He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. - Psalms 147:3
Step onto my front porch and you’ll see my collection of old stoneware crocks. Produced between the late 1800’s and 1947 by the Red Wing Potteries Company in Minnesota, they were made as multi-purpose containers, used for doing household chores or preserving food. In excellent condition today, Red Wing crocks are highly valued and can sell for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
I have six Red Wing crocks on my porch in various sizes. Each crock is filled with treasures from our land such as birch logs and pinecones and Christmas time branches from our balsam trees. I love how these crocks grace the entry to our home and greet those who come to visit.
My crocks, however, would not sell for more than a few dollars, and frankly that’s all I paid for any of them, as I rescued each at various garage sales. They hold little monetary value because every one of mine are either cracked or chipped or had been broken and repaired—something that makes them even more dear to me.
I came across one of my crocks in a musty basement, nearly completely hidden under an assortment of junk beneath a table. As I picked it up, I realized it had no bottom piece, which I thankfully found elsewhere in that basement. The owner was more than happy to let me take it home where I carefully pieced it back together and give it a place on my porch.
The value of my crocks certainly isn’t in their perfection. Their flaws reveal a complex past—a history of endurance—a journey toward restoration. These are beautiful vessels with stories of both wounds and redemption. They adorn my porch where old things are present, where the broken are not discarded, where imperfection is not hidden and where these things have found new meaning and purpose.
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
Like my crocks, God doesn’t look at His children and see a collection of worthless things. He sees vessels He can transform, restore, fill and use in amazing ways for His purposes. His grace meets us in our brokenness. The good news of the Gospel is that our stories can be fulfilled in God’s loving hands.