About the Mending Business

Last Saturday I attended a baby shower for my niece. It was a joyous occasion and as I told her “I loved seeing her growing excitement and her fading fears.” She’s had disappointments in trying to conceive but thankfully with this pregnancy all has gone well.

The following morning I attended Celebration Day at my church. We sang songs of hallelujahs and blessings and the sermon was about Ebenezer (which means stone). There was an participatory piece that I loved which made me ponder further my niece’s baby shower the day before.

Here is what it was all about. When each person walked into the church there was a basket filled with stones. Each person was instructed to take a stone for later use in the service. I didn’t haphazardly take one, I looked them over, and when I picked one up, I said to the man who was instructing people what to do, I said, “this one speaks to me!”

Toward the end of the of service we were asked to bring our stones with us when we went up to the altar for communion. Each person added theirs to the growing pile up on an altar table and when we placed it, we were told to think of something we were grateful for.

My first thought was of what was still present in my mind from the day before. The stone I was placing represented the healing of hearts of several women in my family who thought they may never bear children, myself included. Thanks to be to God, we will soon be adding another family member who will someday be at the foundational level of our family for subsequent generations. To my way of thinking, that is an astonishing thought.

Yes,  God is in the business of mending brokenness everywhere and I celebrate the good works he has done in my life and in others. For me, that is the basis of my faith beliefs. It is pretty simple.