Broken

The weight of the shelf, combined with a compromised wooden hole made way for the shelf clip to give way and the shelf to fall hitting the one below with great force. A Boehm flower, that had been part of my mom's beautiful collection had been distributed to my daughter Molly who in turn gave it to me for safe keeping. Except for the base, the flower was now in pieces beyond recognition, and I was crushed beyond words. For it was not only a sentimental remembrance but something that had been entrusted to me that I had allowed to be broken.

It was an old piece form 1987 and the chances of replacing it were next to none, but I tried, calling every Boehm dealer represented on their website but to no avail. But one dealer gave me a tiny little glimpse of hope. He asked if I had all the pieces, and I told him yes and he said Boehm is almost magical in their ability to restore pieces. So I gathered up the pieces, the base still in tact, put them on cardboard, plastered them down with saran wrap and sent it with a note explaining my heartbreak. I had almost forgotten about it and then three weeks later Cindy, form Boehm called and said they received my package and felt like they could restore it and told me what the cost would be. I agreed and with a prayer in my heart thanked God that he cared even about something so insignificant as a broken porcelain flower.

All this to say that when I saw that flower, I never even considered the fact that someone could restore something so broken. Oh but there was someone who knew just how to do that but it was not until I was told that I had even considered searching for it. We all have been broken at one time or another. Maybe some of you are wrestling with a broken heart or a broken dream right now. And the pieces of your life seem to be so scattered and broken that restoration seems to be a far cry from a reality. I just stood in shock when the shelf fell and I saw all the shattered pieces. The project of reorganizing shelfs was stopped immediately and my stomach knotted and the tears began to flow. This was only a flower, what about the tragedy of losing a loved one, or dealing with a health issue that is overwhelming, or a broken relationship that has been shattered by a broken trust or rejection. We all have knee jerk reactions, maybe that is similar to one of your first reactions when something has broken in your life.

But there was one thing that became so clear to me through this whole experience was the analogy of restoration. I could not even be able to imagine that this was repairable, for it was in so many pieces. I have been there. I was there when my mom died, and my heart was broken to pieces. It was a sudden death and she was 69. But I knew there was a great restorer. And I had to have faith and put all the shattered pieces in his hands and allow him the time and skill to restore me in my brokenness to his condition of excellence. God does not work fast, and he carefully takes our broken pieces one at at time and begins once again to rebuild our life for his purposes.

His work is magical, and we, in our limited perspective can not imagine how he could ever restore the pieces that have been shattered by a weighted shelf that has fallen upon us. Oh but he can and he does, and all we have to do is gather up the pieces, one by one and wrap them in a tightly honed spirit of faith and send our brokenness to him in trust. For God is our only hope of restoration. He is the only one who truly knows where the pieces fit and he wants us to be whole again.

I received the box from Boehme yesterday. I just looked at it, and even then, could not imagine that the inside would be perfected.But I waded through the peanuts, found yet another box inside and raised it from the packaging and still another layer of boxed insulation was inlaid but this time I could see a glimpse of the flower. The base was carefully immersed in styrofoam and gently secured by what appeared to be surgical tape. It had been safely shipped and beautifully and flawlessly restored.

We don't know exactly how God's restoration process works, only that it is a gradual and meticulous process that only God has the ability to secure. Shattered pieces....we have all been there, some in such greater depths than others. I was reminded in reliving this shelf crash, that the flower was broken but the base remained without blemish. In the flurry of shattered pieces, if we are able to keep our base of faith and trust in tact, then that gives us God's grounded security to stand on and allow God to build upon.

God created an individual mold for each of our lives, and handpicked the details that make us who we are, through our adversities as well as our joys. And when the weight of the world causes us to crash into shattered pieces, God is there to restore us, to put us back together. It was that one phone call from a dealer that gave me hope. A hope that changed my perspective and motivated me to keep on searching for a restorer. God is only a call of hope away from any of us at any time. He builds us up with his strength, colors us with his wisdom, and with details only of heavenly proportions displays his grace and love through us. For it is in our brokenness that we realize that: " You never know God is all you need until God is all you have. by Rick Warren. If we can hold onto our faith, we will soon realize that God is holding on to us.

1 Peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Dear Lord, Thank you for your blessing of restoration. Amen
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Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through