As the mother of a differently-wired child, there are days when you feel broken. But like the ancient art of repairing pottery with gold dust, resin, or lacquer, God takes your struggles and turns them into something beautiful. This is a Catholic devotional for moms of differently-wired kids. 

Most days you feel like a mistake.

Maybe the house is a mess. Maybe everyone (including you) has had a meltdown. Maybe you haven’t really spoken to your husband in what feels like years because you’re both too busy just trying to keep it all together.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s hard to believe that you, as intense, weary, and differently-wired as your children, would in any way be the right wife and mother for this family.

Because honestly, wouldn’t life at home be easier – better – if you were more focused? More organized? Less angry? If you were the right woman for the job?

I know how you feel, because like you, I’m a differently-wired mother. And those thoughts are desolations designed to drag you from the heart of God. They latch on to your tendency toward perfectionism, self-doubt, depression, and anxiety, then ratchets it.

You feel too far gone to be useful.

Helpful.

Maternal.

You are a shattered vessel too broken to be repaired.

Except you aren’t, not even in the slightest. Because what you see as brokenness is a path to grace and holiness:  surrendered fragments mended and made glorious by the merciful hand of God.

Beautiful, Not Broken: A Catholic Devotional for Differently-Wired Moms

Maybe you’ve heard of kintsugi, the centuries-old Japanese art form. It’s the practice of mending broken pottery with gold dust, lacquer, or resin. The piece is restored; the cracks still visible but beautiful.

It is a reminder that what is broken is redeemable, enhanced even, by the events that made it so.

You, my dear, are God’s kintsugi.

When you turn to Him in your weakness it is He who makes you whole. His love and His mercy redeem and make you stronger, more vibrant.

He fills the fissures with precious gold.

Seeing Gold, and Getting There

But here is what I know from personal experience. It’s darn near impossible to see the beauty of your surrender when you’re in the middle of a storm. It’s just as nearly impossible to open yourself up to the mending process.

It’s awkward, rather uncomfortable, and you’re already managing the rather hefty vocation of raising the curious, creative, and intense.

But the beauty in your weakness and vulnerability comes from the heart of God. It is He who makes all things new, who makes good, beautiful things out of our brokenness. You may feel as though God has saddled you with way more than you can handle, and you might feel like it’s killing you. But as the mother of exceptional children, as a woman who might be exceptional herself, you are a work of art born of a consistent, focused effort by the Father.

You are God’s kintsugi, brilliant with grace-filled gold.

Surrendering to His Golden Repair

Need practical advice for finding beauty in the broken? This is why I wrote God’s Kintsugi: A Catholic Devotional for Moms of Differently-Wired Kids. This little book is part devotional, part workbook: a collection of Scripture, prayers, meditations, and self-reflections that guide you to the hands of the Father, the divine potter for which you are the clay.

Throughout these pages, you’ll find bite-sized moments created just for you. Designed to be read in less than five minutes a piece, each chapter provides a solid but simple nugget of gold:

• a reminder of your God-given, inherent goodness
• a bit of encouragement to get you through the day
• a quiet moment of prayer to surrender fear, regret, and frustration
• a private space to work through sticking points within you, with your spouse, and with your kids

Let God’s Kintsugi lead you to His golden repair.