I had the joy of being with 40 of my sisters–and my nieces and my daughter and my sister in law–at our Women’s Retreat this weekend. Our Retreat theme was ‘Beauty in Imperfection‘–a theme that resonated most clearly when we set about taking hundreds of bits and pieces of smashed dishes, all sorted by colors, like a rainbow, and put them together to make a mosaic.
Our Group Project was a powerful metaphor of the way God takes all our ‘pieces’–the brokenness, the rough edges, the cracks and chips and puts them together with the ‘grout’ of his Holy Spirit to make something of beauty to glorify Him.
Here are some photos of the place,
the people,the process and the final product:
The beginning
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| Getting there……… |
It was a beautiful day to be outside!
We had a chance to make individual pieces as well:
Our finished piece……..
God does truly make everything beautiful–
our brokenness, our mismatched pieces–in his time and in His way.
(notice the little tiny plain white piece in the middle with the sorta cross?
not on purpose…….just a God thing,I think)
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Linking with Kelli for Unforced Rhythms
Lyli at Thought Provoking Thursday
Emily at Imperfect Prose
and Playdates with God, ’cause Laura asked
I knew you'd be pleased….it was a joy to share. Thanks for your kind words.
Lisa, when it comes to 'retreating' I think it's true women think of themselves last….It is SO necessary to get away and laugh and sit and eat and sing…
Oh, Jody, this is just gorgeous! All this beauty is filling my heart tonight. Thanks for sharing this special time with us.
These photos are so restful, Jody. And there is always something redeeming about looking at mosaics. I'm glad you were able to retreat and regroup. We all need to take time to do that, whether we think we have time or not.
the centre cross? A god thing indeed!
Loved this glimpse into your time away
Beth, thanks for your comments. I think I've actually heard of that process. It sounds fascinating–gonna have to follow up with that.
🙂
God takes all our broken bits and makes them beautiful. You're so right about that. But I love this tactical, visual reminder of that truth. Do yourself a favor and Google some images of “kintsukuroi” — the Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer resin dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. As a philosophy it speaks to breakage and repair becoming part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.
What a fun project to do on your retreat!