I heard the crash, and my heart sank. My friends and I had worked on pottery pieces during our “girls’ day out,” and one of them had accidentally tumbled onto the floor. My friend looked with despair at her beautiful bowl, now in pieces. She had worked so hard on it. I waited for her to cry or scream, but she looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes.
“This will be my Kintsugi bowl!” she said.
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. I often talk about Kintsugi art when I share my story because I have been like that bowl, lying in pieces on the floor. We’ve all experienced broken times in our lives when an unexpected “smash” happens and we feel shattered.
When I think about those broken places, I remember the apostle Paul, who could surely relate to a sudden detour in life. After his dramatic conversion, he was a sold out, faithful follower of Jesus, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Instead, Paul suffered many bouts of persecution. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)
Despite his hardships, he understood there is a greater reality and a higher purpose than what we see in the here and now. I think that’s why he tucked this nugget of wisdom and truth in his letter to the church in Colossae: “For you died to this life, and our real life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)
Paul challenges us to be transformed by the love of Christ, and to remember the truth of who we are. Sometimes, figuring out what that looks like can be hard, especially during seasons of struggle, uncertainty, and silence. Those are the moments when we cry out, asking, “Where are you God?” But as I looked at the broken 
pieces of that beautiful bowl on the floor, it became so clear to me. The broken pieces told the story of beautiful imperfection. Then, when my friend brushed the gold glue in between every crack, the bowl became something new and even more lovely than before! That’s the thing about brokenness—it always leaves a mark to show it was once there.
When we choose to couple our shattered remains with God’s goodness and grace, we also become beautifully broken. That’s how the best stories are told—stories of hope that others are desperate to hear, and stories we ourselves need to hear.
When I read those words in Colossians 3, I’m reminded that I am not my circumstance. Because of Christ, I have a much higher calling on my life than anything that happens here on earth. No matter where I find myself, or how shattered I may feel, the core of who I am will never change. I will forever be identified as God’s chosen daughter.
That is my prayer for those of you who feel like shattered pieces on the floor, too broken to see how you could ever become whole again. When brokenness comes, remember whose you are, and embrace the gift of being beautifully broken. There is purpose in those broken places.
#beautifullybroken #everypiecematters
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