OrthoIndy and the Indiana Orthopedic Hospital have billboards
around the greater Indianapolis area that feature a picture of someone like you
or me, and the caption reads: “My Scar Means.org.” That caught my eye,
and I thought about how often we are embarrassed or ashamed of our scars.
Society’s image of perfection, of beauty is a smooth, un-scarred surface.
The message of the billboard turns this assumption about scars on its head: a scar on the knee means we can walk or run or stand when once we could not. A scar is a sign that we have experienced healing. A scar is a sign that once our body was frozen, barely able to move, and now we can move!
If you go to the health provider’s web site you find a picture of a farmer who announces, “My scar means I can farm.” There is a picture of a mother and daughter, and the caption says, “My scar means we are together.”
If you hang around some churches you might think the Jesus community is only for people who are smooth and perfect and unscarred. The truth is otherwise!
We are all wounded. We have all been scared. Paul says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Not only are we wounded, but many of us have experienced the healing power of God’s truth and love in Jesus. God has been at work in our lives. We have scars to show where God has cut out the bitterness, the fear, the intolerance, the indifference, the selfishness… The New Testament even says God’s truth is like a two-edged sword!
So welcome to this community where we all have scars, and these scars are evidence of our humanness…and the love and power of God! I invite you to read through the stories below.
Our giving is used by God to work in the lives of people here and around the world.
What is your story?
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
The message of the billboard turns this assumption about scars on its head: a scar on the knee means we can walk or run or stand when once we could not. A scar is a sign that we have experienced healing. A scar is a sign that once our body was frozen, barely able to move, and now we can move!
If you go to the health provider’s web site you find a picture of a farmer who announces, “My scar means I can farm.” There is a picture of a mother and daughter, and the caption says, “My scar means we are together.”
If you hang around some churches you might think the Jesus community is only for people who are smooth and perfect and unscarred. The truth is otherwise!
We are all wounded. We have all been scared. Paul says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Not only are we wounded, but many of us have experienced the healing power of God’s truth and love in Jesus. God has been at work in our lives. We have scars to show where God has cut out the bitterness, the fear, the intolerance, the indifference, the selfishness… The New Testament even says God’s truth is like a two-edged sword!
So welcome to this community where we all have scars, and these scars are evidence of our humanness…and the love and power of God! I invite you to read through the stories below.
Our giving is used by God to work in the lives of people here and around the world.
What is your story?
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
+++++
Here are some new stories you have shared with us this week!
Travis and I left all our family and friends when we moved to Bloomington, and until we found The Open Door/FUMC we felt like we were alone, and since we had left our home church were pretty spiritually depleted. Through worship at the Open Door, Jubilee, small groups and meals shared with pastors and fellow members we not only have seen God’s face and God’s love again and again, but also have gained new lifelong friends, surrogate parents and spiritual mentors. Our life is unbelievably full, joyful and blessed because of this community.
– Ashlee
So many memories of 35 years at FUMC -- working with & serving children, teaching Sunday school, composing music for a small group of high school students and then conducting them, Bible summer school, Christmas pageant, Children’s bell choir for 23 years. We delight in working with the children; we cry as they leave for college; we rejoice in watching them grow & return with their successes. We laughed with them when four youth bell ringers accidentally broke a new and expensive couch – we said they saved an elderly person from getting hurt. Halleluiah!
– Skip and Liz
In 2009 my family and I faced more challenges than we ever had before. I wouldn’t have been surprised to wake up one morning to find my home filled with locusts! One day my Aunt Suzy read to me from Isaiah 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Soon afterward I began to see crosses everywhere I looked—in hallways, in the structure of buildings and in shadows. I felt God’s hand in mine—his presence as clear as seeing a picture on a wall. Thereafter, blessings in my life started outnumbering all of the challenges. It was a focus on the blessings that carried me through. Three years later many things have changed – my husband is back to normal after illness, I have a beautiful grandson, I am a member of a fabulous Sunday School class at FUMC and have joined an independent women’s Bible Study, and I have overcome a fear of public praying. This is a partial writing of my story. Of course it continues as God grants me another day of life! I am blessed. Crosses saved my life!
– Chris
Thanks for the great feedback on our campaign. We love sharing out patient's stories. We are glad it inspired you as well. For more stories visit www.orthoindyblog.com
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