I so often feel, as I look at my life, that all I am is broken pieces of something that once was; a life that’s been in disarray and anything but put together. When I look at myself, through a worldly lens, I see only shards of glass. I see someone damaged and broken -Someone unworthy of being put back together. I see a heap of tiny fragments. I once was whole; I was pieced together without a crack, without a broken heart, without deep wounds, and without a life of poor choices that took pieces of me away at every turn. Over the last 18 years of my life, I have truly left little pieces of myself along the journey to where I am today.

Do you know that there are people that collect shards of glass? For real, they are called shard hunters (not the coolest name, but it’ll do).  These men and women go digging through desolate spots looking for fragments of colored glass. Within each pile of rubbish, overgrowth of shrubbery and weeds, they find tiny pieces of history. Of a life that once was.  They scour through roots and deep Earth in search of the remnants of yesterday. Each fraction of glass represents a story of something greater, something that was once whole, and now, be as it may, its only a piece of what it used to be.

Some of these S H A R D H U N T E R S spend much of their time in the Northeast where debris and heaps of vanished factories once thrived. In the 19^th century, this area was filled with window manufacturers and architectural ornament. Some of the beautiful panes and works of art are displayed in the Trinity Church in Boston and on the campus of Harvard. These now remnants speak stories of a deep history.

After their collection of beautiful scrap, they make breathtaking mosaics. They create majestic works of art that reflect the Light of God in church windows, in wind chimes, in vases, and many more forms of art.

I believe that this is the same way God views us. He sees all of our broken pieces; all of our “S H A R D”, and at the work of His masterful hand, He crafts something beautiful. In order to have a relationship with the Savior, you have to admit that you are a broken person. That you are less than what He desires you to become. You have to acknowledge all the debris, the broken pieces, and the fragments of heartache. Jesus longs for that day for each one of us. He pursues us, scours through overgrowth, through murky, dark, and desolate land to save all of our broken pieces. And He so diligently places us back together. Better than we would’ve been had we not endured all the cracks, the fragments, the heartaches, and the painful journey.

I am thankful for the sweet reminder today, that I am so much more than shattered glass. I am a beautiful Mosaic. I am the creation of the Master,  His masterpiece. Each particle of glass, in His palm, becomes an invaluable piece of art. Im thankful I no longer have to look at all the brokenness and be ashamed. I can look at the sea of S H A R D, and know, I went through all of that, so that I too, could reflect the Light of God, the hope in Jesus, and THE BEAUTY IN GRACE.