“The glory of the human condition is that we are made in the image of God. And yet in his ingenious and bewildering design, God saw fit to place the regions for creation and excreting together. As Saint Augustine famously put it, ‘We are born between feces and urine.’“ Jennifer Grant and Cathleen Falsani, Disquiet Time, p. 29

This is such a mind-blowing quote. God planned for Jesus to be born between feces and urine. Yes, our Jesus! Jesus was born between feces and urine to enter into our painfully broken world to create beauty from this yuck. That is the story of Jesus. This is where it all begins. Beautiful Jesus entering between the feces and the urine.

Then the angels sang and one angel declared, “Don’t be afraid! I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” Luke 2:10.

Great joy to you too.

That newborn baby, lovingly cleaned up by human hands after he entered between the feces and the urine, had this declaration declared in the heavenlies to all who would hear, “Don’t be afraid! I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” This is the intention of God.

Out of our pain and crap can also come beauty. This is the intention of God in our lives.

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time—to show us His grace through Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:9.

This is the intention of God. To tell you that you are enough. So you stop living out of scarcity and live like the beloved one that you are covered in grace. Worthy of a do-over life. Worthy to call yourself overcomer. Worthy to have a story that will in turn bless others and move them towards grace.

Your pain is not a mistake to fix. It is your beginning. It is where God starts to work His miracle. Between the feces and the urine. And God does work that miracle.

My son Terrill sent us this brilliant wisdom he has recently learned: 

“The only things that can’t be taken from us is faith, hope, and love. We can give up our faith and hope by not loving or accepting love but it can never be taken away from us. I meditated on this and thought about the times I allowed my heart to harden by not loving. My faith and hope wavered. The results of the situation did not end well. I didn’t allow God to do what He does and make miracles happen. Love breaks the hardest of hearts down and what love doesn’t fix God finds a way to finish the job.”

This is the intention of God. To love us so the hardest of hearts breaks down and then he continues to finish the job. Beauty comes out of that brokenness.

It is a miracle.

What is your story? What is your story this Christmas season? Can you stop your busyness, blaming, numbing, shifting priorities, denying for a minute and look for God’s intention for your life?

There is grace for you. There is abundant grace for you. You are enough. You are worthy of all this love. This grace is not available to everyone else except you. This grace is yours to have. This grace for you was God’s plan from the beginning of time (1 Timothy 1:9 again).

Love breaks the hardest of hearts down and what love doesn’t fix God finds a way to finish the job. This Christmas season, discover this grace that is available to you. Let God find a way to finish the job. Watch for that miracle.

(Photo credit:  https://thejaggedword.com/2014/12/25/the-word-in-a-manger/)