Something crunches beneath my tires as I parallel park outside of a Christian bookstore. Coming around to pay the meter, I see the crunching came from what used to be a coffee cup that is now smashed to smithereens. Clearly, I was not the first one to run it over.
"You alone hold my broken cup."
I can't help but smile at the irony of the moment. Over coffee a few days before, I had a conversation about (among other things) parking meters, Christian books, and cracked cups.
"You alone hold my broken cup. My heart's so dusty and dry."
Two days earlier I stood in the audience and listened to singer/songwriter Peder Eide talk about cracked cups.
We all have cups. God pours out love, affirmation, encouragement intending to fill our cup until it overflows. Yet fear, abandonment, rejection, etc. have cracked our cups. Some cracks are bigger than others yet still the goodness of God leaks out and the cup never overflows. This is not what God intended.
"I'll ache 'til You make me whole."
As an audience, we extended our hand-cups into the air, handing them to our Abba Father like a small child hands a broken object to a parent. Individually we identified a specific crack and asked Him to fix it.
"Abba, this belongs to You."
I had just spent the last hour closely examining the multiple cracks in my cup. The cracks that are causing fast leaks and those that are slower. The causes of the cracks and the repercussions of them. The need for the Lord to repair the cracks and fill my cup.
"Abba, this belongs to You. This belongs to You, Abba Father."
Mending takes time, especially when your cup has been run over... twice. Especially when the cause of the cracks lead to multiple, "Oh, Honey"s. Yet when you, when I, lift our broken cups before the Lord, He graciously repairs them and pours into them until they are overflowing. He fills them until it's not the former cracks or even the cup itself that can be seen but rather His love pouring over the edges.
"I thirst for You, Jesus, fill me up!"
<>< Katie
Lyrics from "Make Me Whole" and "Abba, I Belong to You" by Peder Eide.
Showing posts with label crack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crack. Show all posts
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
I spent about twenty-four hours with my friend Laura and her family. I had a lot of fun and I thought I'd share some thoughts with you all (although, I'm not really sure who "you all" are... LURKERS: IDENTIFY THINESELVES!)
A museum is nothing more than a zoo with dead animals. Ok, I did learn some fun stuff, and we took some fun photos. But really: think about it. Did you know giraffes have the longest intestines of any animal? Did you know kruos is the Greek word for "icy cold"? (Don't lie to me, even Natalie didn't know that!) I also learned about some lions that terrorized workers attempting to build a railroad in Africa in the 1800s.
A pregnant woman came up to us today asking for money. She said she was trying to get to a domestic violence shelter but was four dollars short. I always hate it when people come up asking for money because it's so hard to tell if they're telling the truth or if they just want to buy some crack... Even though her speech sounded rehearsed, this woman spoke quietly and did seem scared. We gave her five dollars, and she asked God to bless us. Laura's mom reminded us that $5 isn't the end of the world for us but $5 could mean the world to her. How she uses the money isn't up to us, but we can pray she was indeed seeking help.
Train and Trolley life is not for my family. Other than the germs, I didn't mind it too much. My dad, on the other hand, would have been going nuts today, and it made me laugh. It was fun to watch people run and mosey through the train station. It was kind of like an airport. Given my choice, however, I prefer airplanes to trains.
Little kids are adorable! Ok, I knew that, but still. I saw some kids today refuse an Oreo cookie from their aunt! I wanted eat their cookies for them! Some little American kid was using like the German word for "mischief" but I forgot it already, sorry!
If you're ever bored or want to see some interesting folk: ride the trolley around a big city for an hour and you will see a mass of people! There are people going every which way (and sometimes even loose). All with different things on their minds, different deadlines to meet, and different destinations. Yet their paths cross momentarily on the sidewalk and it's really fun to watch. In the words of Kutless, "I see the city lights all around me. Everyone's obscure. Ten million people each with their problems. Whys should anyone? and in Your eyes I can see I'm not just a man that is lost in this world. Lost in a sea of faces." Yup. That just about sums it up.
I overheard some guy telling someone else on the phone that he'd have to keep an ID on him at all times just in case he violated his parole. The man sitting near me remembered this (after hearing it from the judge? from experiencing it himself? strange), and he would take the man on the other end of the phone to get a wallet. Interesting conversation to overhear...
Happy travels!
<>< Katie
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
A museum is nothing more than a zoo with dead animals. Ok, I did learn some fun stuff, and we took some fun photos. But really: think about it. Did you know giraffes have the longest intestines of any animal? Did you know kruos is the Greek word for "icy cold"? (Don't lie to me, even Natalie didn't know that!) I also learned about some lions that terrorized workers attempting to build a railroad in Africa in the 1800s.
A pregnant woman came up to us today asking for money. She said she was trying to get to a domestic violence shelter but was four dollars short. I always hate it when people come up asking for money because it's so hard to tell if they're telling the truth or if they just want to buy some crack... Even though her speech sounded rehearsed, this woman spoke quietly and did seem scared. We gave her five dollars, and she asked God to bless us. Laura's mom reminded us that $5 isn't the end of the world for us but $5 could mean the world to her. How she uses the money isn't up to us, but we can pray she was indeed seeking help.
Train and Trolley life is not for my family. Other than the germs, I didn't mind it too much. My dad, on the other hand, would have been going nuts today, and it made me laugh. It was fun to watch people run and mosey through the train station. It was kind of like an airport. Given my choice, however, I prefer airplanes to trains.
Little kids are adorable! Ok, I knew that, but still. I saw some kids today refuse an Oreo cookie from their aunt! I wanted eat their cookies for them! Some little American kid was using like the German word for "mischief" but I forgot it already, sorry!
If you're ever bored or want to see some interesting folk: ride the trolley around a big city for an hour and you will see a mass of people! There are people going every which way (and sometimes even loose). All with different things on their minds, different deadlines to meet, and different destinations. Yet their paths cross momentarily on the sidewalk and it's really fun to watch. In the words of Kutless, "I see the city lights all around me. Everyone's obscure. Ten million people each with their problems. Whys should anyone? and in Your eyes I can see I'm not just a man that is lost in this world. Lost in a sea of faces." Yup. That just about sums it up.
I overheard some guy telling someone else on the phone that he'd have to keep an ID on him at all times just in case he violated his parole. The man sitting near me remembered this (after hearing it from the judge? from experiencing it himself? strange), and he would take the man on the other end of the phone to get a wallet. Interesting conversation to overhear...
Happy travels!
<>< Katie
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
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