At first glance, they were ordinary. A few mismatched pieces of pottery. Nice enough, but simple. Graceful, unmarred, but nothing stunning about any of them.

And yet, something about their unbroken simplicity was intriguing. The smooth surfaces and graceful designs spoke of gentle innocence, a kind of newness that is rarely seen.

Then… they were smashed. Cruelly, beneath the hammer’s unfeeling blows, they cracked into pieces. The one holding the hammer trembled. It felt so wrong to do this… to ruin this perfect vessel so brutally.

Yet it had to be done. It was part of the process. The vessel couldn’t reach the greater beauty ahead without being broken open first…

So many pieces. So many heartaches, tears, and wounds. Yet so, so much more to come.

Gentle hands gather the pieces and begin to rebuild. It’s a slow process. Sometimes, it falls apart in the artist’s hands and steps need to be repeated that had been previously done. But it’s worth every minute of waiting for the pieces to form a strong, mended bond.

And gradually, restoration takes place. They take on their former shape, yet with so much more vibrance. Where before they had an innocent, subtle kind of beauty, their cracks and lines now radiate that grace with a brilliantly soft kind of strength.

They are remade. They have some holes and uneven places, but they are beautiful. They have survived the crushing and been restored to wholeness – with so much gold added.

Kintsugi.

A beautiful form of Japanese art, that translates so well to our lives.

We’re all like those vessels… God saw our lives beautiful and whole in the beginning, but Satan entered the picture and marred the scene of perfection.

I like to think that our Heavenly Father cries as He watches the hammer blows that break us, because it was not His original plan that evil would exist to affect our lives. Yet because we fell away from God and live in a broken world, we can’t remain whole. Every one of us is ruined by the effects of the curse.

And we can ask, “Since God is more powerful, why doesn’t He just take over? Shut Satan down?”

But He will. He has already won, yet as long as time continues, the enemy still has his season to steal, kill, and destroy.

But God only allows it to happen knowing that He is about to gather the pieces and do something wonderful. He always triumphs over evil in the end, whether we see it in this life or not until eternity.

It is His hands that hold us while we are being broken by life’s pain, His hands that gather the pieces, and His hands that lovingly mend us into more beautiful vessels for Him.

Every one of us. Created for perfection. Destroyed by the curse. Yet redeemable by Jesus.

Every one of us… broken, messy, jagged edges, yet He sees in us the potential for beauty.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of gathering with friends and doing the Kintsugi project together. These girls are grace-filled vessels… imperfect, broken, yet filled with Jesus.

We talked. Sang. Prayed. Laughed. Shared. And ate ice cream, of course.

The weekend before, I was blessed by a dear heart pouring love into my life through her own cracks as we sat in the sunshine on an upturned canoe, and hashed out life. Some people don’t stay strangers long – not when you both are a grace-filled vessel because of Christ’s work in your heart.

This week, I met with another friend for a good heart-to-heart talk over chai lattes; the comfortable kind of conversation where you get to to just be and no pretense or explaining is needed.

I am blessed to know a wide circle of girls who are there for me to laugh or cry with, to sing or pray with, through every big or little thing we face in life.

They are people who have allowed Jesus to fill them, to flow through them, to mend them and fill their broken vessels with His love.

They’re all a work in progress, same as I am, but they are beautiful.

They might not always know their worth, but I do.

I know they are priceless, because the way they bless the lives they touch has eternal value.

They are truly treasures in earthen vessels… because Christ-like love is a treasure.. and they are all overflowing with Him.

I don’t pause to thank God or tell them often enough – but I’m so grateful for every one of the Christian friends God has placed in my life.