…things get broken…friends and loved ones die, relationships end, terrible things happen and our world shatters into pieces…and that’s tragic. But the greatest tragedy of all is not that our lives get broken but that they’re not mended again.

Like a pottery jar that slips from our hands and crashes on the floor into dozens of pieces…so it is in life. People, relationships…things we hold dear slip from our grasp and seemingly disappear but our despair, sense of loss and sadness doesn’t have to remain that way. There is hope for the heart.

I have a friend…a master Potter who not only creates unique, beautiful vessels that adorn our world and bring joy and simplistic beauty to our lives but also has an even greater talent for repairing those creations that become damaged or broken. Hands so skilled and so steady…so intimately attuned to His creation that each piece could be carefully and meticulously restored to its original beauty.

I had the opportunity to visit Him in his workshop one time. I had what was once a beautiful vessel that the Potter had made…adorned with meticulous carvings, masterful art and paintworks, sturdy and seemingly unbreakable. Suddenly, without warning it was knocked from its safe and secure place on the mantle and broke into dozens of pieces on the floor. I was brokenhearted, despondent and so sad while thinking that my pottery was gone forever but then I remembered my Friend. If anyone could repair a shattered vessel and restore it to its original beauty it would be Him. So I gathered up every piece of my broken possession and made my way to the Potter’s house.

With outstretched arms he welcomed me and spread out the pieces of what was once a most treasured possession. I watched Him as He painstakingly gathered up the pieces and, as the master Potter He was, began the process of putting my cherished work of art back together.

He told me as He worked that with special glue He would reassemble my pottery and that it would be even stronger than it was originally. It took some time…most of the day as He examined piece by piece each and every shard and slowly renewed what was seemingly lost forever.

I noticed as He presented me with my repaired and beautifully restored vessel that I could still see the outline of the pieces that He had so carefully reassembled. He knew that I had noticed them and told me without me asking that He left those intentionally…So that I not only would remember how and why my (His) work of art came to be shattered but most importantly how He put the pieces back together again and that in so doing it was stronger and more beautiful than ever.

My friend, the master Potter, knew what I needed and He knows what each of His creations need to be restored from what seems to be unrestorable situations. He can restore beauty from ugliness and tragedy and He can answer the question of Why…without our even asking.

Who is my friend the master Potter who not only creates unique and exquisite works of art but also repairs and restores what breaks into a million pieces?…His name is Jesus and He’s all you need when things in life break and your dreams are shattered.

I hope and pray that each and every one of you have my sweet friend Jesus to call on when things get broken and may He give comfort and peace to your mind, heal your hurt and bring hope to your heart is my prayer dear friends.

God Bless, keep and caress you all in His tender care!