Hello, dolly

"He heals the broken"

Psalm 147:3

My folks' have just gotten their kitchen redone.  New floors, counters, appliances, cupboards, the works.  It's exciting to watch it come together, to see something new where something old had been.

There was a lot of work to be done, before and after.  We helped them empty their cupboards and find places elsewhere in the house to put the boxes.  And we helped them clean out the garage a little to make room for the new appliances, which needed a place to sit until it was time to put them in the kitchen. 

So a few Saturdays ago, we were all out there working, moving things in the garage, and throwing some stuff out.  And we came across a collection of clothes and toys from when my sisters and I were very, very young.  The kind of stuff a mother saves....

This is one of the things we discovered.

It wasn't at all familiar to me, but my mother tells me it was mine.  Frankly, it looks a little gruesome to me.  Distorted.  Can you see the way the neck is twisted, and the upper body is sort of contorted?

But the thing is, I loved it.  As a matter of fact, my love is the reason it looks that way.  My mother tells me I used to carry it around constantly ~ apparently tucked under my arm.  Obviously I loved it enough to want it near me, but not enough to be gentle or caring with it. 

Well, I was young.  What are ya gonna do?  And despite how it looked, I loved it. 

It was a funny little reminder to me of how much God loves us.  No matter how twisted, or mangled or distorted we might be.  He looks right past our weaknesses and flaws.  It's not that He doesn't know they are there, but they don't factor in to His love.

Unconditional love.  Can you feel it?

~ "Yes, He loves the people" ~

Deuteronomy 33:3

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