Embracing Beautiful Brokenness
So that mug I showed you that I received at the Carry Camp Retreat, you know this one. I was in love with this mug, I just knew I had to keep it in front of me at all times. So I brought it to my office at work to put it on my desk. Then, just a few days in it fell off my desk and onto the floor. In shock I just stared at it mostly in disbelief that it happened. I was just holding back tears.
Do you see what I see? The front of the mug was completely unaffected. The design had no broken pieces or lines. How was that even possible?
Then I clearly heard the Lord say, “This broken mug is a picture of you. You fall and you break apart into pieces. And I pick you and your pieces all up and push you forward in bravery. And all of those broken pieces become a part of who you are. They all form your story.”
A few weeks later, someone told me to look up broken pottery melded with gold. So I did. It’s this Japanese art form, called kitsugi. They take broken pottery and repair with a special lacquer mixed with gold, silver, or platinum. The philosophy behind the technique is to recognize the history of the object and to visibly incorporate the repair into the new piece instead of disguising it. The process usually results in something more beautiful than the original.
Think about that. They believe in the value of that object so much, in the history of it. So they can’t leave it broken. They have to make it even better than the original.
That’s exactly what God does with us. We’re not left broken. He makes us even better by building upon our brokenness and using it for a far better outcome. Making us into a masterpiece crafted by Him for a particular purpose. I don’t know about you, but for me that gives me such hope and encouragement.
And it was from that that the vision of Embrace Bravery was born. In this place, in the extreme brokenness of infertility, God is using it for a greater purpose. It’s time to trust Him to do what He does. Make us beautifully broken for a bigger and better story.
