Thankful for the Beauty of Brokenness

At this time last year I was blessed to spend a few weeks in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. I was invited by my brother and his wife to spend Thanksgiving with them on the island where they were both working on a project related to hurricane recovery. After making the decision to retire just prior to my planned departure, I was able to extend my trip by a couple of weeks. This was a welcome respite from two years dealing with a toxic situation that left me wounded and broken. I can’t think of a better place to rest and to heal.

I love to watch the ever-changing swirl of the sea and breathe in the salty air. A gentle breeze caressed my face as I sat in my lounge chair on the beach while listening to the persistent roar of the waves. My mind wandered back to the previous year when I spent Christmas in this island paradise where I first learned of something called “chaney”

Chaney is unique pieces of china (circa 1750-1900) found on the sea floor, beaches, and grounds of old sugar plantations on St. Croix. Historically, when local children found them, they would round them out by pounding them against stones and use them as play money in games. The name “chaney” is a Crucian word derived from the words “china” and “money” to describe the shards they found. Today, chaney is used in highly sought after one-of-a-kind jewelry made from fine china pieces. On my first trip to the island the year before, I spent several hours snorkeling in the channel of Frederiksted to search the sea bottom for chaney dumped by sailing ships in the harbor to avoid taxes.

Today the most valuable examples of chaney are 2-sided chips and shards with paint on both sides. The small piece I found, while not terribly impressive in decoration, was a special find for me. It was a double-sided green piece approximately one inch long. I proudly brought home my “treasure” and commissioned a jewelry-making friend to create a necklace. I was also gifted with a pair of chaney earrings made of traditional Danish blue and white china for Christmas. What a treasure they are to me knowing the effort it takes to find just the right pieces and appreciative of those who craft these broken pieces into beautiful jewelry.

Now as I sit here and reflect on the memories of St. Croix and the exquisite and unique treasures I saw, I am reminded how God takes the shards of my brokenness and fashions something unique and beautiful and presents it in a way that I can wear my brokenness without shame. He has wrapped me in the priceless gift of healing and forgiveness that shows His mercy and grace.

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 2 Corinthians 4:6-8 (NLT)