The Beauty of it all...

You are probably wondering why I chose to title this blog "Gathered Gems". Then again maybe you really don't care...but for those of you who are curious, here you go! Do you remember those times in your life when you just absolutely blew it? You made a wrong choice, loved the wrong person, said the wrong thing...or maybe like me you've broken just about every one of the Ten Commandments, and maybe even invented some new ones...and you wonder if you will ever get it right? Well, before you label yourself a total misfit consider this:
Remember the saying, "you learn by your mistakes"? Well according to my recollet, I should be a genius by now! I'm in my 43rd year of trying to mistake proof my life and I am beginning to realize that if I should by some miracle accomplish this...then alas, I would be really stupid! It takes a lot longer than this life time to get it all right and by the time it does happen...well, you're in heaven.

There are many beautiful gems in the world. They have been around since the beginning. Do you ever wonder what it takes to make these stones into the beautiful gems that they are? Well first they are mined...from the depths of the earth they are brought out looking nothing like the stones we see. The beauty is hidden until the earth is chipped, cut and polished away. And the beauty from within is revealed. Then from there shines one of Gods many wonders of the earth. The process these stones go through is not pretty...but indeed necessary to bring forth the beauty from within. So what are my gathered Gems? They are what God has used to bring out His beauty in me. They are the cutting, the chipping and the polishing God used to make me shine! Why does he care? I don't know...but He does! He takes the very human nature of me and uses it to form me into the beautiful Gem He created me to be. I have many gathered Gems and my hope for this site is to share them with you. That you might come to realize that the mistakes we make in life and the mistakes made to us are not the end all. In fact sometimes they can be the beginning of a revelation that will take us on a journey of healing. If we leave the gems covered with the earth no one will ever know their beauty and they will have served no purpose. Well the same theory applies with us...if we leave those little earth covered gems in our lives covered up inside of us..buried deep within where no one will ever see, they will serve no purpose. We will not grow, we will not learn and we will have missed every opportunity to capture the strength that is within us to allow ourselves to heal from the hurts and the pain. This is God chipping, cutting and polishing us into His gatherd Gem. He will take those lousy decisions...those unspeakable choices...those "sins" we told ourselves we would never reveal because to us they were just too horrible to talk about. We can let them stay buried, but with this comes no healing, no change. Only a temporary stay until the next crisis comes along and we make the same mistakes and the same bad choices.
Now let's suppose that the mistakes we have made in our life aren't so bad after all. Looking back at them...they may even make us laugh. Or they may make us appreciate the experiences in life that otherwise would have no impact on us at all.

For instance...

I hate divorce for the simple reason, it really hurts the kids...I know this because I've watched them cry.

I can do without a lot of anything because the more you have, the more you can lose...well, except for chocolate!

I can almost figure out the mind of a man...almost.

I hate charge cards..the only thing they really buy is debt.

I know how good it feels to tell the truth because I know how bad it feels to lie.

I know how to run a business, because mine failed.

I know the benefits of being humble because I have experienced the pitfalls of pride.

I know what it is like to live trying to impress God with all my good works...and get totally exhausted...now I just rest in His grace.

I no longer covet what someone else has because I have found it drove them nuts!

I have found that if I don't tell them that I love them...they won't know.

I have found that too much of yourself leaves little left for others.

...and before you waste any time trying to figure out the "why" of everything, consider this: Even if by some twisted fate we did..that would make us god...and I don't know about you but I like the idea of resting in Him, not everyone else resting in me.

The mistakes we make in life form a well of wisdom that we can draw from to pave the way for future success or become roadblocks that keep us dwelling in self pity and self fulfilled prophecies that give us excuses to fail.

So lets not label them mistakes, lets call them Gems. Just like the process these pieces of earth go through that finally reveals the beauty within, life is the process we go through, and our little gathered gems decorate us and make us real. They adorn our lives with wisdom, strength and character. They qualify as credentials to help those who are traveling the path where we have once traveled.

Consider this spot a place where you can be real and share your gathered gems, words of encouragement...a slice of wisdom for the day. They won't be judged or criticised, but they will help someone else. They will be adorned with compassion and grace and a prayer that they will serve as a reminder that you are on your way to becoming one of God's beautiful gems!

So post away!