Freckles

Close up of some North Carolina mountain moss

 Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

I was at my arts group at church last night and I had a sweet friend ask to draw my portrait while we were waiting for some paint to dry. As she drew, I mentioned sarcastically that she needed to make sure to capture ALL of my freckles perfectly. I have at least a thousand little freckles so that would be a challenge.

"You know" she said as she sketched, "...that every freckle is how often God thought of you." I looked back at her and my eyes began to burn with tears. I don't know if I have ever heard anything that sweet in a long time. I had heard of freckles described as angel kisses or sun kisses, but never the way she had mentioned. 

I think we all long to know we are unique. That He stopped and fashioned us for a specific purpose. I learned last summer that God is the ultimate artist. He formed the earth out of nothing and created everything from the quiet beauty of a stream near a mountain base, the laughable llama, and even the terrifying unpredictability of volcano. I can take so many things away about the character of God by just looking around me. 

Photo taken from the Bled tourism website

If I think about the most beautiful thing I've ever seen which probably was an Easter sunrise over Lake Bled in Slovenia...it does not compare with the breathtaking beauty and majesty of our Creator. 

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. 

The amazing thing is that He created us in His image which means that He made us to be artists like Him. Now, not all of us have the ability to create a painting or sculpt the human form out of marble, but He made us creative in different ways. Whether it's the surgeon who is skilled in repairing broken hearts, a counselor mending relationships, or even an athlete racing down the field to take the next guy that he sees down...we were all created in His image. He gave us skills and characteristics that are unique to each person.  

I am finally beginning to appreciate the things that He gave me that make me unique, but the thing is I can't take credit for anything. I am His lovingly made creation; His freckled child. So remember when you when you begin pick out the things you don't like about yourself...you are saying that He made a mistake when He crafted you. You are criticizing the ultimate Artist's work. 

To borrow from one of the most well known bible passages:

Psalm 139: 13-16 

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  

 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well. 

 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  

 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

You were created for a purpose. He loves you. 

The Creator didn't make a mistake when He formed you.