NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” I heard my son cry from the kitchen.

Oh no! What is he so upset about? I walked into the kitchen to see my son holding a drawing he had made.

“It’s ruined. And he (insert brother’s name) threw it away. And now it’s ruined!”

“Calm down buddy. That wet spot will dry. We can put some tape on the back of the rip. It will be just fine.”

“But he ruined it.”

“No, no honey. Trust me,” I said placing tape on the back of the drawing. “Hang it on the fridge to dry. In an hour or so, it will be almost as good as new.”

An hour later, he saw it was fine. He didn’t even care about the little rip or tape on the back. He had his picture back and all was well.

Several things about this little incident speak to me.

1-     All he could see was the ruined picture and didn’t see how it could be fixed. 

2-      He needed to place the blame on his brother.

3-      Once he listened and trusted me, all was well.

Ok, Renee, where are you going with this?

Here is is: It’s ok to be broken.

This has been a message running through my heart for a few days now. It’s ok to be broken.

We live in a fallen world. Things happen. Our picture gets wet. Our picture gets ripped.

It’s ok to be upset that it is broken. It’s ok to evaluate what happened.

But don’t stay there. Don’t focus on that brokenness. Don’t focus on who caused that brokenness.

Focus on God. Give it up to God. Admit your brokenness. Admit your hurts. Give them to him. And then trust Him to put it back together again.

My son could only see his ruined picture. I saw how to put it back together again.

My son wanted to continue to blame his brother. But that really did no good. Whether or not his brother did it on purpose, didn’t change the results. Getting an apology still left a “ruined” picture.

But once he listened to me, his picture was whole again. Yes, there was a slight line in the front because we needed to tape it together, but honestly, it gave the picture character.

This is exactly how we treat life. We get hurt. We want to blame. We want to stay in our sorrow. Whether we were accidentally or intentionally hurt doesn’t change the fact that we are hurt.

But we also play in our cultures “Happy, Joyful Life” and put on a front pretending to have it all together…Cry yourself to sleep, but make sure there’s a good photo on Facebook or Instagram showing off your perfect life… it just doesn’t work. And deep down, we know it.

If we want to be whole again, we have to admit our brokenness. We have to embrace the fact that life is not perfect. We have to place that brokenness at the foot of the cross and let God bring it back together again.

Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

If you are weary, stop carrying it alone. Give it to God. You will find rest. That burden will be light.

This time of the year is hard for a lot of people. There are some people out there who genuinely have the happy, joyful holidays. But I truly believe there are many, many more who don’t. There are many broken people out there trying to find their own way, make their own happiness, and, frankly, they’re let down (especially during the holiday season).

If this is you, that’s ok. It’s ok to be broken. It’s ok to have mixed feelings about the holidays. It’s ok to not have it all together.

But if you want to make the most of your life. Don’t stay there. Hand it over to God. Give him your brokenness. Let him design the masterpiece.

I promise, if you genuinely do this, you will find peace. Because peace comes from God and God alone.

Remember what Jesus said in John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Life with Christ does not mean an absence of trouble. Jesus said you will have trouble, but you can handle it, because you have God on your side. 

Will you still have tears in your drawing? Yes, we all have scars. But scars are meant to be reminders not open wounds.

 Let yourself heal. 

Give it to the Healer. 

We have God, the Father. 

We have Jesus, the perfect and spotless lamb.. 

And we have His Spirit living within us.

Don’t for one second overlook or take this for granted. This is power! 

You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. But first you must admit your brokenness and lay it at the foot of the cross. 

Lay all those shattered pieces of your heart out. Then watch as He puts it back together again. Whole. Complete. Full of peace and love  and a new purpose- to share His love!