In this season of thanksgiving in many parts of the world I thought I would share what I’m truly grateful for while brewing an interesting blend called Sticky Date tea.  I’m using my favorite mug for our time together, welcome dear friend.

Now grab your own favorite mug filled with a beverage of delight, get comfy & we’ll begin…

A Repurposed Life 

Have you noticed how people are doing it really tough at the moment? Many are now in precarious financial positions & all of us are feeling the impact from the last five years of natural disasters to the Pandemic, from constant political & social unrest to wars & rumours of wars.

While out walking the other day, I was thinking about these traumatic times in what so many people are experiencing & thought it may be difficult for many to be grateful in this season.

But as I ambled along I looked out across the bay with its calming waters & an image of what God’s healing process looks like came to mind. And it’s in this process that I have found immense gratitude.

This process is a lot like the Japanese art of Kintsugi. Which is a creative process of mending broken pottery with lacquers mixed with precious metal dust like gold, silver or platinum. Highlighting the imperfection of the broken object for its repurposing.

Likewise is the art of Mosaics which takes broken ceramics & repurposes them into beautiful things, like candle holders, garden tables, benches or outdoor artworks.

Imagine the following scenario;

Your all time favorite mug is lying on the ground broken in pieces, some large, some small & some completely shattered. 

Now this mug wasn’t just any mug, it had all the right qualities for the perfect cuppa experience! It had been a part of a rather comforting routine for years.

As we look at the broken & shattered pieces lying on the ground, we think that its purpose & usefulness is now over.

We often think this about our own lives when feeling crushed & broken, don’t we?

This may be due to personal circumstances or feeling the world as we knew it has gone mad. It may be grieving the loss of a loved one, an unexpected medical diagnosis, chronic health conditions or being in deep financial straits.

 We think we’ll never be the same again & you know what, we won’t! But not all is lost…

It is at these very times Jesus gently approaches us through His Spirit & if we allow Him, He will delicately pick up every broken & shattered piece of our soul. But just as in the Kintsugi & Mosaic processes, each piece needs to be cleaned & trimmed thoroughly.

So that the bonding process will bond properly for its new purpose.

We too, dear friend need the Spirit of God’s cleansing & trimming. 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 a strong & eternal bond!

“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 (paraphrased)

However, the pieces that are so shattered that we think are absolutely beyond restoration is when Jesus replaces these wholly with Himself.

Bonding the transparency of His love to our soul through which His light may shine forth in a beautiful & transformative way!

So, through our mending & repurposing others may see the living light of His love & strength.

We essentially become His living beacons of hope, lit by His love & grace!

And you know what my friend? That once shattered part of our life that we thought was gone for good & wouldn’t have any purpose again becomes a repurposed vessel for God!

Let’s make this personal…

It’s nearly twenty years ago now when I noticed extreme fatigue had descended upon my being. But at the time I put it down to the big events of having recently remarried (after widowhood), moved house & working full time.

However, the fatigue persisted with global pain developing throughout my body. So I took myself off to my physician who sent me off to a Specialist, after a myriad of medical tests I was diagnosed with several autoimmune conditions & Fibromyalgia.

I thought at the time these were all temporary conditions & I would quickly heal like I always had but I was wrong, very wrong!

After struggling to continue to work for a few years after these diagnoses & having already stepped into part-time hours, I was medically implored to go on a “sabbatical” which eventually lead to early retirement from Clinical Counselling. A profession that I loved & had worked so hard to achieve.

However, not only did I have to retire from professional life, I also had to take a step back from many things in life! As I just could not keep up any longer.

Including being able to support my family in the ways I once had, although I tried my absolute best as the Mama of adult daughters & Grandmama to many grandbabies coming our way. My capabilities had drastically changed & I had become incapable of keeping up with the mainstream of life.

I can tell you my friend this impacted me like nothing else had, just like that favourite mug had shattered, I too felt shattered. I felt useless & without purpose incapable in these important areas of my life. As being able to support my family is extremely important to me.

But Jesus quietly carried me to one side & started the healing process in my shattered soul. Revealing Himself in new & amazing ways, slowly recreating those areas into a vessel for Him.

During this process I was able to write two published works. And then He opened the door to continue sharing Him here in this little corner of cyberspace. What Joy!

I’m coming up to the seventh year of blogging next month & I can say without a doubt that I am truly grateful for God’s repurposing of my life & the blessing that comes in meeting with you here each week. And I’m absolutely astounded that you visit from a hundred & forty countries around the world!

You may be thinking, what about your daughters & grandchildren Jennifer? 

Well they’re all doing fine, God is taking care of them as He has promised, my daughters are amazingly capable women who despite the challenges of life are living full lives. And I’ve been able to support them in different ways over the last two decades, mainly through prayer & as their cheerleader.

And my grandchildren have grown into wonderful young people, some now adults & married with adding the next generation to our family in the arrival of great grandchildren.

God’s repurposing is amazing!

Don’t be afraid to allow His healing & repurposing in your life my friend.

Until next time,

Jennifer

You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook

or in Prayer

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© 2024 Jennifer M. Ross, All Rights Reserved. Photos by Řaj Vaishnaw www.pexels.com  & Yan Krukau www.pexels.com

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