My favorite thing about today was church and finding beauty in the broken.
{via}
For some reason I’ve always had a penchant for beautiful ugly things. I find beauty in dirty, old and broken things. Weeds over flowers. Scratched up, paint peeled furniture. Old rickety houses. The sun glimmering off of a mud puddle. Broken fences. Rusted metal. I find all of these things to be unconventionally beautiful and one of my most favorite things in all the world is turning old, broken things into pretty, new things. I love giving new life to these things and seeing them serve a new purpose.
Today in church I realized that God does the exact same. I know not everyone who reads this blog shares my faith, but I hope you won’t mind my musings…. Please know that I am just sharing my heart and am not trying to preach or anything….I don’t think I’d be very good at preaching anyway :).
Our pastor started off Advent with a sermon was about the lineage of Jesus which is one of my favorite parts of the entire Bible. I know it may not seem super exciting with all the “so-and-so begot so-and-so, then what’s-his-name, begot what’s-his-name”, BUT….one of the cool things about the lineage of Jesus is that it actually includes a couple of women (which is a rarity). Who were these women that were considered important enough to be a part of such a lineage?
Tamar – who tricked her father-in-law into impregnating her
Rahab – the prostitute
Ruth – the foreigner (*she was a Moabite in the midst of an Israeli lineage)
Bathsheba – the adulteress
Mary – the unwed teen mother
From a societal viewpoint these women were broken and undeserving to be a part of the lineage of Jesus, but they were women who obeyed God and in turn he used them. I love that these women were given new life and purpose despite the fact that the world didn’t give them a second look.
As a Christian I know that we are sometimes an unsavory and unappealing bunch to outsiders. I know people get turned off by all the rules and regulations and lack of acceptance and love which is prevalent within the church. But, Christians are just people. I screw up often, and I’ll admit that sometimes I get judgy of others (I’m working on it), but I am so thankful that God is not like me. He doesn’t judge us based on the clothes we wear to church, or the job we have or the car we drive. He looks at the heart. He looks at me and sees beauty in my brokenness and imperfection.
I am ever thankful for this.
thanks for sharing. i grew up catholic and went to church every sunday. somehow, i lost the church-going part of me, but realized that my faith does not end whether i go to church or not. do you and craig go to church together or just you?
craig and i both go. we actually used to go to the same church when we were younger, but the church we go to now (imago dei) is a far cry from the church we grew up in. i grew up with a legalistic “religion” and now i’ve gotten to the point where it’s more of a relationship than a set of rules.
I havent been to church in years. Its funny because when I used to go to church that was my family I went to school with a great friend that I always considered my family. The church seperated and for some reason (I still dont know why)so did me and my friend, I have never felt comfortable enough o join a church again. God is still huge in my life and I read the bible to my girls everynight when they go to bed, but the judgeing that comes from most churches keep me away:(
i loved this post lauren. i felt some of these similar feelings in church today. i love the part where you said that you were glad God doesn’t judge like we do. a few years back, i was going through a terrible break-up and one of my friendships was falling apart. i remember i was crying, and decided to pray. i didn’t understand why my friends and boy couldn’t see that i just wanted to help them. my best friend had gotten into some drugs and she felt like i would judge her and so she backed away from me before i could even talk with her about it. i prayed about just wanting her to let me help her. or my ex boyfriend to just see that i was there for him. then i felt the words “now you know how i feel about all of my children” i just started bawling. sometimes i forget to see myself and others as God sees us. his hand is always there, even when we can’t see it. thanks for sharing this post with us. sorry if my comment got too long! you are amazing though. i love ya “sister-in -law”!
that was really beautiful. my mom and her side of the family are presbyterian and my dad catholic, so i grew up catholic, but lost my faith along the way. i really struggle to believe God exists, but get really jealous of everyone who has such strong faith in their religion because I really wish I had that! To feel secure in a way if that makes sense..
very beautifully written… i love that we serve a God who loves us unconditionally even though we do not deserve it…
i, too, am thankful that he sees beauty in my imperfections. thanks so much for sharing this today!
Thanks so much for sharing your heart and faith with me and with others. I too am very thankful that God loves me unconditionally, although I don’t deserve it.I really think that this is one of my most favorite of your posts, and the reason for this is because you chose to share your faith without “preaching” and you caused others to think about their faith. It makes me happy to know that as a parent I just planted the seed of God’s Word in your heart-“Train up a child in the way that he/she should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” You have become such a beautiful young woman and I thank God for giving me such a wonderful blessing.
i’m Catholic by birth cos my dad’s a catholic & my mum’s a Christian. @ home, they refrain frm discussing too much abt the differences b/w catholicism & christianity. N there’s always this tension with my grandma abt religion cos she absolutely objects to us attending christian services. she always always nags my bro n me to go to a catholic church. honestly, i dun understand why such a clear line has to be drawn. it’s the same God and although i have not attended service or mass for i-cant-rmember-how-long it is now, God is always in my heart sumwhere.
My younger bro had a car accident on Vday this yr whilst he was on the way to pick up his gf n needed an operation. I was really thankful that God answered our prayers although we have been such bad (and in the eyes of some, unfaithful) followers. I’m thankful that God is all merciful and never leaves us alone in times of distress. Give thanks to the Lord!
Wow thanks so much for this. This was a beautiful post!
There is a 5 book series on the story of those women! I think you would love it. it’s by Francine Rivers. She’s the author of Redeeming Love.
Unafraid: Mary
Unspoken: Bathsheba
Unveiled: Tamar
Unshaken: Ruth
Unashamed: Rahab
I really think you would enjoy them 😀
This post was awesome gorgeous! Thank you for it!
I’m Catholic and I love going to church with my family. There really is so much that can be translated to our lives. That’s such a great and wonderful quality to find beauty in the things that are “ugly.” We have to appreciate everything even the small things. Such an inspiring post Lauren!
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Thanks for writing this, Lauren. It was something I really needed to hear. God bless you.
i’m glad that my post was able to be encouragement or inspiration to you guys. thank you for allowing me to share my heart. i loved hearing about everyone else’s faiths as well…thank you all for sharing.
cupcake sniper: i will definitely check out those books. i love me some francine rivers!
and….anonymous….don’t give up on church. i’ve been let down by people in the church many times also, and while church does not = faith and is not a necessary requirement it’s a great place to experience encouragement and love from others of like faith. give it a try….& reconnect with that friend. it’s never too late.
i loved this post!
Its awesome that God has made us all unique.
I always remember this when Im down on myself. Thanks!
Great Post!
Funny, I was considering purchasing the Francine Rivers collection of the 5 women. Personally, Ruth is my favorite. She was the cast off, you could say and yet God redeemed her and gave her a purpose greater than herself. I too love the forgotten and unappreciated things in life. Beauty is in the broken, for each broken piece holds a story.
Check out my blog for a broken beautifully story: http://livingasalily.blogspot.com/
God Bless YOU!
Oh man i can’t THANK YOU enough for this. as i was reading i kept thinking of this little saying I heard from a church friend- “church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints”
thanks for addressing how people get turned off by christianity’s ‘rules’…god does not expect us to be perfect, just try our best with the time and resources we have. god bless you. xoxo