Broken Things

As I was working with students in small groups today, something happened.  Now, this thing that happened was small and should not have caused any distress. However, this was not the case. The effect that this event had on my entire small group was alarming; some students yelled, others cried, and still others stared unbelieving.

What happened, you ask?

A crayon broke.

That is it. That is all it took to bring on tears, shouting, and wide-eyed, open-mouth faces.  A crayon broke. I have taught prekindergarten for eight years and I have seen hundreds if not thousands of crayons break. I can say, however, that I have never before seen the reaction that I experienced today.  As I tried to process through how this broken crayon seemingly broke my students, I simply asked, "Why are you all so upset? It is just a broken crayon." I would love to say that my entire small group provided a cacophony of answers from the literal to the philosophical. However, that was simply not the case. Although, after what seemed like ages, but was only moments, one small voice piped up and simply stated, "We can't use it no more. It's broked." Then after a few more moments, this student stood up, picked up the crayon, and said, "It's okay. I can throw it away."

That was it. The death of a crayon. It was broken, so it had to be thrown away.

Well, being that crayons break all the time, especially in prekindergarten, we have a special bin to put them in where they are eventually turned into other crayons. Luckily, the student remembered this before chucking it into the trash can. The students regained their composure and the day went on.

However, I cannot get the image of these students and their resolute belief that the crayon was now useless out of my head. Although, I get annoyed with broken crayons because that means that I have to go through cabinets, drawers, and bins in order to find replacements, the simple truth is that the crayon was not actually useless. It was just broken.  A crayon's purpose after all is to be used to create, draw, color, or write. That crayon, even though it was broken, could still accomplish its purpose. It could still be used to create, draw, color, or write.

In the same way, we often think that because we fail or are broken, that we have no purpose or that we cannot accomplish the purpose intended for us.  However, nothing is further from the truth. We were all created for a purpose. I am thankful that we do not have to be perfect to be part of God's purpose. We all have cracks, faults, chips, and broken pieces. It is not these seeming imperfections that determine our life, but rather what we do with them.

We can wallow in being broken or throw a pity party for our flaws. Or we can stand up and say, "I am here. I am not perfect. BUT, I will seek God and His will so that His purpose for me can be accomplished."  It is in our imperfections that God comes alongside us with His perfection. He can turn our brokenness into a bridge from one chapter of our life to the next.

Now, the choice is yours. Do you see the broken crayon as something purposeless, only fit for the trash? Or, will you choose to see that even broken things can be used to accomplish a great and mighty purpose?