“I’m making a collection of beautiful, momma,” she said as we started to walk through the trees today. Thank you, God, for Miriam. Thank you for the simplicity of a walk with both my little girls today. For an hour as we walked together collecting beautiful not much was required of me. They had only wanted to be with me, and loved that we were having girl time with each other and sweet Penny. The forest floor was perfect today, the sounds of our steps and their chatter filled me to the brim with gratitude. I prayed for mounds of snow as we lingered by the creek and Penny played in the low stream. Draught indeed. And yet as we walked, and listened to each other, squeaking squirrels and cawing birds, my heart continued to resonate with the “collection of beautiful”. Isn’t that what You thought when you dreamt of us? The complex and vast variation you wove into humanity?
I believe that You, Abba, are the farthest from color blind. You are creative and imaginative. You love variety and peculiarities. How could You not? We are all so different. Stunning colors of skin of every tone. Crooked smiles. Perfectly imperfect symmetry to our faces. Freckles. Wrinkles. Long sinews of defined muscle and soft curves of plumpness. Curly and straight hair. Tender personalities. Challengers. Those who know every single possible outcome of a situation, and those who throw their hands in the air and carry on forward, seemingly unfazed by any possible outcome. You made fabulously audacious laughs, and demur giggles. When we were too similar, You divided us into different languages and groups and increased our differences.
And yet, each one of us is made in the Imago Dei. The image of God. And with Your imprint we are stunning and each one of us is marked worthy of love and adoration. Delight. As You delight in our differences, we can delight in the differences in each other. Which is not what happened a week ago when my beloved dark skinned son was called a “n****r” while playing soccer with his mates on an otherwise perfect Saturday in late summer. Oh Father, forgive me for the hatred towards another human that a single word invoked within me. It was anything but righteous anger that arose initially in my chest. Instead, it was a loathing of another unnamed, unidentified creation of Yours. You made that man in Your image, and whether or not he acknowledges You, You desire him. And I would have ended him for the offense of ignoring the beauty of my son’s unique reflection of You.
Which leads me to the Cross. You would have been justified to end all of humanity when we ignored and denied Your Son’s deity, when we killed Him. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.” (Hebrews 1:3) And yet, His very death was proof of the endless pursuit of us found in Your heart. You have always desired us, relationship with us, which is why You created us in Your image. And when sin entered the story, You did not stop loving us. Instead, You planned our rescue through the perfection of Your son’s life, death, and resurrection that defeated death forever. And even today, even up to the very last breath in our life, You offer us the free gift of redemption to be with You if we will only admit our need and accept Your Son.
Our collection of beautiful today takes my breath away. My little girls didn’t pick out the “perfect” leaves or pinecones. Some of the leaves are bitten and bent. Some are marred, and a few are torn. They are wilting, and they lack uniform vibrancy in color. And together they make the most beautiful blend. Thank You for reminding me that You don’t care if we are all put together, perky, or unmarred. For Your image in the fabric of our being and Your son’s sacrifice have forever engraved infinite value upon us, no matter how we are marked by this world, how we view ourselves, or how another views us. Please help me to continue to see with eyes that are not my own. Help me to see how much you love Your creation, even when I am wounded.
Thank You for one blissful hour with two little girls who just wanted to collect beautiful. Thank you for today, which was fueling to my soul. You always know just what I need, and exactly when I need it. I trust You completely to meet me every day with the mercy I need to carry on. Thank You for including me in Your story.
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