Broken

For some reason I feel like I should share this. I wrote it a couple of years ago. Ideally I would 1-1/2 space it, but it won't let me, so you'll have to see it all smushed together. Here you go. . .

Broken
Sometimes I look into the mirror and I wonder
When first it was that I began to see myself as broken.
I know that I did not start out this way,
But somewhere through the thrashing of the years
I came to see myself in pieces.
It's something far beyond the physical.
It goes down to the very heart and soul of me.
But somewhere even deeper in my heart
A voice is gently whispering
That He made me as I am, placed me on this path, on purpose,
Because He loves me, even when I fall and fail
And feel I simply can't get up again;
That He knows what's best for me beyond my hope of knowing in this life;
That every battle I have fought has strengthened me,
Even when I have been wounded.
That He can heal my wounds, my breaks,
In ways that I can scarcely understand,
And build me up to more than I ever could have been
Without these wounds and breaks inside of me.
As I reach out to Him, I feel His healing power
And see myself anew.
My vision seems to clear
And I can see a glimpse of what He sees in me.
So, day by day, each time I look into the mirror
I see that what makes me different doesn't make me broken--
It makes me whole.
--Heather Slade(2009)