Do You Have Any Glue?

My 6-year-old daughter believes that glue is the answer to all life's problems! If something is broken, simply glue it back together. So, when she came to me after ripping apart one of those long, stringy hand toys that one throws against the wall only to watch it slowly slide down, I had to explain the truth to her. "Honey, you can't glue everything back together." She stomped her feet with an adamant, "Yes, you can."

You see, she's had a lot of experience with glue since she is my most destructive child, and in all actuality, her dad has salvaged quite a few things she has broken (all by accident, of course.) There was the time that she dropped a momento given to me from our exchange student in Thailand...you can barely see the crack where my husband glued it back together. But, what about the lamp that was destroyed through carelessness or some of my jewelry that she "accidently" ruined due to seeing what would happen if she stretched that bracelet out as far as possible? Gone forever!

After arguing for a few seconds about repairing the cheap toy, she relented while I told her to throw the broken whatchamacallit away. She wanted to keep it and refused to throw it in the garbage. Did I mention that she's also a pack rat of broken and junky toys? This is an entirely different problem, however, since my subject is the benefits or lack thereof of glue on certain objects.

Yes, glue does not fix everything. Looking at my life, I can plainly see that. Sure, there are some things that can be repaired, but not without a scar, a crack, or some other evidence that something was broken. Marriages can be like this when someone betrays trust, yet the couple works together to stay married. However, not all broken relationships can be mended. No amount of glue will work. That's when the party has to agree that it's not going to be restored and moving on is for the best. This is extremely painful, much more so than a bracelet broken accidently. Although I mourned (shortly) the loss of my accessory, it wasn't a life-changing event, like my divorce. Unfortunately, glue just didn't have enough stickability for that. The break was irreparable; the damage done. This is when I had to, in a much deeper soul-searching way, realize that a patch job wasn't going to mend the brokenness. And, although my heart was hurt, and my life changed, God picked up those broken pieces, and did what no amount of glue could ever do. Just like a potter has the authority to reshape clay, so he took my broken life and pieced it together into something beautiful.

No, glue can't fix everything, but God can take our tattered selves, our scattered pieces and bring out something new, so that His glory can shine through. We become a new piece created to reflect His work and magnificence in our lives. That is something to celebrate!




Posted at 03:21 pm by astongerComment (1) Permalink