Shattered

I wanted to pot a plant to give to give a friend for her new home. I had a bulb I wanted to plant, too. I would need two pots.

I went out to get the ones I wanted. They were out near the trash can. When I found the one for the bulb I realized why I had put it out there. The bottom in it was solid, no hole for drainage.

I reached for the second pot I had planned on. It was a plain clay one. I realized it was broken. I was dismayed. Now what could I do? I needed two pots.This one was trash.I would have to clean up the mess, too.

I found a bean pot there that I had used before. It was there for the same reason the first one was, no drainage hole. I had been going to get rid of them because I like pots with drainage better. That way I don't hurt my plants if I over water them.

I started looking around for something to use to for letting the water through. I found a few rocks for one pot but not enough for two. I kept looking.

I found one more good rock to put in second pot. I didn't see any others. One was not enough. For drainage you have to have several rocks to create a space between them for water to run into.

My eye lit on the broken pot. The pieces looked kind of large. I moved it with my hand and found some that were just the right size. The curved side down would make a space under the dirt for the water. Perfect!

I was putting the smaller curved pieces in the bottom when I realized what I was using to make sure the plants would grow.

Shards, remainders, left overs, trash, a mess I was going to have to clean up. I was using them to make sure a plant would live and grow. Without them I couldn't make the gift I wanted for my friend.

Those small, curved shards were perfect. Even when I packed down the dirt, they would keep the space beneath them.

Broken and buried under the dirt, trash that had called them, they were providing a way for a plant to live. They were just what I needed.

They were not trash anymore to me. They were water flow control devices. I was glad I had them.

What's in a name? What do you think? It defines how you see it.

Say broken pot and your mind shows you a picture.

Say trash and you see something different.

Say water flow control device and tell me what you saw in your mind.

I am guessing
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a faucet. a pipe. a gutter. a hose. All something good and useful to you.

That is the power of words. That is the power of judgement.

Sometimes people look like left overs. We can feel broken and shattered. We think we are good for nothing anymore. What use am I all smashed and crushed? What would I be good for? Who can love me like this?

No one wants to be the shard in the bottom of the pot. It's dark and lonely there. But even lying broken and alone in the dark you can be just what is needed. You can do what only you could do just the way you are.

Be careful what you label broken, shattered, worthless or trash. He broke it for a reason. The value is in what He does with it. It's all in how you see it.

I try to see it His way. Each of us is precious to Him. He never sees trash or useless lives, all life belongs to Him.