love ourselves?

The word says if we will do this, he will fix us.
Better than Bob Villa ever could I'm sure!

Knowing that I fall short in so many areas, I am also aware that it's gonna take a whole lot more than a crocheted doily!
What I need is a strong, protective coating.

Oh, and by the way, here's what Wikipedia has to say about "restore".

• ReStore - Retail building supply stores run by local Habitat for Humanity affiliates. 

I love that!
Can we be a habitat for humanity?

I also love Lowe's for building supplies.
(FYI, they have ferns on sale right now for $3.75!)
Woo-Hoo!
Amazingly, their marketing director woke up in the middle of the night and had a conversation with God and he gave him the idea for their new campaign.
"Let's build something together!"

Okay. I made that up too.
But still.
Let's!