When the Pieces Crumble: Finding Wisdom in James

Today, my daughter ran away.
Shoeless—but helmeted—she pedaled as fast as her lanky seven-year-old legs could carry her. Desperate to reach her favorite place, she zipped through the best “shortcut” past the swim teacher’s house, cautiously navigated a busy main road, and made it straight to the safety and comfort of Grams’ house.

My highly fashionable minivan pulled into the driveway just as she rapped on the front door. I watched as my mom answered—confusedly trying to piece together a bike, a van, and a clearly defeated little girl.

We sat in the warmth of the setting sun: three generations—grandma, mom, and daughter. Tears flowed from my precious little one as she unearthed the day’s wounds, big and small. “I feel like I have all the pieces trying to stay together, and then they just crumble,” she said.

And while I won’t get into the nitty-gritty here, her processing reminded me of the Lord’s sanctifying work within family—those life-on-life relationships where we love each other best and hurt each other most.

There were a dozen parallels I could have drawn from our unexpected evening (as I’m sure you could too). But most striking was the reflection of our church family, as we also love each other best and hurt each other most.

And yet, what a gift.

God, in His kindness, uses us to refine one another. We point each other back to Him, encourage one another through Scripture and truth, and sand down our rough edges—all within the gravity of our shared humanity and desperate need for grace.

A friend recently described our church body as a sea of faces—faces that have hurt us and have been hurt by us. And yet, we walk forward together in truth, in light, and in the freedom of forgiveness. We extend the Lord’s grace. And by His mercy, we become a picture of His ongoing work of restoration.

We are a flawed body. We fall short. A lot.

And still—we keep showing up. We press into the hard things together. And in doing so, we get a sweeter, fuller glimpse of God’s heart for His people—His limitless love and His redeeming grace.

This summer, we’re diving into the book of James, exploring its call to pursue wisdom together as a community in Christ. We’ll reflect on passages like James 4:6, which says:
“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says,
‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

And James 5:16:
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another,
that you may be healed.”

We're a fellow flawed people— showing up, growing, and pursuing Christ together. If that sounds like you or you have questions about that, come join us Sundays at 9:30 AM. We’d love to hear your story and share ours.