Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? You have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Have you ever heard of kintsugi? Even if you haven’t heard the term, you’ve likely seen it: the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer. Rather than hiding the fractures, kintsugi highlights them. It’s rooted in the philosophy of wabi-sabi, which finds profound beauty in imperfection and the history of an object.

I’ve been thinking about those golden seams lately, mostly because my own “vessel” feels a bit cracked.

In late January, I walked into a physical therapist’s office expecting a quick fix. I’d been dealing with a strange soreness in my arm and occasional numbness in my fingers. I assumed it was carpal tunnel syndrome; I was already doing the stretches and wearing a brace to sleep, but my husband encouraged me to get a professional opinion anyway.

I was not expecting to be told I had a herniated disk in my neck.

Suddenly, I was one of those broken tea cups. The PT gave me a sheet of “at least once an hour” exercises and told me not to lift anything. She had me move my purse from my shoulder to my waist immediately (thank goodness fanny packs are back in style!) and scheduled a follow-up for the following week. And the week after that. And the week after that.  As I was leaving, she tossed out a “don’t worry” that did the exact opposite: “If you rest and make progress with these exercises, we should be able to avoid an operation.”

Talk about a wake-up call for a girl who was just looking for a few wrist stretches.

This has been the hardest part of this health journey: the feeling of weakness. My ego wants to jump into training that shows “real” results—strength, conditioning, cardio. But my body is demanding a return to baseline first.

So, for now, I’m stuck with supine neck turns and pelvic tucks. I’m learning to embrace the lessons hidden in the slow movements: patience, humility, and a deeper kind of self-love.

Our physical body is a gift God has entrusted to us. Scripture tells us that the body is a temple (1 Corinthians 6). We often think of temples as grand, finished monuments, but a temple only remains a place of worship if it is maintained. It doesn’t stay beautiful by chance.

I’ve realized that I let my foundation crack. I can’t keep building additions on top of a broken base; I have to fill the cracks first. And I don’t want to rush the job. Like kintsugi, I want to fill these spaces with gold—turning my recovery into a more beautiful glorification of God, fueled by the knowledge that there is grace in the break.

Lord, fill my cracks with Your golden grace. Teach me the humility to accept my limitations and the wisdom to find beauty in the recovery process. Amen. – Finding Cailin

If you’re interested in what specific exercises I’m doing to repair the herniated disk, head over to my YouTube channel.