Incredible, Edible, Unmendable

If I'm in a hurry but still want a tasty meal, I almost always make something with eggs!  You can do anything to eggs!  When we visit Japan, my sweet friend scrambles them with a bit of soy sauce and whatever fresh veggies she has in her garden.  They are always perfect.  When I'm at my mother's house, we scramble them and put them between two slices of toast with a little mayo for an egg sandwich.  When I have too many veggies in the fridge that look like they might be on the verge of going bad, I make several quiches and freeze them for later.  And when we do any sort of stir-fried veggies, we top it with a fried egg and a little hot sauce.  Eggs are versatile, inexpensive and necessary to so many recipes, but once they are broken, they are broken.

When Matthew, our oldest, was about three, we visited a farm in the mountains in Japan.  At that time, my friend was farming chickens and pigs.  She had hundreds of chickens, and she had gathered the eggs for a few days - hundreds, possibly thousands of them - and stacked them in egg crates by the side of her house, waiting for the truck to come pick them up.  The home was an old Japanese home, complete with sliding doors all around the exterior.  Matthew wanted to see the eggs, so he opened the door just above them (the door was about 3 feet off the ground).  He leaned over to get a better view, and he fell out of the window onto all the eggs.  Almost all of them were broken.  I was horrified!  Sad to say, my first reaction was not concern for Matthew...I was thinking about my friend's income and how it was ruined.  I was so upset that we could do nothing to make things better.  I offered to pay for the eggs, but she wouldn't let me.  Instead, we took the crates and began to pour as much egg into bowls as we could.  We took the rest of the afternoon to make tomagoyaki, a Japanese treat where thin layers of egg are rolled into long jelly-roll looking shapes and then sliced into pretty pinwheels.  We gave tomagoyaki to everyone we could think of that day. 

My friend was so gracious, and, yes, Matthew was quite alright.  He cried a bit because he was so ashamed that he caused such commotion, but he was fine.  He found out that it was true, though, that all the king's horses and all the king's men just couldn't put those eggs back together! 

I don't know about you, but I have had quite a few days in my time where my heart felt like those broken eggs.  I have felt very unmendable.  And sometimes when I pray for people, I get the feeling that they, too, are looking at the tough situations in their lives and feeling this same way.  When our hearts are broken, no words can remove the pain of the moment.  We aren't looking for people to gather around and say a lot of things or give a lot of advice.  We just need someone to love us and sit with us, maybe give a hug or two.  As children of God, we need the compassionate arms of God to hold us. As ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, we have the ability to be those arms.  I really love Isaiah 61. There is such comfort there.
 ¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,
² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
 ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   a planting of the LORD
   for the display of his splendor. 

I don't know about you, but I'd much rather wear a crown of beauty than the ashes of mourning.  I definitely need a garment of praise instead of the heaviness of despair.  And my broken heart often needs binding.  The amazing thing about being part of the family of God is that we have each other to help us through trying times.  There are so many reasons to be part of a local church, and this one is a great one.  We can comfort each other like only family can.

For each of you who have been a source of comfort to me, thank you.  I have been refreshed and refilled by your side.  To those who have needed me and will need me yet, I love you and will pray for you and give you all the hugs you need!  I'm more of a "has-been" than a beauty queen, but I do have a crown of beauty and a garment of praise that I'll lend out any time you need it!

...and for those of you who just can't think of what to cook for dinner, try eggs!  Incredible and edible.