Good morning…
“Good morning, Sue,” a woman wrote after yesterday’s post Cupid Dreams Big, a post highlighting beautiful gifts formed from brokenness. She went on to share this story.
“Many years ago we found ourselves together at a retreat at the Ignatius House,” she recalled. “I was a mother deep in grief from the recent loss of my young adult son. You knew my story from a web of common friends and my daughter had attended Lovett and gotten counsel from your husband. Your blog post today was a sweet reminder of how you touched my heart and added a sliver of healing to my torn soul that Sunday morning.”
“As we sat and talked that Sunday before we all went our separate ways, I noticed your ring,” she remembers. “You told me the story of the recycled glass. Making beauty out of dark brokenness. I remember how that story lifted me up as I thought about my own grief. I commented on its beauty. Before we left you slid that ring off your finger and gave it to me. A gift that has been treasured all these years and still reminds me that beauty can come from shattering darkness. Ten years after my deepest darkest night and loss, I am reminded constantly that indeed we can make a beautiful life out of our darkest days. It’s not easy work. But it is worthwhile work. And sometimes all we need is a sweet gesture from a friend who passes on a story, a touch on the arm or in this case a treasured ring. Thank you Sue. For touching so many in their time of need.”
“Wow, thank you for reaching out and reconnecting,” I replied. “I do remember our special time together and the meaningful ring exchange. We had never met before and we have not seen each other since, but ours is a sweet sweet story of God finding creative ways to shed slivers of light into our darkest darkness. I was wondering if I might share the story anonymously for our online community. It is important for us to realize that God wants to use us in big ways and also in really small, spur-of-the-moment ways too. If we listen to the Spirit’s nudges in any given moment, we can spread God’s healing love in profound ways each and every day, with whoever is nearby. I know God put us together that special morning and the Spirit inspired me to tell the shattered car window story and nudged me to share the small symbol of life-giving beauty in the midst of our painful brokenness.”
“How would you say your mama heart is doing now?” my typing fingers wondered. “I pray that God’s slow gradual healing continues day by day.”
“So good to hear from you,” she responded. “Absolutely you are welcome to share the story. I am so appreciative of that morning and have been meaning to tell you for a long time how special that ring is to me and what a tangible and beautiful sign it has been on my healing journey. Thank you for asking about my mama heart. I have the scab now that so many talk of. The raw pain is under the surface. I can smile at his pictures now. I can enjoy the stories from his friends with a smile. It will be a life of trying to heal, but I carry him in my heart every minute of every day. I am so grateful for his friends who treat me like a second mama and for my daughter who lives five minutes away with her husband. So thanks Sue. This mama will carry on and try to live like I know my son would want. God has been good to me and I feel blessed.”
“What a wonderful description of how it feels to deal with grief over a lifetime as the mother of an unimaginable loss,” I wrote back. “Thank you for giving me permission to share our story. I am certain many others who seek beauty in the brokenness will be deeply touched. I feel so grateful we are bonded in this God-ordained way. I love a quote I met several years ago: ‘She could never go back and make the details pretty, she could only move forward and make the whole beautiful.’ This is my prayer for you and your family, that God continues to make your whole more and more beautiful.”
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He saves those whose spirits have been crushed (Psalm 34:18, EHV). And sometimes God uses ordinary people like us to help in the healing process.
…Sue…
P.S. To learn more about these unique treasures, the “C-Glass” collection, please touch on this link exploring the creations of artist Corinne Adams (browse the rings, bracelets, necklaces, and belt buckles by touching on the three lines in the top left corner by computer or bottom left corner by phone.) Corinne is generously donating 100% of the proceeds of jewelry sales between now and Valentine’s Day to support Julie’s Dream, a nonprofit allowing inner city Atlanta youth to experience the mammoth love of God through outdoor adventures.
