Skip to main content

BrokenTile

As I mentioned in my last post, Ben and Dani have been doing some remodeling on their "new to them" house. Here in Brazil that usually means renting a dumpster and filling it with all of the refuse from years gone by.

I have been helping with the clean-up, for some reason that seems to be my specialty. Anyway, as many of you know, tile is the "carpet" here in Brazil. Everything is either tiled or bare cement. As you can imagine (or maybe you can't) when you remove tile from floors and walls it makes a huge mess and is also very dangerous. Broken tile is a lot like broken glass. I have little cuts and nicks on my hands and arms as proof.

As I looked at the piles and piles of broken tile in every possible square centimeter of the house I thought of how so many of our people here have lives that look like that broken tile. Tile when it's just out of the box is lovely. There are innumerable textures, patterns, and styles to choose from and it can be shiny, or dull, glittery, or plane, but each type has it's unique character.

As my thoughts turned from broken tile to broken lives I began to make some comparisons. Even though we are born in sin, each person begins with a life that has so much potential in the master's hands. In fact we were created after the perfect pattern, God Himself. There are so many different possibilities, and prospect. But as we proceed in life (and it doesn't take long) we break that perfect pattern into unrepairable ruin. There are so many shards and specks that even an expert couldn't reconstruct a tiny semblance of what once was beauty.

That is where God finds us, irreparably damaged. But aren't you glad for 2Corinthians 5:17 which says, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (literally creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. God gives hope where there is none. He can repair broken lives and hearts. He can bring beauty where once only ruin showed it's ugly face. And only He can. How does He make beautiful what was once destroyed? Through His marvelous grace as we open our heart and life to Him (cp. John 1.12). Have you discovered that grace?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.
3 comments
Read more

God’s Orchestration

I love to see the Lord work His Salvation miracles. His works are Master Pieces of sweet music. They are arrangements that only He can make happen. Two weeks ago I began my second attempt at cello lessons. I had tried the instrument about five years ago and found my fingers so rusty and decrepit that I had given up after just a few months. So, why my second go? Here’s one short and sweet story. There is a youg man that works with Alexandre at school. He teaches music and is a musical genius. At sixteen he began a city wide music program to train young musicians in Sorocaba. Recently he has worked with two deaf children and has been able to teach them to play violin using a method that he developed. There doesn’t seem to be an instrument that he cannot play. His seventeen year old wife also plays the flute and is studying nursing. They are a very young but very sharp couple. In a conversation after the recent Recital Junior convinced me that it would be a good idea for me to take up...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abs of Steel with Glasses

Have you ever wondered why Clark Kent always took his glasses off before he turned into Superman? I hadn’t ever thought about it either until this last Saturday when I almost got sucker-punched. Wellington, one of my spunky Juniors, wanted to wrestle. He feigned a punch to my gut and I said, “Go ahead. I have abs of steel!” I think that my gym visits might be going to my head because my abs of steel are buried under a healthy layer of blubber. I have improved my six-pack but it is far from chiseled. It looks more like a quarter of a keg. Anyway, quick as a wink and with near lightening speed Wellington said, “Yeah but up here is made of glass!” as his poke went within a hair’s breadth of my glasses! I belly-laughed. His rapid reflexes and wit had caught me by surprise. And what he said was so true and funny. It was an excellent though brief lesson. I often prepare for an oncoming fray. I get ready, set and then “BLAM”! The proverbial punch comes from a totally different direction. ...
Post a Comment
Read more