Thankful Thursday

I know this is a day late... I had this all typed up Wednesday already and just didn't get on my blog to post it at all yesturday. Oops. Anyway... here it is.

1 Samuel 16:7 - "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Many of us bear a variety of physical scars… things that seemingly ‘mar’ our outward appearance. I want to focus on these scars today in my Thankful Thursday post.

I have a few scars that I bear… some small, some… not so small. There is one on my face… or two… that I got from chicken pox. Why be thankful for those scars? Well… I remember watching how my mom lovingly cared for my sister when she had chicken pox, and I know she did the same for me. Nothing like a big dose of love to make a scar not seem so bad. I also remember the oven mitts… so we ‘wouldn’t scratch’… well, they obviously didn’t work for me since I did scratch, hence the scars… (smile).

I have a scar on my chest that I got from my cat, Fluffy, when I was 12. She hardly used her claws at all, and while holding her I went to the back of our yard where my dad had buried our family dog of 11 years. I sniffled, and my kitty freaked. Why am I thankful for this scar? Because it reminds me of the wonderful pets I was blessed with growing up, and the times I spent with them, more specifically Fluffy… I still miss that cat. She was a good friend.

I have a scar on my hand that I got from the lid of a can of pineapple. Yes, I remember… that was Valentine’s Day, many years ago. I wanted to do something special for my parents, and so I got my uncle to take my dad out for coffee while I baked and cooked and decorated to make the dining room look like a restaurant. To make a long story short, the pineapple was for a ‘variety’ dessert tray. I sliced myself after not moving the can out of my way. Mom and dad were there (I would NOT let them in the kitchen…) and they helped me to take care of the cut (and yes, I was stubborn and continued to finish my work… which was practically finished anyway). Anyway, I don’t remember the pain, all I remember is the joy I felt at making my parents feel special (yes, I did something small for my siblings as well, although they were devastated that they couldn’t sit at the fancy table with mom and dad). When I see this scar, I remember that day.

I have another scar on my wrist, this one from a pan that I took out of the oven… my oven mitts weren’t long enough you see. I was making buns, and I burnt myself. I’m thankful for this scar for a variety of reasons… that the burn wasn’t worse than it was, that I can bake because my mom taught me, and for the new oven mitts I have that are much longer… (smile again).

My newest addition to my realm of scar tissue is on my tummy… the oh-so-wonderful array of stretch marks. Honestly, I don’t even mind them. I’m sure you can guess why I am thankful when I see those. I hope to be ‘adding’ to their number eventually…

Anyway, That’s my bit on scars… I honestly believe they make a person more beautiful. After all, each scar tells a story, and many of those stories either developed the person’s character, or give you a bit of insight into their past. Now all we need to do is convince ourselves that our scars make us beautiful, and I don’t think we’ll be trying to cover them up so much.

I recently came across this story once again… I remember reading it as a child, and it’s always stuck in my mind. It kind of goes along with the whole scars thing… although I think it can apply quite well to those emotional scars in our lives as well. Enjoy, and happy Thankful Thursday… even though it’s a day late.

A Beautiful Heart

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.There was not a mark or a flaw in it.Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen.The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said,"Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart.It was beating strongly ... but it was full of scars ...it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in ...but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges.In fact ... in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.The people stared ... how can he say his heart is more beautiful ... they thought?

The young man looked at the old man's heart ... and saw its state and laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine ...mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.""Yes" ... said the old man ... "yours is perfect looking but ...I would never trade with you.You see ... every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love ... I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them ... and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart ... but because the pieces aren't exact ...I have some rough edges ... which I cherish ... because they remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away ...and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me.These are the empty gouges ... giving love is taking a chance.Although these gouges are painful ...they stay open ... reminding me of the love I have for these people too ...and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting.So now do you see what true beauty is?"

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks.He walked up to the old man ... reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart ...and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.The old man took his offering ... placed it in his heart ...and then took a piece from his old scarred heart ...and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart.It fit ... but not perfectly ... as there were some jagged edges.The young man looked at his heart ...not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever ...since love from the old man's heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.