Loved, Even Though We're Broken

Last year around Christmas time, my nanny took Gracie to the Build-A-Bear workshop and let her make an animal of her choice. Gracie picked Rudolph to make. This toy is precious. His red nose would light up and he plays the jingle "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". That child carried Rudolph everywhere and still does to this day. As springtime came, we noticed the nose stopped lighting up and the jingle sounded alittle slow and warped. My husband dissected the animal and put a new battery in, thinking that would solve the problem. The jingle was back to normal, but Rudolph's nose still wouldn't light up. It seems as if Rudolph's nose is permanently broken, although it didn't seem to bother Gracie nor has she complained that Rudolph wasn't the same.

Over the weekend, I asked Gracie if she wanted to go back to Build-A-Bear this Christmas and pick out a new Rudolph to replace her broken one with, or she could pick out a totally different "new" animal to make. Big tears filled her eyes. "No, I don't want to get rid of Rudolph," she said. So I explained to Gracie that I thought she would rather have a new one since her's was broken. "You may think he's broken, but I love him like he's new," she said.

When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments the second time, Moses heard first hand from God who He is. Exodus 34:6 says, "And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, 'The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.." When you love someone, you are faithful to them. You don't leave them when the going gets tough, you don't abandon them, and you certainly don't leave them even though they have problems. Your love for them makes you faithful to them.

God proclaimed that's exactly who He is: He loves his children and is faithful to those He loves. Even though we are broken in many ways, God doesn't ever try to replace us. He loves us just like we're new.