Broken Fragments

((What a tragedy to breathe your last breath and to discover that your life was not only unfinished, but also perhaps never really even began.))

-Erwin McManus-

Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to worship at Willow Creek Church in South Barrington, Illinois while on a trip to the Chicago area.  While another speaker had been scheduled for the weekend, that speaker had to cancel due to a family medical emergency, and the pastor of Mosaic Church in LA, Erwin McManus, was called in to take his place.

 Willow Creek's South Barrington Campus

Driving onto Willow Creek's massive campus on Sunday morning, I felt as if the heavy rain outside seemed to parallel some of my thoughts on the inside.  Recently, I've been very discouraged by certain events in my life.  Although I've attempted to remain positive, doubts and insecurities have crept in, and on Sunday I was feeling as if the world was shedding the tears I hadn't let myself cry.

However, walking into the sanctuary, the burdens that were pressing so heavily seemed to dissolve.  God was so present in this place.  During worship, I felt that divine peace.  It's the peace one encounters when they know God is near.  And it was amazing.

After Bill Hybels' introduction, Erwin McManus took the platform.  And he had quite the conversation with me.  Okay, me and the other 10,000 people in attendance.

McManus' message was on God creating something beautiful out of a broken life.

My life feels that way often...  Broken.  I've messed up.  I've hurt others.  I've been hurt.  Dreams have been abandoned.  Tears have been cried.  Sometimes, I feel as if my life has been shattered into a million pieces, and I wonder how God can use it.

But Erwin talked about how God uses those pieces to make a beautiful masterpiece, like a mosaic.  He makes a gorgeous design out of those broken fragments, and then His light shines though.  While I can't adequately portray the eloquence of his message, I can let you know that it touched my heart.

He said something really impactful when he stated: "Maybe being 'whole' doesn't look the way WE think it should."

I think he's right.  God sees what a true wholeness looks like.  God uses brokenness.

So, I'm offering these broken pieces of my life to use in His amazing masterpiece.

((I think a lot of us are not on a path; we’re in a rut. We have confused comfort with peace, belief with faith, safety with wisdom, wealth with blessing, and existence with life. And for many of us, our dreams will be buried under the epitaph, “I refused to let go of what I had."))

-Erwin McManus-

In His Love,

Lex <3

 Mom and I at Willow Creek

My sister, Kirsten, and I at Willow Creek