Handle With Care

Thursday was a busy day here. I was facing a day of lots of prep for hubs and I to head to RadDog (roadtrip) for Young Life. After I had sent the kids out for the bus, Brooklyn came inside in a panic. The kids had spotted a bible at the end of the driveway. It was soaking wet from the rain. I told her to bring it inside.

My heart sank when I saw it. It was worse than I had imagined.

I knew that it mostly likely belonged to one of the kids from our old church youth group. They had come by and Christmas caroled at our door Wednesday night (they were being funny, its way too early for that stuff!). The van they rode in had been parked at the end of the driveway. I was heartbroken that it was so damaged but even more heartbroken that the teen it belonged to would be without it.

I thought about how careless it was to lose it and allow it to get to damaged.

I knew that it was an accident though.

I thought about what my reaction would be if it had been my own child's bible, or even mine.

I wondered how someone else would react if they found it?

Would they care enough to try and salvage it?

Would they throw it away?

I decided that I had only one option. I had to make an attempt to dry it out. I most certainly didn't have time to spend on this project. I had to pack, clean my house, run to the store, and about 100 other little things. I grabbed my hair dryer anyway and began going page by page to dry this thing out. I started at the back because the pages there were less wrinkled and it was a little less soaked. I had to be careful and go slowly so that the thin fragile pages wouldn't rip.

I happened to have a box on my table at the time. I noticed those three little words on the side of it as I was trying to dry out this precious book. Handle with care. As I went through this teenage boys bible, I found verses that were highlighted, some that were underlined, and some notes. Little words scribbled in the margin as reminders of how God's word had spoken to them.

Something in me broke during all this. I kept thinking, "there is an easier way to get me into the word, Lord!"
I began to think about how God handles us.

How He cares so deeply for us.

How He sees us... broken, damaged, soaked and weighed down with the pain of this world.

He has known how to take moments in my life and smooth out and restore me little by little.

How He is with me through all the brokenness and junk of my life.

How He loves me so much, and wants all of me, forever.

I am handled with care. I am seen, known, loved and wanted.

You are too.

I made it to the book of Luke before his mom came to pick it up. I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend working on it though. It opened my heart up for the weekend I was about to face with my girls at RadDog. He knew how much I needed that. I need it now too...and another cup of coffee.