Finding Wholeness In Brokenness

It’s been a difficult weekend … watching tragic news events unfold is further proof that the world is broken.

Our families are broken.

We are broken.

I’ve come to accept the brokenness … not in a way that makes me “ambivalent” to the world or the brokenness. I have learned that in my brokenness, I am whole. I am both imperfect and whole… especially in a blended, imperfectly-perfect family.

I wrote blogs in the past about the fact that I cannot fix that which I did not break. I have given myself permission to accept that. I have stopped trying to fix the imperfections. As I was writing this blog, I read a meme on Facebook that said, “Don’t force pieces that don’t fit.” It took time to realize the pieces of a blended family will never fit together that same way they once did. Each person constantly grows and changes … the pieces are always different. The shapes are constantly altered. These imperfections and transformations make us who we are — as individuals and as a family. If you look for it and pray that God will reveal it to you, you can find genuine beauty and blessings amidst the “imperfections.”

My human-ness and my past make up my brokenness. My faith in a God, with whom I have a deeply personal relationship, makes me whole. In the imperfections of this world, in our family and in me, there is perfection in a God who gives us comfort, strength and courage. In the midst of chaos and tragedy, He is the giver of “deep-down-in-your-soul” joy and peace. I spend time in prayer for those who have not discovered an intense, personal relationship with God – those who have not experienced that unspeakable joy and peace. After the past few years of learning and growing, I am finding my joy and peace again. I lost it for a time. I let it slip away in moments of frustration and loss. Now, I find it in the sweet smiles and warm hugs of my children. I find it in the fits of laughter and quiet moments with my husband. I find it in God’s Word, in an often-overlooked, favorite passage (Zephaniah 3:17) reminding me that in my imperfections, He is “quiet in His love for me and that he rejoices over me with shouts of joy.”

Whatever I need – whatever the moment calls for – that is how He loves me. He is the One who mends the brokenness and makes me whole. He instructs me leave “the past in the past” and allows me a fresh start. That is the very definition of grace. His mercies are new every morning.

When it seems things are spinning out of control in our families and in the world, the situation may call for standing up and showing courage or it may call for quiet time on our knees in prayer. Whatever the circumstance … look to God to discover wholeness in brokenness.

The Lord is close to the broken; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18