It is Christmas time 2014 and we are staying in a cabin in North Carolina. My daughter-in-law’s dad died at Thanksgiving. So she wanted to be away from the family home for Christmas. That is how we chose this cabin. This is potentially the only time that we will be here for Christmas. It is a wonderful old home with lots of knotty pine, hardwood floors, and a large wood burning fireplace.
She chose a church in Asheville, North Carolina called Sea Coast for our Christmas Eve service. The pastor talked about not being too young or too old to be used by God. He demonstrated with a photograph of a 99 year old volunteer stuffing bulletins. He said that there is no excuse for not being involved! He then talked about a kind of Japanese pottery called kintsugi. The Japanese repair broken pottery with a lacquer resin that has gold or silver dust in it. Kintsugi is a method of repairing broken pottery using a technique that is beautiful in a peculiar way, like some people. You can still see where the breaks were, but they are filled in with golden or silver lacquer resin. Pastor Greg compared the broken places to the hurts in our lives. He used a real kintsugi cup as a visual picture. It was beautiful. However, you could definitely see where the cracks had been filled with the golden lacquer. During the message they flashed Psalm 147:3 on the video screen. It read, “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.” That is the very familiar scripture that we have shared with the 284 people that we have taken through Restoring the Foundations healing ministry sessions in the last 7 years. I am coming upon the part that deeply and profoundly touched my heart. The Lord said something that moved me to tears, like he did a few years ago at that little Rocky Mountain country church in Gunnison Colorado when he showed me pictures in my mind of families, that we had ministered to through the years, that had remained together and were enjoying Christmas together. At that time in Colorado He basically said, “Here are families that are enjoying the holidays together they did not split up.”
Pastor Greg then said, “Do not ignore the broken places. Get healing.” Then I heard in my spirit, “Thank you for binding up the wounds and filling in the cracks.” That made me gently weep. My emotions included deep personal appreciation for being able to do what we do, gratefulness for God consistently empowering the ministry goodness each week, and encouragement from God regarding the good that has resulted during some years of personal suffering. There was a mixture of appreciation, joy, and release of pain. It felt like God was showing me a glimpse of His perspective. It felt like, “I know what you have been through. I know the things that have happened to you that you could not tell anyone. I know how much you miss your kids. I was there when you were going through the narrow places. I know how much you enjoyed living in the Rocky Mountains. I am aware of what you left to pursue the RTF dream. I know.” Warm tears were now streaming down my face. Then I saw the picture that, to quote my friend Harvey, “messed me up bad.” I saw 284 white kintsugi cups set in darkness with a single lit candle flickering in each one.
That Christmas was several years ago.
Just recently I found one of my favorite coffee mugs that my daughter-in-law had given us.
It had a misfortunate accident several years ago and the handle was broken into 3 pieces. I determined to repair it with clear epoxy mixed with gold glitter to mimic the kintsugi style. That is a mug with a story. Coffee is more comforting and heart-warming from the kintsugi mug that I put back together.