SCARS

WRITTEN 5.19.22

“For me, God has filled my brokenness with his gold, and I feel Him working through me with this piece. I purposely scar each heart differently, because we are all scarred differently.” – Amber, Mywildflowerjewelry shop on Etsy (picture shown)

**If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. 1 John 3:20

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold. This method has been used for 400 years in Japan. While filling the cracks with gold and bonding the pieces back together, it turns the pottery into something beautiful again.Our family is no stranger to surgeries. Xavier has had two shoulders repaired, Sierra had a hip fixed, Noah had a deviated septum and sinuses restored, and I had a hysterectomy. Xavier and Sierra both got tattoos to cover their scars, and I am thankful mine are under my clothes.

Then there’s my Uncle David who helped raise me while being battered and broken by the world himself. I considered him my Dad. He had more scars than anyone I’ve ever known. His body was evidence he had cheated death several times. He was stabbed 9 times and left for dead, four of his fingers were cut off when he was young, his back was scarred from boiling water being poured over it, his throat was damaged when he was in an ammonia accident, and his abdomen had a large scar from surgery. That’s just what healed on the outside. Although David’s body and soul were riddled with scars, he did not hide them from the world, he used them. His body told the story of how God had protected him and kept him safe when harm and evil came his way.

This morning I wonder, “Why do I try so hard to hide the scars?” Why am I so afraid to show the world something I’ve gone through that changed my life and ultimately healed the places in me that were shattered and cracked and needed Jesus? He sees and knows every cut, every flaw, and every scar and fills me with Himself.

God saved David on many occasions that should have taken his life, and David knew that. He was open and honest and along with his precious wife, Janet, he ministered to battered, scarred, and broken people to bring them to Jesus. David used his scars to help the hurting and remind them that they were not beyond God’s reach or out of the scope of His love.

There are times when I label myself as broken, and I am right, we all are. But instead of feeling self-conscious and ashamed, I need to remind myself that God allowed these scars for a reason. Those flawed places on my body and in my soul are reminders that God reach down and healed me. Just like the Japanese fill the broken cracks in their pottery with gold, God pours Himself into my damaged and undesirable places to showcase His love and what He can do.

** The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

** My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

** The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17

LORD, thank You for the bruised and battered places You use within me to love on others. Like my Uncle David, allow me to use what was meant for my harm to bring You glory. Use these places, the scars I try to hide, remind others of your healing hands and your loving heart. Expose those broken and unsightly places within me if that will bring others closer to Your throne. Turn the broken into beautiful and make my life a masterpiece. Amen

— My Uncle David passed away on September 21, 2021, at the age of 64. In his first 40 years, he got scar after scar. In the last 20 years, he used those to touch as many people as possible, and his reach is still rippling. The first link is David’s testimony. David asked Benny to read it, because he was too weak to read it out loud by the time we found it packed among his things. The second link is a song we played at his funeral. I will forever be thankful that David was willing to pour his life, his love, and his experiences into me…his daughter.

DAVID’S TESTIMONY

SCARS IN HEAVEN