Broken Into Pieces

Taking a break during a hard day, I left my dungeon,

I mean my bedroom/office/library/storage room,

to make my favorite snack.

I cubed the last chunk of my favorite cheese, Marble Jack,

on my favorite plate, my newly found Anchor Hocking Avocado Soreno dinner plate.

It needed to be melted  into ooey, gooey, deliciousness.

I started the microwave and went to the cupboard to grab my

favorite crackers, Wheat Thins.

I was almost drooling.

But, instead of a snack, I had a surprise.

A loud surprise.

A "there-goes-my-snack" kinda' surprise.

My plate became a visual aid for fractions

and my snack became dry, cheeseless Wheat Thins.

Reading the Internet, I discovered that my plate most likely

had a non-visible stress fracture from prior stress.

It probably was set on the table too hard,

stacked into the cupboard a little too fiercely,

or was dropped.

("Wasn't me!" Can you hear all  my six children yellin' that?)

The person didn't even know they had damaged the plate.

After all, it didn't break.

The heat from being in the microwave less than one minute

was enough pressure to blow the plate into pieces.

That little ol' crack couldn't tolerate the change in temperature.

You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?

You relating to that plate?

We might suffer damage that didn't seem fatal

until the flames of testing are applied.

Sometimes we shatter in surprise.

When you're feeling shattered, you might want to evaluate

where you think the damage came from.

What's preventing you from withstanding the storms of life?

Then offer the pieces up to the Lord.

I threw out the plate pieces, they were useless to me,

but souls are always precious to the Lord,

and can always be repaired.

He either fixes or uses broken things.

Even broken hearts.