Broken.

One adjective describes so much in this fallen world we all live in. A broken prong on the dishwasher. Broken springs on the garage door. A broken air conditioner in the heat of July. A broken vacuum cleaner. A broken pie plate. Two broken drinking glasses. A broken faucet handle. A broken lid on the trash can. A friend’s broken tap shoes, spilling tiny screws across the dance floor. A broken chair. Our neighbors’ broken mailbox. And, most memorable of all, our oldest daughter’s broken arm.

Yes, we live in a fallen world, teeming with brokenness. It can leave us broken down, broken-hearted or just flat broke.

Yet through the cracks of all our broken pieces, the Light shines.

“Here are the broken spots,” the tall doctor proclaims as he points to X-rays of my firstborn’s forearm, six weeks after her infamous fall on the playground.

And then he quickly corrects himself. “Actually, what I should say is: Here are the healing spots.”

Healing spots.

Yes, broken spots can become healing spots when exposed to the Light. A perfect spot at which to pause and thank God. He is the One who can not only heal us physically but also restore our broken relationship with Him when we believe in His Son, Jesus. And isn’t that relationship what needs fixed most of all?

Remembering to pause and give thanks to God has become a priority this year. From January to October, I counted up more than one thousand gifts – memorable moments of grace captured in words and photographs. In thanking Him regularly this way and watching closely for His goodness toward me and my family, I’ve learned so much about His unchanging character. God is who He says He is. God can do what He says He can do.

Even when little upside-down legs let go and bones crack and the whole world seems to come crashing down in a helpless heap near the monkey bars. Even then God never lets go. He never lets go. And even then, in those terrifying moments of brokenness, we can thank God for holding us together.

Author Ann Voskamp says it best: “Because when we remember how He blesses and loves us, when we recollect His goodnesses to us — our broken places re-collect. We re-member. We heal. In the remembering to give thanks, our broken places are re-membered — made whole.”

This Christmas we celebrate God’s greatest gift to us – His Son Jesus, the One holds us and all of creation together. Jesus is very familiar with brokenness. Isaiah 53 says Jesus was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins; He was beaten so we could be whole, and by His wounds we are healed.

And so we commune with God when we remember this truth, when we stop complaining, when we accept every moment with gratitude. In the Last Supper, Jesus himself exemplifies this. 1 Corinthians 11:24 says, “…when He had given thanks, He broke {the bread} and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ ”

Our joy this Christmas is not in perfect appliances or perfect dishes or perfect shoes or perfectly healed bodies. Our joy is the best gift, Jesus, the perfect Savior, the perfect Lamb of God, the One whose bones were never broken.

We also have joy in watching for the thousands of ways God loves us in every moment.

Won’t you take the dare, too? Won’t you count the ways He loves you? Count the ordinary, the amazing, the grace-filled moments of 2012 and see for yourself just how much He loves you, too. •

Diana has been happily married to a guitar and sailing fanatic for 15 years. She is a homeschool mother of two who regularly shares stories and photos here at starlightwriter.wordpress.com.