Beauty from Ashes

We recently went on a sweet little family vacation to the beach.  My children have always loved the sand and the water. They have their Daddy's dark complexion, and their skin just turns so brown under the sun's warm kiss each summer.  
On the day we arrived, the beach was absolutely covered in sea shells after a recent storm.  It was almost like walking on a beach made of shells!  It was something remarkable to see, but true to her little wild-hearted self, my daughter was enamored!  We had packed two tote bags for them to collect special shells from the beach, and she started filling hers up! 

I stopped her and pointed out that many of the shells were broken or had holes or other damage to them.  "Just throw those back and save the pretty ones," I told her, like the reasonable adult that I am.  And that's when God spoke to me, once again, through the voice of my child.  "But Mama, they are all pretty!  I can use the broken ones together to make something bigger, and I can use the ones with holes in them to make beautiful jewelry!"  

Right then and there, I was reminded of how God loves us just like that.  We are broken and have shattered pieces.  We have holes where there was once completeness.  Some things have happened to us, and some of our scars are by our own choices.  But the good news is that our perfect, sovereign God doesn't care about any of it.  He loves you just as you are and right where you are!  He can take our broken pieces and use them together for something even more beautiful!  He can take the holes and scars and use them as a powerful message in a dark world.  

It is said that Ernest Hemingway wrote, "We are all broken; that's how the light gets in."  I truly believe that all things work together for our good.  Even when you feel that something is so broken it can never be repaired, God can make it new again.  This doesn't mean we won't feel the pain, that we won't cry.  We will.  Life will be painful.  But life is not just about what we get out of it.  It is also about what we give to others.  When we are broken, and we let God's light in, He can heal us and use us as an instrument to help others.  That's where the meaning and purpose of life lies.  

So don't be ashamed, friends, of those scars.  Use your experiences, and your healing through God's grace, to help someone else.  Don't be afraid to share your story and your experiences with others, because someone may need your hand to hold.  And if you find yourself lying in that bed of ashes, call out to the God who loves you just as you are.  He has never left you, and He wants nothing more than to bring beauty and wholeness into your life once again.

As my daughter continued to fill her shell bag with as many pieces as she could pick up and carry, I talked to her a little about how God loves her unconditionally.  That no matter how many mistakes she makes in life her Mama and her heavenly Father would always love her.  She looked up, smiling, and said, "I know that, Mama."  I think this is what Jesus meant when He said that the Kingdom of Heaven was for such as these.  What a sweet, innocent trust and acceptance!  I pray her heart always trusts Him so completely.  And I pray we all open our eyes to see the beauty He brings from our ashes.  

God bless,
Allison Key, MD