It's Ok To Be Broken

Another parenting/preach at yourself moment tonight.

My son started to get upset because the corner of his coloring page tore when he pulled it from the grips of his art easel. "Momma, it's broken. Branch is broken."

"It's alright." I replied and added, "It's ok to be broken."

Whoa! There's a whole one hour sermon condensed down in to five words.

I don't know about anyone reading this, but one of my biggest struggles in life is feelings of value and worth. The hardest part is knowing all my "bad" stuff. Everything that makes me appear to be "broken".

I can be over the top emotional. I cry when I am happy, sad, mad and being empathetic. I laugh super loud and I have a very lame sense of humor. I'm not kidding. It's so dry that you could blow on it and puffs of dust and dirt would shoot in to the air. I am a very organized, unorganized person. I hate chaos and clutter, but sometimes I get overwhelmed when there is too much to organize and contain. I hate housework... with a passion. I just will never be that person. God bless all of you who get joy from cleaning your house. I love a clean house. I just don't want to do it.

These are all things that cause me to broken. Imperfect. I sometimes see myself as the "as is" item on the clearance shelf. Maybe it's missing a piece or torn or unraveled. All of these describe me. Not many people jump at the chance to pick up an "as is" item. The only thing that really draws attention to it is the amazing price that is attached to it. Most people will leave an "as is" item on the shelf where it lays. Some people will buy it, take him home and either try to hide the flaws or dress it up so that the flaws are not visible.

Not my God. God is so good! He picks us up off that clearance shelf. If needed he will dust us off and takes us to the register of life and pays full price for us. You see, God sees value in the broken. He isn't out looking for the best of the best and perfection. He is out looking for those who are broken. The ones that no one else sees any value in.

There is something that God knows that we oftentimes don't realize. He isn't just randomly picking out things that need to be fixed. He is being strategic. Yes, God is strategic. He works everything out for the good. Do you know why he likes broken people? Because God's light shines better when we are broken. All of the cracks and missing pieces in us causes God's handiwork to light up the world. If we were completely whole, there would only be one outlet for God's light to shine out of, but broken allows for His light to shine bigger and brighter than it could have if we were completely whole.

Friends, it's alright if you are broken. You may have friends, peers and maybe even family who will make you think that only perfection is acceptable, but that isn't true. It is ok to be broken. It's ok to be a hot mess. It's ok to make mistakes. It's ok to not have it all together and by all that is holy, it's ok to hate housework.

God looked for me. This is hard for me to even grasp. He wants me. All my faults and failings. He wants me just like I am. He wants you just like you are. He can use you. You aren't worthless to Him. You are priceless. You just what He is looking for. Broken.

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