Scars and Other Markers

When a toddler, I tumbled face forward onto a tin can. There’s a small nick on the top of my nose. It blends well with the facial creases I’ve accumulated with the aging process.

He picked me up on his motorcycle—our first and last date. I hopped on and slit my favorite olive green stretch pants and knee on something sharp. It hurt a lot and bled down my leg as we headed to a movie theater. I said nothing. By the time the movie was over, my pants were sticking to the dried blood. When I shave my legs, I remember.

Wanting to spruce up our front yard while living on our acreage, I pulled a rusted-out pig feeder from the barn with an imagine of a planter with colorful pansies blowing in the wind. Stumbling on a rock, my grip released and the feeder fell on my left calf. A tetanus shot followed. When I curl up in the middle of the night, wrap my arms around my legs and fingertip the mark, I recall another time and place.

When I think of past hurts, received and given, my heart “scars”, I feel bitterness, remorse, and twinges of pain. I’ve asked God to take them away. I know He has forgiven me for my wrongs and my bitterness which I held so tightly; however, I am weak and often fall back into old patterns. So, I pray that He turn these weaknesses into opportunities to go forward in a righteousness and godliness that only He can give.

Scarred? Marked? It’s okay to “keep” them but only if they are kept as reminders of healing. Whether it’s a facial mark, a ripple on your knee, a disfigured finger, a scarred heart, Jesus can take care of it. And, then, I can use it as a precious reminder of the love He has to offer and, then, go forward and reflect this love to others.