This Table - written 20 years ago

Broken. 

Cut from side to side. 

Life is like that

sometimes. 

Through a series of foolish errors we are broken. 

Or

we break others. 

That hurts. 

We

learn.  We remember.  We heal in time.

This coffee table is in the centre of our living room.  We see it every day.  We use it every day.  We put things on it.  It carries our loads.  But its glass top is broken.  Four pieces of glass where there was one.  Held together with glass mending glue.  Three lines run through it.  Reminding us.

Renee, this glass broke when you sat on the cutting board that should never have been left on this table.  No one picked it up and put it away. 

You know you should not sit on the coffee table. 

We know that cutting boards do not belong on coffee tables.  We know that people should not sit on cutting boards. 

But you did. 

The pressure point of the cutting board edge on the glass broke the glass tabletop. 

You learned a lesson. 

You were sorry.  You cried.  But the glass was broken.

Your daddy saw what you did.  He forgave you and mended the glass with mending glue.  But the lines remain.  Reminding us of our lives. 

Your mom and dad experienced much pain and brokeness when one by one your brothers Kris and Jason went to be with the Lord.  God has healed us but the scars remain. 

Sometimes they still ache.  You will experience pain in your life.  Let this table remind you that God heals.

He heals when others hurt you deliberately or accidentally.  He heals when you hurt yourself.  Be careful where or who you sit with in life.

 

This table reminds us of God.  Three lines run through it from side to side.  They remind us of the trinity of God.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

Running through our lives and mending us. 

Like the almost invisible table top glass holds the coffee cups, God holds us.  He needs to be in the center of our social lives. 

As we share the coffee and donuts, we need to keep God in the center of the Living Rooms of our lives.

This table reminds us of our family.  Four pieces of glass held together by love.  Four children, Justin, Renee, Alayna, and Karalee. 

Fragile. 

Transparently honest. 

Innocent.  Clean. 

 

Life is fragile. 

Be careful not to get broken. 

Broken by the allures of sin or the slights of others. 

Make sure you read wholesome books and keep wholesome friends.  They mold your lives.

 

Be transparently honest with God.  Keep asking Him to cleanse you. 

Read His Word

 and

commune with Him daily.  Stay tuned in to Him so He can guide you

around and

over the thunderstorms of life.

 

Clean.  That's what we all want.  But life will throw dirt on you. 

You will stumble and get dirt all over you. 

Let God clean you

every day, moment by moment. 

If you let the dirt and the splatters of sin harden in your heart, then it may take a razor to scrape it off. 

That could hurt. 

Keep the glass clean. 

 

Always Remember. 

God loves you.

Your mom and dad love you. 

We will guide you to the

best of our ability. 

We

care about

you.