Nanna God

I want to tell you something about Nannas: We don't waste anything. We don't waste ANYTHING. We save stuff, we recycle stuff, we repurpose stuff…we don't waste anything. For example, we don't throw food out. No, no, no, no, no! We scrape leftover food into little containers. And even those little containers are repurposed! They once held something else! They had cream cheese in them, or cottage cheese, or jelly or hummus. We SAVED those containers. We washed them. We organized them in a cupboard, along with their lids. And now we are scraping leftovers into those leftover containers. We don't waste anything. We stack them up in our refrigerator and then when the time comes a few days later, we pull them out and we make something new out of something old. We make stew. Or we put it all in a casserole dish and sprinkle cheese on top and pop it in the oven. We make something fresh and delicious out of all the little bits and pieces, all the little leftovers. Nannas…we don't waste anything. We know what to do with all those little raggedy scraps of stuff that appear, by themselves, as though they don't have much value. But when you put it all together…now we can do something GOOD with that. So, I want you to think for a minute about your life. Which, if it's anything like my life (or anybody else's life) is probably made up of bits and pieces and raggedy scraps. And some of them are not so good. Some of them full of pain, some of them full of heartache, some of them are full of mistakes and things you wish you had done differently, if only you had known. My life is like that too. I want to suggest to you today that Nanna God loves to take all that stuff and put it together. She loves to create something new and delicious out of those bits and pieces, out of those leftovers, out of those so-called mistakes and bad decisions. When Nanna God looks at you, She doesn't see regret, She doesn't see mistakes, She doesn't see what you should have done. She gathers it all together and She makes a gorgeous new thing. She sprinkles cheese on top, and pops it in the oven. Nanna God doesn't waste anything. She does not waste your tears. She does not waste your heartache. She does not waste the longings that you have that are not fulfilled. She doesn't waste anything. She gathers those things and she blends them together with meaning, and wisdom, and purpose, and love. In fact, Nanna God invites you to hand all that stuff over. Clean out the fridge! Look way in the back! Get out all the little containers and put them on the counter. Open them up. Let Nanna God take a look. DARE HER to make something delicious out of the bits and the pieces of your life. Prayer: Thank You, Nanna God, that You don't waste anything, and that You are able to make something beautiful out of all the bits and pieces of my life. Reflection: What "bits and pieces" would I like to offer to Nanna God today?