At the beginning of the book she challenges you to break a piece of pottery and then glue it back together. While it may seem like a silly activity there is so many meaningful parallels to draw from it. At one of our group meetings we each broke a perfect piece of pottery and tediously worked to make it look somewhat similar to how it started. Although we all walked away with several cuts and glue gun burns, we also walked away with a deeper meaning of how God constructs and uses each of our lives.
After our ectopic pregnancy and then our miscarriage my life felt like a broken piece of pottery. I felt like someone had taken my life, thrown it carelessly on the ground and allowed it to shatter into a million pieces. As our plans went awry I felt broken and as though the broken pieces of my life didn't make since. We had covered each frozen embryo transfer and subsequent pregnancy in prayer, yet nothing was working the way we thought it should. I spent my fair share of time frustrated and angry with God.
But the beautiful thing about our Savior is when our lives feel shattered, He doesn't walk away. He sweeps up all the pieces and works meticulously to make it whole again. Using His grace and mercy He forms a new piece of pottery. Once broken, a piece of pottery never fits back together perfectly. It has cracks, cracks that God views as necessary because they allow His light to penetrate through. That picture at the top is my piece of broken pottery. Each crack represents trials and struggles that the Lord has had me walk through. Sure I wish many of those cracks weren't there but at the same time, they allow God to shine through in my weakness. Those cracks are part of my life that bring Glory to God. While it's often hard for us to make since of a pile of broken clay, God sees each piece as working together to fulfill His perfect plan. It is the mending of our lives that God uses to make our lives whole. Most of my cracks are made from infertility struggles. But for others it could be job situations, family relationships, marriage difficulties, financial hardships, or a myriad of other trials. Friend, God never views our lives as random shards of broken clay. He knows how each piece should fit together. Allow Him to mend you with His unending love, grace, and mercy. The outcome is a unique, one of a kind, piece of pottery perfectly formed to allow Christ to shine through!
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