‘Processed for Strength’

I see life lessons ~ truths, if you will ~ in the oddest things sometimes.

As I educate the public about recycling and being sustainable, I am forever having to educate myself on the many recycling processes. The other day, I was studying the process of how plastics are turned into eco-spun – the material used in making clothing and other materials. I was fascinated – who knew I would get this excited over what many perceive to be garbage.

Very simply, the water bottles (*Polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) (#1) are ground down, put through a wash to purify the granules and then melted into a taffy-like consistency. This ‘taffy’ is (for lack of a better word) feathered out in sheets on several large rollers and almost ‘combed’ into many fibers. If one were to grab the fibers before the end of the process and pull on them, the fibers would actually snap in half quite easily. There is one more critical step before this eco-spun is ready to be woven into materials:

It must get PULLED to it’s limit to GAIN strength.

We often feel tested throughout our lifetime . . . feeling perhaps, that if one more thing comes our way, we’ll literally snap. Unfortunately, there are those who give in to this self-doubt – those whose original foundation was perhaps not strong to begin with, however, most of us come with a small amount of two very important ingredients – that much needed ‘endurance’ and a good measure of ‘desire’ to grow – both of which INCREASE over time as we are tested.

Let’s look at this process again.

The bottles have to be collected
(set apart from the rest of the garbage)
The bottles have to be put through a grinder
(breaking it’s original form so that it can be changed)
The plastic grind has to go through a wash process
(to remove impurities)
The plastic grind has to be heated to a ‘taffy’ consistency
(the heat softens it into a pliable material)
This ‘taffy’ passes over several rollers and almost combed into fibers
(the material is being refined)
This fiber will then be stretched to give it strength
(pulling the molecules into proper alignment)

Being pulled, being tested to the limits is a necessary process in order to gain strength. Many may not understand but I will share that in my 40 years, I have come to understand that there is a PURPOSE for everything under the sun so this is no exception. Science is often used to DIS-PROVE God . . . I chuckle a bit when I hear that - for NOTHING can disprove God, people. A simple computer search on carbon fibers (which is basically what WE are) will reveal that when DNA molecules are properly aligned, they become stronger. Please pay attention to the words ‘properly aligned’. For those of us who understand the practice of chiropractics, therapy comes in the form of manipulating and aligning the spinal column – the axis of the skeleton – the center point that the rest of the body rotates on.

It’s ALL about the alignment. WHEN we are pulled tight, we are often forced to snap back into the original order of our alignment . . . we become stronger in our being when we align to His axis.

‘HE gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless’
ISAIAH 40:29

So, for those of you who feel as though they cannot be pulled a minute longer, please take comfort in knowing that HE already knows your limits . . . what won’t kill you, really will make you stronger.