A Fragile Life

For Christmas I received a gift that had to be handled with care. I joked why would someone who knows me so well get me something so fragile. When I opened this box I found a beautiful handmade paper rose in a glass case. I was amazed at its beauty. It took time and effort and love to create such a work of art. And so far I find that the rose is one of my most treasured gifts. But all of this had me thinking…. we want an indestructible, impersonal, and eternal world, but why? We paint the picture of us being fine when we are really not. And we do the same with others. I recently heard a cover of a song that was written by a man only a short time before he took his own life. And I sat there wondering how the world could miss his cry for help. We do this constantly with everyone in our lives. We start out like my rose beautiful and tall and proud and then life happens and we are torn and shattered on the ground. But we pick up the pieces and act as if we are still complete. Because it isn’t pretty to be broken, and it isn’t cool to ask for help, but why not? We weren’t created to live on our own and survive, we were created to be close with our Creator and thrive. But to do that we have to show our broken selves to Him and to the world. He knows we are broken, He can see that, but God wants us to bring our brokenness to Him, willingly. This is hard because from a young age we are told, “don’t let the bullies know that they get to you, or that they get under your skin.” We are told to hide how we truly feel even if it is harming us. We are told to go along in life and suffer while the evil gets away with it. But why? Why cant we stand up to that bully and tell them that they did hurt us, that they are upsetting us… because it isn’t cool to be broken. Brokenness is something we fear as a society, and I think I know why, to allow our selves to be broken means we must admit to needing a mender. We must show our fragile side and tell ourselves that we need someone bigger then us to help. And that isn’t easy in a society of self help and survival. If you are reading this and you are broken, even you aren’t shattered but just chipped, please say something. I am broken… its hard to admit to that but I am. And I wont ever be the same as I was when I started this journey but that’s ok, because each time I’m broken I am mended, mended with a piece of God with a little more of His personality, and His way of thinking. So can we dare to be broken? Dare to ask for help? Because if we need it then lets ask for it…

Dear Lord.

We thank you for this life. We thank you for the opportunity to do life side by side with You. Help us to see we are broken, help us to stand up and ask for help. Mend us Lord. Mend us with You.

In Jesus Name

Amen

It’s a choice

Recently I’ve found that love is a choice. Not a warm fuzzy feeling you only feel towards one special person or your closest family and friends. It’s not an immediate response but a thought out action.

During the holiday season we find ourselves fed up and irritated and overwhelmed more than we find peace and joy. We take our rage out on those closest to us and we do that without even taking a moment to consider that they might be just as stressed as we are.

Love most definitely is something we find and something we lose. We find it when we realize they are a human being, created in God’s likeness and loved by Him. We lose it when we forget that. So take time, look around, do you show everyone kindness and love?

Let’s do something crazy hard, let’s do it together…. next time someone cuts you off in traffic, cuts in line, asks way to many questions, or doesn’t deliver something on time, pray for them. Don’t curse them under your breath, just simply ask God to smooth their lives out. And ask God if there is anything you can do to help them.

Everyone hating everyone helps no one. But one person simply smiling and showing peace towards someone else through a prayer, can start a chain reaction that could have humongous effects.

Will you be that smile and prayer?