it's about time

Years ago mom Bondurant gave me a small clock that I keep in my bathroom.

Not long after Bill died, it fell off the shelf.

It hit the ceramic tile.

You can guess the outcome.

I thought, as I stood looking at what it had become,

that it was an accurate representation of my life.

In tears, I picked up the pieces.

I glued them back together as best as I could.

And found it still worked.

As it turns out, I valued it more after the accident than I did before.

It was more precious with the cracks and holes than it had been when it was whole.

I have relied on it and enjoyed it until recently when the hands got stuck and it quit keeping time.

In the past, new batteries have fixed the problem.

This time they did not.

It could have been a very sad time, but...

Not long after the original clock fell, I was visiting mom, telling her how heart broken I was over the accident and how I had put the time keeper back together and was still using it.  

Before I returned home she gifted me a duplicate.

The replacement remained in my closet until a few weeks ago.

It was time.

Time to put away what refused to work, no matter what I did.

Time to bring out the new, and make a decision about the old.

The new time keeper works perfectly.

But...

this particular non-functional item will not be going to the trash.

It has a purpose.

It is a reminder that broken doesn't necessarily mean useless or diminish value.

It is a reminder to take my shattered pieces to God and allow Him to do work only He can do.

It is a reminder that in some cases, accepting the new doesn't mean the old has to be eliminated.

timing is important