Nothing is Wasted

There was a drawer in the kitchen of the house I grew up in that I will always remember. Not because it was filled with money or food or cool gadgets, but because it was full to overflowing with Mom's collection of bread bag ties. You know ... the little colored, plastic-coated, wire twist ties that are found on the wrappers of loaves of bread. There must have been a million of them in that drawer ... every time Mom finished off a bag of bread, she would put the tie in the drawer. I have no idea how long Mom had been saving bread bag ties, but I know that when she decided to sell her house and move to Kansas City, I specifically told her to throw them away. She laughed ... and I could picture her eyes squeezed shut and her nose crinkled up as she did. After Mom passed away and I was packing the things into boxes that were in her little kitchen in the apartment she was living in, I couldn't help but chuckle when I found a large Ziploc bag filled to the brim with ... yep ... bread bag twist ties. Since Mom only lived in the apartment for six weeks and couldn't have possibly eaten that many bags of bread, I surmised that she had done one of two things. She either went door-to-door to the other senior citizens who lived in the apartment complex and begged for their twist ties, or ... and probably much nearer to the truth ... she had brought the bag of ties on the airplane with her in her purse. She did, after all, manage to bring several leaves of African violets wrapped in moist paper towels along with her ... African violets, which, I might add, have grown into beautiful flowering plants that line my kitchen windowsill. Oh, Mom ... how I do miss you and the crazy things you did.

Back when I still lived with Mom and Dad, I used to tease Mom about the drawer of bread bag ties and ask her what in the world she planned to do with all of them. She would always respond with the same answer ... "You just never know when a pile of bread ties will come in handy." As I grew older, I came to understand that Mom's collecting of twist ties, washing and reusing plastic bags, watering down the dishwashing soap and only putting a small amount of water in the tub when she took a bath ... she did all of those things because there were some very lean years for her and Daddy when they first married and began raising their family. Daddy didn't make much money, and times were hard back then ... Mom learned by necessity not to be wasteful and to make everything last as long as possible. While I'm still not sure what Mom used the twist ties for, I am sure that she used them somehow, quite possibly in creative ways that I can't even imagine. Oh wait, I do remember one thing ... she would use them to create a loop on the back of picture frames to hang them on the wall. I guess Mom was planning ahead by saving all those ties ... she must have been planning to hang a multitude of pictures.

Here's the thing ... though I saw no value or worth in Mom's collection of twist ties, they meant something to her. So often I find myself questioning my worth, my value, my purpose, my meaning ... so many times I wonder how there could be any use for the tears, the pain, the hurt, how God could possibly have a reason ... a plan ... a lesson. And yet ... and yet ... and yet ... just as Mom kept those twist ties ... just as she intended that they not be wasted but rather used over and over and over again ... I'm God's drawer ... filled to the brim with twist ties that He refuses to waste. Every single tear, every ounce of pain, every piece of hurt is gathered up by Him, gathered up and held close to His heart. And from the ruins and the wreckage and the ashes and the darkness of my life, He will cause His beauty to rise up and His glory to brilliantly shine. Nothing is wasted with our Redeemer, friends ... not one thing is wasted with Him.

"The hurt that broke your heart
And left you trembling in the dark
Feeling lost and alone
Will tell you hope's a lie
But what if every tear you cry
Will seed the ground where joy will grow

And nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

It's from the deepest wounds
That beauty finds a place to bloom
And you will see before the end
That every broken piece is
Gathered in the heart of Jesus
And what's lost will be found again

Nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

From the ruins
From the ashes
Beauty will rise
From the wreckage
From the darkness
Glory will shine
Glory will shine

Nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

From the ruins
From the ashes
Beauty will rise
From the wreckage
From the darkness
Glory will shine
Glory will shine"

Nothing is Wasted --- Jason Gray