From Mess to Masterpiece

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I had the joy of attending a women’s retreat as a way to cap off my week in Kauai after teaching at the new Anchor House, One Year School of the Bible with Kauai Christian Fellowship (KCF) . I spoke on the theme that has been brewing within these last few years “Having an Undivided Heart in a Polarized World”.

My first time flying to Hawaii by myself. It’s a long flight for this SK gal and I have normally equated Hawaii with Vacay, but my heart skipped a beat when it hit me. This was my first official “ministry assignment” on American soil. My roots. I cannot tell you how much that meant to me. So as this opportunity arose, I pulled up my big girl flip flops as I absolutely loved my time at the school with the students. The staff were incredible to work with and I am thrilled with the vision and focus of this unique school. I’ll write more soon of my experience there, including my time at the beautiful women’s retreat held at the gorgeous Makanalani (meaning Gift from Heaven) which is a beautiful camp located on the North Shore of Kauai, Hawaii where kids can come experience God’s love on a 130-acre farm surrounded by animals and the beautiful Hawaiian scenery completely free of charge.. https://makanalani.com/

KCF women’s ministries welcomed me with open arms. I’ve been to events by myself before, but it is a unique experience attending a retreat on an Island where you don’t know anyone personally and you jump right in. It was especially life giving after a full 3 days with the students at Anchor House and as I poured out, I know God was pouring in. I was tired- I had mixed emotions feeling some of my sessions went well with the students and others- well…. My humanity reminded me of my fragility. The Lord knew I needed this message “From Mess to Masterpiece” before jumping on the plane Sunday and heading home to Canada.

A previous women’s ministry leader on the island was facilitating the retreat along with local leaders. She was a woman of God in her 80’s and for each of the sessions Friday- Sunday, she introduced women from Kauai, Arizona, New York and Kenya to share of their life stories. Amidst the stories, she highlighted various creative analogies to illustrate God’s amazing grace: from Mess to Masterpiece. A beautiful tapestry (with messy threads underneath), a broken jar of seemingly value with a light placed within the vulnerable open space, and a broken plate restored through the art form of Kintsugi.

Kintsugi

A beautiful art form to help demonstrate that beauty can be found through or in spite of the broken things in life.

“(金継ぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as kintsukuroi (金繕い, "golden repair"), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted gold…., it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.”-WP

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
— Ephesians 2:10

I’ll share more photos soon of my time in this beautiful space with these incredible women. For now? I’ll leave you with this video- an imagery of Kintsugi. There is beauty in Brokeness when we trust our God, the Creator of the universe to put us together.

As women shared their stories, I witnessed beautiful golden threads of faith woven amidst the hardships of life. Cheering for all the epiphany moments of grace.

  • A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish. – Isaiah 42:3

  • The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. – Psalm 34:18

  • He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. – Psalm 147:3

  • … provide for those who grieve…beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. – Isaiah 61:3

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