So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live your lives in him,
rooted and built up in him,
strengthened in the faith as you were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness.
I was heartbroken.
I'd long admired Ann's Way of Light Wreath, so I was thrilled when her son Caleb crafted more wreaths and chose to donate all proceeds to Compassion. I'd earned just enough money in November to buy one and cover my own Compassion child sponsorship. The timing could not have been more perfect for me to order a wreath for us.
The rich aroma of linseed oil rose from the package as I opened the end flap and removed the contents. I knew the wreath had been crafted in three connecting pieces - a center spiral with 25 candle slots for Advent and two extensions for increasing the candle slots to 40 for Lent, but there were 6 spiral pieces in the envelope. The Lent extensions were in two perfect pieces, but the center Advent spiral was broken in 3 places, and the Lenten cross was broken in two.*
Though I was clearly disappointed, I was also quite confident that every piece had been perfectly intact when it left Caleb's hands. I had no intentions of requesting a replacement. The broken pieces seemed to fit together like a puzzle. A little glue overnight and it will be good as new, I determined.
Pain and fatigue had drastically slowed my decorating efforts, and nearly every table and countertop was covered with Christmas decor I'd taken out of storage bins but did not have the energy to put where they belong. The house was a mess, but fixing the wreath was a priority. After clearing a space to work on the dining room table, I carefully glued the broken pieces together, praying the glue would hold.
It's a broken journey to the manger, I thought. Much like my life these days.
And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.
~ Isaiah 42:16 ESV
The ESV Study Bible says this about that verse in Isaiah...
No human incapacity can defeat God's purpose of grace. His ways are so counterintuitive to human understanding that those he delivers might as well be blind, in darkness and on rough terrain, but God leads them through.
On a rough path with more than a few broken places, incapacitated is an accurate description for how I'm feeling these days.** I have no choice but to trust that the grace of God will lead me through. Like the candles on this broken, super-glued wreath, darkness will give way to light.
~ ~ ~
*Ann offered to have Caleb contact me about the broken pieces, but I believe this broken wreath was a gift just like it is. I wouldn't trade it for a new one for anything.
**Not long after I wrote this, the source of my pain and fatigue was uncovered. If you're interested, you can read about that here.
**Not long after I wrote this, the source of my pain and fatigue was uncovered. If you're interested, you can read about that here.
