Today I’m brewing an interesting blend called Cherry blossom tea, I’m using my favorite mug for this time…welcome dear friend, how lovely to have you drop by!
Grab your own favorite mug of delight for our cuppa together, get comfy & we’ll begin…
Have you noticed that many people are doing it really tough at the moment. Many are now in precarious financial positions & all of us are feeling the impact of this CoVid19 pandemic.
Some ladies I chatted with recently, shared that they feel so traumatized by recent events that tears flow often & easily these days. Something they have not experienced before…
Kintsugi
While out walking the other day, I was thinking about these traumatic times & what so many people are experiencing.
As I ambled along I looked out across the bay with its calming waters & an image of what God’s healing & restoration process looks like came to mind.
It’s a lot like the Japanese art of Kintsugi, I thought. This is a creative process of mending broken pottery with lacquers mixed with precious metal dust like gold, silver & platinum.
Highlighting the imperfection of the broken object but re purposing it for another use.
Imagine the following…as this is the scenario that came to mind,
Your all time favorite mug is lying on the ground, it has been knocked off the table, breaking into many pieces, some large, some small & others completely shattered. Spilling its contents everywhere.
Now this mug wasn’t just any mug, it had all the right qualities for the perfect cuppa experience!
It was the perfect shade of blue. It had held just the right amount not too much, not too little! It had kept its contents hot until the last drop.
It also had a comfortable handle & was the perfect weight for tired arthritic hands. It even had a lip that was perfectly rounded for that first comforting & refreshing sip.
It had been a special part of a comforting routine or what you might even say comforting ritual for years.
As we look at the broken & shattered pieces lying on the ground, we think that the purpose & usefulness of this favorite ol’ mug has now gone.
We often think this about our own lives when feeling crushed & broken!
It may be due to situations like a CoVid pandemic or a failed marriage, losing a loved one or being in deep financial straits, it may be in times of high anxiety or experiencing clinical depression.
We think we’ll never be the same again & you know what, we won’t! But not all is lost!
The light of His love
Then Jesus gently approaches & if we allow Him (remember He is the perfect Gentleman), delicately picks up every broken & shattered piece.
He gently examines each with us, as part of His restorative work but as in the Kintsugi process, each piece first needs to be cleaned thoroughly.
So that the lacquer with the precious metals bond to the broken pieces properly for reassembling & re purposing.
We too, dear friend need His cleansing. We often forget this part of the healing process when in the depths of pain, don’t we!
But it is an essential part of the overall process for an everlasting & strong bond to occur!
“Allowing God to cleanse us from the gritty stuff (all kinds of envy, greed, selfish ambition, judgmental attitudes). Then we will become a vessel for honoring, sanctified & purposed for the Lord, ready for His good work.”
2 Timothy 2:21 (paraphased)
However, some pieces are so shattered they are beyond restoration, so this is when the Spirit of God replaces these areas wholly with Himself.
Bonding the transparency of His love which allows His light to shine through these areas of transformation!
So, through our mending & re purposing, others may see the living light of His love & strength beaming forth through us. We essentially become living beacons of hope!
And you know what my friend, that once favored but broken mug (representing you & I in the differing seasons in our lives) that we thought was lost & wouldn’t have a purpose again, becomes a beautiful re purposed vessel for the Spirit of God!
Although this is an ongoing process, so we need to ask ourselves the following; what gritty attitudes or behaviors do we need transformed by His healing touch at the moment?
Until next time,
Jennifer
You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook
Or in Prayer
© 2020, Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All rights reserved. Photos on Pexels.com
Tea With Jennifer 
So beautiful, Jennifer. I am well acquainted with Kintsigi and own a few pieces myself. I love the imagery of the beautiful broken. With so many broken places in my life, this statement, “However, some pieces are so shattered they are beyond restoration, so this is when the Spirit of God replaces these areas wholly with Himself.” Truly floods my heart with hope. Thank you!!
Thank you Donna.
I’m a living testimony to this, Jesus has stepped in & filled the areas of my heart that were truly shattered.
Especially with the deaths of my daughter Candy, my son Benjamin & my late husband Ed.
As I lost them, one by one, my heart was truly broken & somewhat shattered but I allowed my heavenly Father to fill those places with His Holy Spirit & I have been able to go forward in His strength, all glory to Him. But it is a process, of which can take time & it’s progressive.
He is there with you Donna, He is filling those places of brokenness & shatteredness with Himself bit by bit, little by little as you walk with Him sweet friend. ❤️
This is so beautiful. God says he heals the wounds of every shattered heart. Psalm 147:3.
Thank you, that He does Theresa, if we allow Him…😉
I love this! Kintsugi is such a perfect illustration of God’s work of restoration. I wrote a blog series about it a few years ago and those are definitely among my favourite posts I have written! I hadn’t really considered it in relation to the pandemic so this gives me something to think about!
Thank you Lesley! I love how God continues to highlight His truth to us through everyday life & practices from around the world. It makes life in Him such an adventure! Lovely having you drop by today 😀
Hello Jennifer, I loved your blog post. I am especially interested in Cherry Blossoms-as it has to do with what I write. I’m half Japanese so when I read Kintsugi in your title- I knew it would be interesting. Thank you for reminding that no matter how broken we may feel, God and his love is there for us making beauty out of the shards or the ashes. I’m visiting from Welcome Heart link up.
You’re welcome Kathleen! My brother lives in Japan though I have never had the pleasure of visiting there 😀
Cherry blossoms are beautiful & I’m so glad you enjoyed your time here today 😀
Praying that, as a repurposed vessel, I can be useful to others along the way – and used for His glory! I so enjoyed this thought this afternoon!
A lovely prayer Jennifer! I’m so glad you enjoyed your time here today 😀
Oh how I love that God continues to take our broken bits and pieces and make something beautiful out of it all. What a wonderful Savior.
Absolutely Linda! What a wonderful Savior! 😀
Jennifer, this is the perfect analogy. I have never heard of Kintsugi before, but the places where we have cracked and been healed are the beautiful places.
Thank you Laurie! That they are 😀
Jennifer, what beautiful thoughts to ponder this morning. During these very trying times, I must focus that God is always at work, He is not absent during our troubles. Thank you for sharing, as always you encourage me. Thank you my friend♥️
Thank you Pam & you’re most welcome sweet friend! Yes He is always present, how very comforting this is 😀
This paragraph is just beautiful to think on this afternoon >> “So, through our mending & re purposing, others may see the living light of His love & strength beaming forth through us. We essentially become living beacons of hope!” May I be a living beacon of hope is my prayer.
Thank you Joanne! His healing work in us is such a wondrous beaming light, may we continue in the process… 😀
Wonderful piece. Thanks!
Thank you Pete! Glad you enjoyed your time here 😀