Brokenness Isn’t All Bad
Michelle Marie Hernandez
June 21, 2015
Brokenness Isn’t All Bad

“Oh no…the wedding!” The words came out as quickly as I had I fallen on the tile floor in my home. What good could come from a bride breaking her wrist ten days before her wedding?

Many assured me that everything would be okay—and they were right. I walked down the aisle just seven days after surgery for a distal radius fracture. My groom slipped a beautiful white gold, diamond wedding band on the ring finger of my left hand, which had been protected in the fall.

In the weeks of recovery following my injury, I continued to look for the good in this most untimely accident. Doing so actually helped me press through many difficult moments. The perspective I gained still benefits me, and perhaps you will find it useful on your own journey of healing.

Brokenness helps us:

  • Slow down. Weeks prior to the fall, I had prayed for the pace of life to slow down. The extra wedding preparations coupled with my daily tasks and heavy workload left my mind spinning at times. Although an injury was not my preferred way—nor do I believe that it is God’s way—things slowed down. I simply could not function as quickly with my dominant right hand in a cast or with the fatigue that plagued me for more than two months after the surgery.
  • Appreciate God’s creation. I never considered all that my arm, hand, and wrist did until I struggled to do simple things like opening a package and pinning up my hair. What amazed me more was how God formed our bodies with an innate ability to heal. With the proper care, therapy, and time, I have regained most of my motion, and I continue to grow stronger every day. I also developed a deeper appreciation for how our bodies function.
  • Acknowledge the gifts in others. A broken wrist turned my attention from my own gift of writing to the gifts in others. I witnessed the compassion of nurses, the surgeon’s healing touch, and a physical therapist’s gift of teaching. I also saw the gift of “helps” in action when cleaning services and allergen-friendly meals showed up at my door, along with friends who drove me to medical appointments, pushed my cart at the grocery store, washed dishes, and helped me finish last-minute wedding preparations.
  • Be unique. I didn’t abide by all the traditions at my wedding, because I wanted our big day to reflect something more meaningful to me and my groom. Our ceremony included a special exhortation based on the story of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24—the Bible passage that inspired my time of preparation for marriage as well as my distinctive processional. I threw things like the bouquet/ garter toss out of the program altogether. But nothing could have been more unique than my cast wrapped in tulle and ivory lace and adorned with a handcrafted wrist corsage. In fact, I received so many compliments on the cast that I wondered a time or two if the guests noticed my eloquent and vintage ivory lace dress designed by Oleg Cassini.

Brokenness isn’t all bad. My first broken bone—which will hopefully be my last—made me a lot more mindful. I am now much more aware of my actions, God’s marvelous and gifted creations, and just how exquisite a bride and groom really are.

1 Comment

  1. Michelle Marie Hernandez

    I love the words of encouragement that a friend shared with me when she read that I had worn a cast wrapped in ivory lace on my wedding day. With her permission, I’m sharing her words with you, because they offer such a beautiful perspective to all us whenever we face brokenness.

    “When you feel broken again, wrap it in lace and remember your beautiful day. With God, you can overcome anything.” –Isabella T.