Broken Lives Restored

     Just like broken crayons, so are our lives sometimes. We start out fresh, new and beautiful...flawless, so we think. Then, the years of our lives, bring about situations and circumstances that break us, and sometimes make us feel as though we can no longer bring forth beautiful color. Just like the broken crayons, the ones that have been used day after day, and have been broken time after time, they still produce beautiful, vibrant color!!!

    Have you ever experienced getting a new box of crayons? My daughter Anna loves nothing more than to have a new box of crayons. You open the box, and there they sit....beautiful, flawless, all lined up in all their glory. As you begin to use them, the tip gets dull...you tear the paper back, so you can continue with your creativity...then because of pressure, and hours of work with them, it happens, broken!!! You look at your crayon, a bit sad in your heart, because it doesn't look like it used to. You aren't even sure if you want to use it. Will it even color the same? You doubt it. Then you remember, that there is a way. There is a sharpener on the back of the box. You eagerly turn the box over, and begin to restore the crayon, to be used again. You use it over and over, until it is so small, you are fearful that it's days are over.

     But wait, there is another way...A crayon maker. You take all of the little bitty pieces laying around you, gather them in your hands, and you begin to join them together and put them in this wonderful new gadget!!! It heats and melts them into beautiful new molds...Some are tigers, some are cars, some are alligators, but all are incredible. You create new vibrant colors out of the broken pieces, and a life of creativity and art begins in a way you never had imagined before. Never in a million years could you have dreamed of these possibilities when you sat just moments ago, looking at the broken pieces.

     This is exactly how our lives are. We start out new, fresh, vibrant. And during this thing called life, we experience ups and downs...Victories and disappointments. Sometimes the downs seem to outweigh the ups, and we feel broken, and even may appear to be broken. But God takes these broken pieces and creates a new beautiful piece.  A life full of wisdom, and compassion and love to share with others, because we understand what it means to be broken. He melts us and molds us into beautiful, vibrant color, to give to the world around us.

     If you have ever been broken, or are broken now, know that the God of creation can put you back together, and make a masterpiece from the pieces of your heart. Know that He loves you unconditionally, and has created you to be full of color, full of life, and joy in this world. So the next time you see a broken crayon, smile and know that it is a miracle in waiting...in disguise. May you be blessed in all that you do.Leah www.ncministries.org/leahlaniergates.htm

Copyright (c) 2007 by Leah Lanier Gates. All rights reserved.