From Sorrow to Joy

 

With Easter approaching, I thought about hard-boiling some eggs and dyeing them to carry on the tradition our daughter Shanda started with her two sons many years ago.

Just before celebrating our first Easter in Michigan, Shanda called and asked if I wanted to color eggs with them. I was delighted of course. She, Nate and Elliot arrived at our house with everything we would need—the cooked eggs, different colors of dye and decorating kits.

After Shanda had carefully shown the boys how to dip the eggs into the dye without spilling or dripping, we spent the next couple of hours happily decorating them. Having that family time together was heart-warming!

However, since Shanda’s passing away in November and the boys being in Florida for their spring break, it seemed like a lot of work for just Al and me. So, I decided to skip decorating the eggs this year.

 But then while taking an egg out of the carton one day, it stuck to the cardboard container and broke in my hand. Gooey egg ran everywhere! Whatever was salvageable was cooked up for TJ’s dinner that evening. Happy dog!

As I inspected the empty shell, the idea of decorating it popped into my mind. One egg, with part of the shell on the bottom missing, sounded doable! It was washed out and put on the counter to dry… and I began to get happy!

A search through the cupboard produced red, green and yellow bottles of food coloring and a blue one that was 99 percent dried up, left over from past holidays. One end of the egg was dyed red and the other, minus the missing piece, yellow. Of course, my hands ended up getting colored red, yellow and orange too.

 The egg still needed something. But what? After wetting the tip of the bottle of blue food coloring, there was just enough blue left to make wavy lines all over the egg, giving it the appearance of having been cracked into many tiny pieces. Then a gold marker was used to trace along the lines and the broken edge of the shell.

 Most of the afternoon had passed, by the time it was finished; but it was great fun, and cathartic too. And to show for all of that labor? One solitary egg, done in Kintsugi-style, gracing the dining room table in a plastic cup with green Easter grass.

 Kintsugi? Rather than throwing away a broken piece of pottery or a vase that has been shattered, in this Japanese form of art, the pieces are glued back together using lacquer or glue that has been mixed with gold dust. The end result is strikingly beautiful, sometimes more beautiful than the original.

Even though it was a poor attempt at Kintsugi, with gold marker instead of gold dust, the finished egg helped keep our tradition alive. Somehow, I felt a close connection with Shanda.

Losing her was a heart-breaking experience for all of us. For a year, Al and I, along with her husband Chris and the family, watched her gradually becoming weaker from the Leptomeningeal Disease that was first diagnosed in 2020.

 As the disease progressed, she became confined to her bed. Our hearts broke with each stage of the LMD, watching her suffer, feeling helpless, praying, always praying. There came a time near the end when communicating was difficult for her. But she still showed signs of recognition and was able to respond with hugs.

 Prayer shawls that had been given to Shanda were draped around her to help keep her warm. Not only was she covered with the special shawls, she was also covered with prayers!  There was a sense of the Lord’s presence, peace and love surrounding her.  God’s love and the prayers of friends and family also carried Al and me through that difficult time.

And, now that she is with Him in heaven, His love continues to change me, like the glue mixed with gold dust, mending my broken heart little by little, making me a different person.

 Just before his death, Jesus told his disciples although they were grieving at the thought of losing him, they would see him again and their sorrow would turn to joy. From the sorrow of the crucifixion to the joy of resurrection... Christ is alive! Hope is rekindled!

God is in the heart-mending business! He loves us! Happy Easter!

 “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 NIV

                          April, 2017...Easter Egg Coloring at the Lowerys, with Nate, Elliot, Shanda and Judy

                                                             Easter Egg Coloring, April 2020

                                                     

                                                           Kintsugi Egg Coloring...just one by myself! 2024