Mosaic

I was 14 when my parents split up and I quickly grew sick of the phrase “broken home”. Broken. Unfixable. Shattered. Messy. Ugly. I envisioned a family tree after a horrible storm with branches and leaves thrown amuck. Later on I married a guy from a broken home and we laughed about having 8 parents and 14 siblings between the families. And, we realized something so cool.

Forget the family tree, we had a family mosaic. Nothing really seemed “broken” about it anymore. Our family dynamics had changed and grown into something even bigger and more beautiful. Sure it was still imperfect, but full of more people to know and love. More stories. More laughs. Different adventures. And with that realization, came a slight obsession with mosaics. 

I’ve learned to apply this “mosaic” philosophy to life in general and, spiritually speaking, see Jesus as both the artist and the glue that holds all of life’s pieces together. One piece at a time he is building a work of art in and through each of us that slowly fit together into a masterpiece. It doesn’t make sense yet because we can’t see the bigger picture like He can...and He’s not finished.

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. “ 1Corinthians 13:12

I came across this mess in an abandoned part of town. Many people overlooked it. I couldn’t stop staring at it. How was it that years of random broken glass had made its way into a beautiful, urban, organic mosaic? I wondered about the different bottles, the people, the stories, the laughs, the pain, all together shining in the sun.

What about your life mosaic? Do you need to adjust your focus from 1 broken piece to the bigger picture? Or maybe there’s a missing piece to your mosaic that needs attention? Learning to adjust your focus can change your experience. Zoom in, zoom out. Maybe you are staring at a pile of broken pieces and not sure where to begin to build your mosaic? Start with prayer, a positive piece, and build on.

“God, pick up the pieces of my life. Put me back together again. I give you my praise!” Jeremiah 17:14

Here’s to inner peace with your pieces, 
Shelisa Welde 

Grace

We live in a broken world. The enemy has his hands on our world for now.  We are flawed, broken people. We fall short of God's image every day. We also hold up others' weaknesses and transgressions, whether to make ourselves feel better or merely so we don't feel alone in our failure.

This morning I awoke to the sound of my kids involved in some altercation in the kitchen. A cry of frustration erupted from one, followed by running footsteps as another raced toward me to report some transgression committed.

The Lord held my tongue and tone in check this time and saved me from my own flawed, instinctual rebuke of the the tattler and the transgressor. Instead I asked, "why don't you help instead of telling?" What would it look like if we instinctually offered grace first instead of condemnation?

Last night I became aware of a Facebook page dedicated to publicizing the flaws and foibles (real and imagined) of adoptive parents (and those hoping to adopt). The sole purpose of the page is to "call out" the perceived shortcomings of people who seek to welcome children into their families through adoption.
What if we first looked at those we don't understand or agree with through the lens of grace rather than skepticism, fear, or judgment?

and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭24‬ NIV)

I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. (‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬ NIV)

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. (‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ NIV)

We did not earn the grace that was given to us. Why, then, should we withhold it from others?

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. (‭Titus‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬ NIV)

Salvation through grace is available to ALL people. We are given grace in such abundance that it can flow freely from us to others.

Grace that flows like a river

Washing over me

Fount of Heaven, love of Christ

Overflow in me

(Thank You Jesus, Hillsong)

What would it look like in your life to offer grace FIRST to all people?  

- Katrina K.