March 27, 2008 @ 3:01 pm | Filed under: Mary & Martha Project, Soul Food, Uniquely Me

“Biblical encouragement is soul work. God unleashes its mysterious power every time a child of God follows the Holy Spirit’s direction and steps into the suffering of another person…As children of God, we have every tool we need to mend broken hearts and lives. So instead of isolating ourselves in a self-made cocoon of protection, we need to find out what those tools are, learn how to use them, and get to work.”
—SHARON W. BETTERS, Treasures of Encouragement: Women Helping Women in the Church
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“Wait a minute…” Darlene paused and looked at me. “You write, don’t you?”

I nodded, too overcome with emotion to do much more than mutter that, yes, I did indeed write.

She pointed to the large, cracked pottery vase she cradled in her arms and then motioned to the many more on the shelf behind her. “There’s a story here somewhere, don’t you think?”

Oh yes.

If she only knew…

Just minutes before, we’d come upstairs to discuss the details of my new volunteer duties at Coventry. I’d already taken the downstairs tour and had seen both, the gift shop where the finished products were sold to the community and the work and production area where these special needs young adults were gaining pride and ownership as they learned the craft of pottery.

The work that is produced here is phenomenal, to say the least. To realize the special hands and hearts behind it all makes it priceless. By the end of the downstairs tour, and meeting each of the day residents and the other staff and volunteers, I already felt a sense of belonging. If I hadn’t been sure beforehand, I was more than sure of it now.

Volunteering one day a week at Coventry was my own personal ‘next step’ of the Mary & Martha Project. In ways that not even I truly comprehend yet, I’m doing my best to follow His prompting.

God, isn’t this whole project about finding balance - about somehow reconciling our inner Marys and Marthas?

Initially I wasn’t at all convinced that adding one more thing to my already overflowing calendar was a good thing, let alone the right thing.

It was over a period of a few weeks that I slowly came to realize that I’d been looking at it all wrong.

“It’s not about the quantity of work (read: service) you’re doing, it’s about the quality.” His reprimand was gentle, but it struck a cord deep within me.

Sometimes in our urgency to “be salt and light” we get so busy doing that we miss the opportunity to truly touch. To truly affect a life and leave it changed for the better.

For me, it was time to let some of my “busyness” fall to the side. It was time to get outside of myself (and outside of my comfort zone) and into my community and touch a life. Or two. Or more.

After spending the better part of an hour with these kids and with the people who so obviously love and care for them, I went upstairs with Darlene, touched and excited to be a part of this.

I immediately spotted an absolutely gorgeous vase that had obviously been glazed and fired and now stood alone on a shelf.

I commented on the beauty of the piece. She reached for it and placed it between us. Pointing to the tiniest hairline crack in the side seam of the vase, she smiled and spoke the words.

“See? We can’t put this one in the gift shop. It’s broken, but beautiful.”

Something inside of me pulled up short and I caught my breath.

“I simply can’t throw these out.” Darlene went on. “I bring the cracked ones up here and find other uses for them. They’re still beautiful, don’t you think? They may not be able to hold water, but they’ll be perfect for another purpose.”

Broken, but beautiful.

Those were the very words God had placed on my heart so many months ago for our ladies. Like those pottery vases and pots, we all stand before God with cracks. Some more severe than others. Some may even be damaged to the point where “they can’t hold water.”

But that only means that holding water is not their purpose in life.

They’ll be perfect for another purpose.

“Wait a minute…you’re a writer, aren’t you?”

I am a writer.

“There’s a story here somewhere, don’t you think?”

There is definitely a story.

My God is in the process of telling it to us all.