Created and Loved by God

Earlier this week I took a trip to the grocery store with the kids to pick up a few items necessary for the rest of the week...milk, bread, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary. The idea of strolling through the store gazing at "items of want" with my three beautiful, well-behaved darlings always seems like well-thought out plan until its execution. Yet it is a daunting task buttoning coats, loading them in carseats, unloading them, positioning them just right in the grocery cart so there is no hair pulling, hitting, fighting, or stealing (yes, I have an unintentional clepto :) ). But...the call of the pantry is much stronger than the voice of reason.

We rushed through the store picking up our necessities and ended up in the frozen food section. I casually walked from case to case looking for what would be the next great meal in our home. As I approached one of the cases a man and a woman were coming toward us, she on the phone, he pushing the cart. She was ordinary...he was not. He appeared handicapped, hunched over, eyes separated, with an amazing smile that lit up the room. As we passed him, he looked at me and said, "Wow, you sure have your hands full!" (As a mother of a 4, 3 and 2 year old, I hear this often.) I smiled and said, "I sure do, but they're worth it." (My standard response.) Our conversation was a mere 10 seconds. Two steps passed him, my oldest whips her head around, looks at me and says,

"His eyes..."

"Stop." I whispered.

She hushed as I knelt down next to her seat. I asked her if she knew who made that man.

"Um...No?"

"Miss A, who made you?"

"God did."

"So, who do you think made him?" By this time I had tears in my eyes.

"God did." And as the tears began to well in her sweet, baby eyes she exclaimed, "and God loves him very much."

She gets it.

I hold such a special place in my heart for people with a physical defect because I too was born with one. I was born severely cross-eyed. My parents agreed to eye surgery at 6 months and I had to exercise my eyes every night as a child. I had to wear a patch on my "strong" eye to help strengthen the weak one. I was questioned by kids throughout elementary school about what I was looking at, what could I see, did things look different to me because of the way I look. I fought my physical ailment and tried to hide it from the world for years (including my optometrist). The thing is, EVERY one of us was born imperfect. At some point in our adolescence we were ridiculed for something that was out of our control. By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have learned to hide it...some better than others. Genesis 1 tells us everything God created was "good." We are created in His likeness.

(A Royal Allegiance)

Sin messes everything. God made all humans perfect and unique, all together bearing God's image.

But this cancerous disease called sin broke everything.

Maybe this is why my daughter "gets it". Even though she was born into a world full of sin, she is still innocent. She is not shackled by the image of who she "should be" or what she "should look like", in order to be accepted by the ever-judging eye of society. My challenge is to see the world through the eyes of a child, just as He sees us.

God made each of us unique...short, tall, skinny, robust, athletic, couch potato, cross-eyed, crooked smile...and loves every stinkin' one of us. We are not merely damaged goods...we are all a masterpiece in the making.

Thank you Lord. I praise you for making me exactly the way I am...warts and all.

Isaiah 64:8
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.