Broken Vessels

Gideon has a favorite plate. I think it cost $1.50. I bought it about a year ago, and trust me - we have gotten our dollar and fifty cents worth out of that thing! If you were to come over to our house, you wouldn't realize it was such a treasure. It is "unbreakable" plastic. It is blue and white and has whales on it and says 'I Love You Whaley Much'. Profound, I know.

Not many nights ago, as Babe was doing the dishes and I was in the other room putting Gideon to bed, I heard a CRASH come from the kitchen. And then nothing....silence. So of course, my mama brain knew enough to know that something important had fallen. I finished putting my sweet boy down for the night and after a zillion books and kisses and hugs, I was able to close the door and investigate.

I walked into the kitchen and there.it.was. The whale plate. The unbreakable one. In about 4 pieces. Now, I am a pretty emotionally stable lady, but I am not going to lie, a few tears immediately sprang to my eyes. His favorite plate. His very first big boy plate. I imagined his disappointment upon not finding it washed and ready to eat off of in the morning. I was saddened to know that I couldn't go out and just replace it. And I am not overly sentimental, but I wasn't ready to let go of his FIRST BIG BOY plate...

Babe met my eyes, shrugged his shoulders and mumbled something about sliding off the counter and accident and then picked the pieces up and tossed them into the trash can. The trash! Can you imagine?? My baby's favorite plate? Broken and then tossed aside. I pulled myself together and pulled the broken remains out of the trash and placed them in my husband's hands and said, "You broke it, you fix it. It matters." Then I walked out the room.


For the next 30 minutes, Babe perfomed precision surgery on the plate. He emerged triumphant from the kitchen, holding out the repaired treasure. From a distance you would never have known that less than an hour before it had been destroyed and tossed aside, dismissed as useless. Taking it in my hands and looking it over, I saw the cracks that were sealed forever with superglue. It would never be new and 'perfect' again. The repair was a good one, but the cracks were there. They would forever be a part of the plate. Babe told me that 'it should hold, we'll just have to be extra gentle when we wash it' (where were you an hour ago with that thought??? *sigh*). Good as new, he said.

The next morning, I handed Gideon his whale plate and he toddled over to his chair and ate his breakfast without even noticing the irrevocable damage sustained the previous night. He just loved his plate. He didn't see any flaws. And if he did, it didn't take away from the beauty of his treasure.

Good as new? Nope, better. Sure, it has cracks in it and I will have to be careful with it. But it still fulfills its purpose. It holds Gideon's food. It puts a smile on his face.

That plate is better than new because of the love that patched it up. My love for my son that rescued it from the trash. His father's love that painstakingly restored it. Gideon's love that overlooked the flaws and imperfections.

WOW! Isn't that an amazing metaphor for God's children? For you and me? We are handled roughly, carelessly. We slide off of our secure place and fall sometimes. Sometimes when we hit the bottom, we shatter. Sometimes, people look at us and say we aren't worth the effort and sweep us aside. But, if we let Him, God picks us up. He lovingly and carefully puts us back together. In His image. To reflect His love, His patience, His joy. True, most of us are cracked, broken. But we can be repaired to BETTER THAN NEW if we trust that beauty comes from ashes. Beautiful things are made from the dust.

God's Light shines so much more brightly through the cracks of our broken vessels than one that is unbreakable. I pray that God will come into my broken places and shine His light so brightly that it POURS out of me. That those who know me will be bathed in His light and love and grace.

Isaiah 54:10

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD who has compassion on you.
(emphasis mine)

Thank you Lord for just enough light for this step....