Broken to Beautiful, Scars can fade

​My daughter Charlotte and her husband Mitch and their son Emmanuel, (or as we like to call him - Manny), came to visit for Christmas. Charlotte is a talented artist who has recently illustrated her second children's book. (almost published, I will post a link to it once it comes available). Her first book that she illustrated was titled "Dunkin on the Move". Charlotte like me has a website for her art and is also doing a blog. We both want to be more consistent and intentional with our blogs but are having a hard time doing it. We are both a bit competitive….. okay a lot competitive, so we decided to make it a challenge between us two in posting new blogs. But right after Christmas, Charlotte texted me and told me she posted a blog…. How dare her get one out before me….just like her to get a jump on it…so here I go trying this year to be more consistent with my blog…

I have 4 girls, my three daughters and my other daughter who married my son. I know, she is really my daughter in law, but she seems more like a 4th daughter. Whenever my girls come to visit, I usually ask them to look through the earrings that I have made and pick out a pair or two to take home with them. Just a way that I can spoil them just a little. One-time Charlotte picked out a pair that was one of my favorites LOL (below left) ....my girls always seem to pick out my favorites, because we like a lot of the same things. My husband always reminds me that I say that about every pair of earrings, which is true.

When Charlotte was here for Christmas she brought that pair of earrings (above right)…she had dropped it on the floor and they broke….well they are glass. If they hit tile or cement, there is a chance they will break, and this pair did. She was so sad as they had become one of her favorite pairs of earrings to wear. While she was here, I tried to fire them in my kiln, twice. I was trying to repair them. But glass has a memory…at least that is what my aunt taught me when I was apprenticing with her to blow glass. She told me every time a tool touches the glass it leaves its mark…..kind of like a scar.

It made me think of the earrings and how it relates to my life…let me explain.

On Sunday at church our pastor was preaching about when Jesus was tempted in the desert. He had not eaten for 40 days and Satan tempted him…Matthew 4:1-4 “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Jesus did not put his own desire for food before his obedience to God. After 40 days, anyone would be hungry. But Jesus was obedient to God…. Our pastor explained that desires are things in us that pull us away from the will of God. When Jesus was tempted, Satan tempted him to put his physical need above his obedience to God… It made me think about how we so often put our desires before Gods desire for our obedience to Him. God gives us rules to follow, the ten commandments to keep us safe and to help us live a Holy Life. Because He wants what is best for us. Our Father loves us so much He desires the best for us…and He teaches us how to experience the best, we just need to follow His commandments and be obedient to Him. If we get anxious and put our desires first and take control, we end up with such a mess.
When our pastor was preaching I kept thinking about Charlottes broken earrings….I fired them twice and you can still see the scars from them being broken….they are just like us.
Sometimes we fall hard, and we break and no matter how we try to fix our mess…. There are scars, marks left on our hearts and lives. On the earrings, we can all see the scars…the marks from when they were broken and hurt. In our lives you may not see the scars on me…. but they have left their mark forever on my life and my heart.
Sometimes the scars are from someone who hurt us….and sometimes they are self-inflicted because of the bad choices we make, we choose to be disobedient to God. We do not follow Gods commandments to keep us safe and Holy…. Our Heavenly Father knew what was best for us. When the scars are caused by someone hurting us, sometimes the scars extend to those closest to us…..it is like a wave that ripples along and spreads out touching those around us….

I will try and fire the earrings again and hopefully the scar will fade….When we draw close to God and stay centered in His will, safe under the shelter of His wings and keep reading His word and get to know Him through it and forgive those who have hurt us and tell those we have hurt how very sorry we are…..eventually the scars do fade. The only difference between us and that pair of earrings is that you can see the scars….

I love the quote by Max Lucado, “I am never surprised by God’s judgment, but I am always stunned by His grace.” I am stunned by His grace in my life….are you? My precious Lord has shown me such grace and mercy….I am truly blessed. I fervently want that for you too.

We will spend eternity somewhere…where will it be for you? I know in my heart of hearts, I want to be with my Lord and Savior and spend eternity under the shelter of His wings to bask in His glory forever…..the question I ask myself and I challenge you to ask yourself is, are you putting your obedience to God before your own desires in everything you do?
In your marriage? Your finances? Your work? Your free time? When you surf the internet? Your thoughts? What you watch? What you listen too?
The final thing that our pastor shared with us, is that God has a plan for each of us…it may not look like our plan, but His plan is so much better than ours. God has written our story, He is the author of it.
Our pastor challenged us to KNOW the AUTHOR of our STORY…. Do you know HIM? Do you know God? Do you KNOW YOURSELF? Do you know where you are most vulnerable to stumble? Get rid of anything that pulls you back…KNOW THE WORD...open that book and really read it and let the truth it holds sink in to your mind, heart and soul.

More of HIM, less of me,
Mary C.