She was given a gift, a precious gift from her King. Strong yet not unbreakable, beautiful and
perfect yet easily marred, valuable yet meant to be shared, personal and
unique. The King told her it was
precious, created just for her. She is
to keep is safe. No one can take it from
her unless she gives it to them, either the entire gift or pieces of it. The King instructed her to be wise in sharing
her gift yet not hoard it selfishly. He
told her he would be willing to help her but she would need to serve him
forever. She declined, wanting to be
free. He loved her so much, he let her
go.
She took her precious gift, named it her heart. She kept it with her at all times, safe in
her bosom. Initially, she shared it with
everyone, so proud of her perfect, precious gift. Others shared their hearts with her, she
noticed that they were not perfect like hers, they were marred, chipped,
cracked, glued, and patched. Her heart
was a thing of beauty in its perfection.
As time went by, someone scratched her heart with harsh
words, another deeper gash developed by disappointment of not making the team
of her beloved sport. When her
grandmother died, her heart developed a hole.
A dear friend moved away leaving another smaller hole. Another friend told lies about her causing a
crack. She began to guard her heart,
being more wary of showing it to everyone she met. She started to become more discerning to whom
she showed her heart.
Over time more cracks, chips, and holes developed. These were filled with other precious gems
such as a lady she adopted as a grandmother who gave her a beautiful ruby to
fill the hole her own grandmother's death had left in her heart. The cracks were smoothed over, the chips
filled in with other bits and pieces. Her
heart was no longer perfect but still beautiful in its own unique way. She began to realize her heart was much like
the other less than perfect hearts she has been showed throughout her journey.
As time went on she noticed her heart changed colors as she
loved and care for others. The deeper
the love the more it glowed, but also the more fragile it became when loving so
deeply. She shared her glowing heart
with those she loved, showing them how it shimmered when near them. Each special person made it glow and shimmer
in a unique way. Sometimes its weight
would change as well.
One day, when it was glowing and shimmering with love and
admiration, another came along and carelessly shoved her heart. It went soaring through the air. She ran trying to catch it, losing sight of
it in the blinding light of searing pain, but onward she ran trying to catch
it, buffer it's fall somehow. But in the
blinding light it was lost and it her heart fell on the hard pavement,
shattering into a million tiny pieces. She
fell to her knees, how disappointed the King would be in her if he knew how she
allowed someone to destroy her gift.
She made dark curtains and built solid walls around the
shattered pieces to ensure she could gather them all before others could
scatter them. In tears and in the near
dark she gathered the tiny pieces. The
edges sharp, cutting her fingers, the beauty gone. She declared no one would see her heart
again, if she ever could get it back together.
Piece by piece, bit by bit, she fit the pieces
together. She sought out glue of
comfort, peace, but some pieces would not stay together when combined with
bitterness. She had to find forgiveness,
she had to extend grace. She learned
these helped smooth out the edges, create a better fit, form a good bind. Her heart remained so fragile in the dark, it
would not glow, it would not shine.
Eventually, she learned she had to let the light in, be brave to share
her gift again to restore her heart, her forever damaged heart.
Slowly, with trepidation, shaking, she took out a piece of wall.
Just lowering it a bit. She
exchanged the dark curtains for lighter curtains. She saw her heart begin to flicker. Trembling, she dared to remove one wall and
exchange a heavy curtain for shear drapes. Oh her heart began to glow. It took time, lots of time for the walls to
be removed, exchanged for a hedge with a gate.
Eventually all the heavy curtains were exchanged for shear drapes. A panel or two of drapes were completely
removed. Her heart pulsed with colors,
glowing brightly through the cracks, the holes, the chips, the patches. She discovered her heart was more beautiful
than ever.
Cautiously, with shame for her imperfect gift, she returned
to the King. Afraid he would be
displeased with her care of the heart, trembling and tearful, she showed it to
him. The king, dried her tears, hugged
her close, and soothed her with kind words.
He took her heart, told her that if she would allow him to keep it, he
would be able to fix the unfixable parts, and help her protect it. What a revelation! Gladly she lifted the burden of her heart and
placed them in the King's hands. He
gently took it, he examined it closely, he located the parts that she had been
unable to fix. In his workshop, he
carefully restored the brokenness, removed the heavy pieces yet left the
imperfections. Then he returned her
lighter heart to her. Instructed her to
look to him for protection. Promising to
be with her if she would trust him and serve him. As she declared her allegiance to do so, her
heart lost all remaining heaviness and shimmered more beautifully than ever
dreamed. She mourned the years she did
not trust the King but determined to remain in his presence for eternity. For there is nothing better than the safety
of the King.
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