Wrapping up a Saturday evening, exiting a vehicle with too many things in hand, I dropped a birthday gift from a friend. This gift, beautifully packaged in clear wrap and a white bow, was actually one of three gifts, but it was the extra special one. It was a wine goblet, custom designed with a “The Cherry Vine” logo. I was super excited about this birthday gift that was a personal testament of the love this friend has for me. We have this thing about purchasing items for each other all year, not just because of special days, but because we are always cognizant of each other’s likes. Some are pretty comical because of inside jokes and some are pretty serious. This gift, however, was one of the best ones ever, and guess what?? I not only dropped it, but it landed on pavement, shattering into several broken pieces!!! My sometimes sweet 🙂 , ever-so-supportive friend and riding partner for the evening, tried consoling me, stating that I could get another one, but all I could process was the many pieces of broken glass on wet pavement.
Later that night, lying awake in bed, I was still so heartbroken!! Thoughts of how perfect this gift was would not leave my mind. I still had a visual of the design and the curvature of the glass. I could imagine myself having a glass of wine on a Friday evening and staring, with pride, at this marvelous gift. I had imagery of smiling while doing so, because it represented not just the love and kindness of a friend, but the gift of Purpose in authoring this blog. But wow, why did I have to break it? It can’t be reconstructed. It can’t be pieced back together. It will always remain as shattered pieces in my mind. It really is forever broken!
Much like the broken spirit that I had about this wine glass, I began to correlate the combination of the small pieces of glass, the pieces of TCV logo left and the chunky, not-so-small clear remnants of breakage to LIFE. We all have or have had moments of brokenness–Moments when the pieces of life are so shattered that you feel it’s all in disrepair; Moments when hopes, dreams, desires, plans, and sometimes the whole sphere of life appears to be nothing but irreparable damage; Moments when you have feelings of, Why me or Why me, yet again? When, Lord? I can’t do this! I’m so tired of it all! Nothing good ever happens for me! Oh well, it’s just my luck. You get the trend. We “go there” in thought and sometimes act out or retreat to solitude, as a result—because we’re broken or about to figuratively hit the pavement.
You see, brokenness isn’t discriminatory. You can be Bright and Broken or Intellectually Challenged and Broken, Financially Sound and Broken or Broke and Broken, Young and Broken or Old and Broken, Reckless and Broken or Put-together and Broken, Slanderous and Broken or Preaching and Broken! The list goes on. But, whatever the status or place of where brokenness meets you, life is NOT in total disrepair, if we believe. Not believing that the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy or Santa is gonna fix it, but having faith in God’s hands that are perfectly molded to repair our broken pieces. His handy-work is like no other…It’s incomparable!!
I believe that things are designed to break. I believe that we are supposed to experience the breakage. I believe that emotional “breaks”, make us stronger. I believe that picking up the broken pieces and becoming skilled in doing so, creates a spirit of resilience and continually renews a spirit of self-worth. I believe that the shattered pieces are representative of every aspect of our make-up…the intricate pieces of who we are and life’s many experiences. I believe that the view of the pieces are meant to be evaluative. I believe that it is in those moments that God looks over His children and like the best teacher on planet Earth, He meticulously focuses and observes our classwork. He is seeing if we use the instructional tools that He has provided so freely, to put the pieces back together or make the decision to leave it as-is, and move on to the next assignment.
As I’m sure I’ve written in other blogs, my pastor has shared that one of God’s great gifts is the power of choice. So, choose to accept the broken pieces of life for what they are. Choose to not let them leave permanent scars. Choose to be an overcomer, not a statistic— ride through and out of the storms. Choose to believe that if it’s broken and a fix is not possible, there’s something better on the way to replace it. Choose Faith over finding fault! Choose to be Bright in not remaining Broken!! Choose obedience in assessing the damage, and above all, partner with God to build a bridge over the roads that are lined with our Broken Pieces!
Peace & Blessings,
Lisa B
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