2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and our God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God”. (NASB)

My devotions this morning, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, talked about being a channel that someone will be able to know God.  In my Coffee Break Bible Study Group where we are studying the book of Mark, we talked about being the seed that is planted, that God waters.  Sometimes we need to be vulnerable, to share what we are going through so that someone else will be blessed or given comfort or courage, or to plant the seed of faith that only God can grow.

I recently had the opportunity to encourage another momma who has started the same journey we began in 2017 with Tripp.  I could have chosen to say, “everyone’s story is different and she’ll figure it out” but instead I let her know I was available.  It brings up not so great memories, but it is worth it to give her some encouragement.  Peace is something she really needs, but that can be only found in Christ.  If I can be that channel, I want to make sure I have it right, that I am in tune with my God before I can encourage someone else.

I don’t want to be the broken puzzle piece- you know that puzzle piece that falls off the table and the dog gets?  The one that is so badly sogged and distorted by the crawling toddler, the one that falls in the air vent?  A puzzle that cannot be complete is not worth modge-podging (those who grew up in the early 2000’s), and thus no fun to put together.  The only solution is to throw it away.  No, I don’t want to be the piece that is thrown away, but more importantly I don’t want to be the piece that causes the community or people around me to say, “It’s not worth it”, and decide that because God didn’t work for me, that they don’t see the value.  I don’t want to be the broken puzzle piece that causes someone to put aside their thoughts on God.

That’s a lot of pressure.  The community could be my children, my husband; it could be teachers in school, anyone that reads my CaringBridge posts, anyone I interact with on a daily or weekly basis.  How can I as a fallible individual ever hold to that pressure?

Only by acknowledging that I need to daily ask for God’s help and that I receive His Grace when I screw up, and by His mercy, may it not destroy the puzzle around me.