Chips and all

I have a favorite coffee cup (actually there are two but they look exactly alike). I bought these cups in Athens GA in 2000 and have moved them all over the country and they were part of the very small amount of kitchen items I moved to England and back. I love them--bought at Steinmart but they are BIG; hold a lot and have cheery blue and yellow flowers on them. I remember buying them. I had four children four and under, I was exhausted. I saw the cups and thought "not only can I have a lot of coffee without having to refill, but they're also so cheery. It will be a wonderful way to get up in the morning."

You can imagine after all these moves what they look like--quite chipped both paint and some around the lip. In fact one has been glued back together, but thanks goodness for super glue--still holds coffee--still works.

This morning as I'm drinking my coffee and looking at this mug it started me thinking. I love this mug; I wake up every morning eager to drink my coffee from it, but it's chipped, not nearly as pretty, and frankly wasn't expensive. I could very well choose to just replace it. BUT I have a history with this mug. I can sit here and think about many mornings good and bad drinking from this mug. It's part of my history, part of my life. Not only do I not want to replace it, I don't want to fix it--it tells a stor, my story.

Aren't we as people like that? We start relationships, bright and cheery with no "chips", but over time, the relationship starts to have chips and to fade some (think faded blue jeans--aren't they the most comfortable to wear?). We begin to see each others chips and the areas in our lives where we're not so bright and cheery. The parts of each other that aren't so beautiful. But that's true love, that's lasting love--still wanting to be a part of each others day, each others lives and still loving each other deeply chips and all. Still excited to be with each other. Sometimes we need to help each other--glue parts back together so we still "work", but sometimes we just need to continue to meet each day, chips exposed--sometimes we don't need to be fixed, we just need to continue to be loved chips and all.