Broken Kind of Beauty
A broken kind of beauty
A hopeful kind of wait
A forgiven kind of sinner
A repentant kind of saint
You were broken on the cross for me
Your beauty is the beauty in me
These are the tender beginnings of a song that came to me in June of 2019 when I attended the second week of my Spiritual Direction training with Dr. Larry Crabb. Every day during the week, we met in our small groups really digging into our souls and intimately communicating with raw honesty. We explored what it meant to be intentional and counter-cultural. Late in the week, as God was stirring up truths in me, I broke down crying and leaned into my dear small group friends and blubbered “I feel so broken.” One brother quickly responded, “you’ve never been more beautiful.” It was a moment so sweet it is hard to share, but one that led me to sing a song- “a broken kind of beauty and a tender kind of strength.”
Fast forward to the Fall of 2022 when I traveled to England. While there I met a lovely worship leader who invited me to join a song writers challenge specifically meant for songwriters writing worship songs for their own congregations. It was so specific that I laughed, knowing it was the Lord’s invitation. For the past 11 months, I’ve written one song per month, based on the theme set by the challenge, posted to the challenge forum and had worship leaders encourage and suggest changes.
My very first challenge was to write a song based on the Japanese art of Kintsugi- taking broken things and repairing them with gold, essentially making them beautiful. I immediately pulled out my “Broken Kind of Beauty” song and started the reworking process. Through some encouragement and suggestions from other worship leaders, I refined and have attempted to tell the story that my beauty really comes from Jesus who is the only perfection. His choice to endure brokenness on the cross makes him preciously beautiful and I am very thankful.
Here’s the whole song:
A broken kind of beauty
A hopeful kind of wait
A forgiven kind of sinner
A repentant kind of saint
You were broken on the cross for me
Your beauty is the beauty in me
You, O Lord, are perfection
You shine light in my direction
You are the answer to all my questions
Your brokenness is the beauty of you
A tearful kind of mercy
A tender kind of strength
A thoughtful kind of wander
A redefining kind of name
You were broken on the cross for me
Your beauty is the beauty in me
You, O Lord, are perfection
You shine light in my direction
You are the answer to all my questions
Your brokenness is the beauty of you
Lord, you’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
And in your hands, I’m beautiful too
From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. Psalm 50:2
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