Broken. The most difficult thing to see in our teens is their brokenness. We try to mend them, fix them, repair them, and restore them.

Their addictions, illnesses, disorders and more, leave them in so many pieces that at times it seems hopeless. Sadly, that hopelessness transfers to parents as well. They struggle to stay afloat, fight back high emotions, and try to keep their marriage and family intact while helping their teen in crisis.

Today however, I want to share with you that there is hope. There is even beauty in brokenness.

You see, when my husband dropped a special piece of china in our home, I was devastated. It was my favorite piece. Seeing it all over the floor, my heart dropped and I felt an extreme loss over that china dish. As with teens, they will also fall and they will do things that create a loss within their life and within our heart.

Later, my husband offered to fix the dish by gluing it together. The problem was that even though he glued it, I could not see the perfect dish that it was before. I could only focus on the cracks and small chips. Isn’t this so true of us parents? We tend to only focus on all the things that are wrong with our teens and not on the areas that they are trying to improve and grow in.

Fear often times propels us to try to fix our teens by gluing them together.  Eventually however, they will break again because we have not allowed the ultimate fixer to heal them – Christ.  When we trust in Him, He will provide the necessary tools and professionals to help and guide our teen.  By doing so, we can let go of those fears and allow wholeness to begin.

In Japan, there is a method called Kintsukuroi that mends and repairs broken pieces of pottery. What is different about them and a regular repair, is that they do not hide the brokenness of that pottery. In fact, they enhance it.

When God sees our broken teens, He carefully heals (through various means) what He cherishes and treasures. After being brought to wholeness, they are then restored with a new purpose, purified with beauty and a new life.

And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter.

We all are formed by your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

Through the Kintsukuroi method, the potter uses a powdered gold to fill in the cracks, holes and chips. A perfected and beautiful way to highlight not just what was broken but mainly what was healed and restored.

That is how God works. He doesn’t just restore our teens, but uses that which was broken to minister to others who are hurting in that brokenness now. God uses our weaknesses, our failures, our shortcomings for His glory. He uses the bad and turns it around for good. I can think of two people right now in which this is already transpiring.

Tom and Dena Yohe’s daughter Renee, lived a life of self-harm, mental illness, drug addiction and more. With the faith of these parents and the power of God, not only is Renee restored, but God used her pain to birth an organization. Recently her life story was released through a movie called, “To Write Love On Her Arms” which shares the story of her brokenness. Now it has catapulted into a movement to help others who are suffering from these same issues.

For Tom and Dena – They started Hope For Hurting Parents that ministers and supports other parents and their families in crisis.

The other person is my daughter who has survived depression, suicidal attempts, and self-harm, along with a plethora of other issues that no teen should have to go through. God continues to mold this young girl’s life and as part of her recovery, is learning how to help others through her gifts and talents.

These young people are being perfected for His purpose, to bring about new life. That IS something to be hopeful about. So if you are still seeing the cracks, chips and broken pieces, just remember that God is all knowledgeable and in control. He is at work and He wants you to trust Him and the process.

When things look bleak as if the pieces cannot be put together, remember the Master Potter who created them in the first place. He is the best one to make them whole and restored once again. All that is required of you is to not lose hope.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
 I Corinthians 13:7

To know more about Tom, Dena and Renee Yohe, you can find them at Hope For Hurting Parents and To Write Love On Her Arms TWLOHA.com.

A special thank you to Patty and Morty at LakesidePottery.com for allowing me to use their image. The artist to the pottery piece you see on this post was done by Morty Bachar. Thank you for your talented artistry.

To learn more about the Kintsugi Art, please visit the Lakeside Pottery. Their company repairs and mends broken pieces of pottery.