Perfectly Me. True Story.

My son made me a little plaster dish once. It was perfect. It was a perfect rusty brown color. It had the most perfect dimpled texture. It had the most perfectly crooked handle, which served absolutely no purpose, but apparently he thought it needed a handle in order to be complete. It had a perfectly rough scratchy bottom that allowed it the ability to rock unsteadily on my table, while simultaneously etching the wood that it rested on. I loved it. And I especially loved it because I loved him and because he loved me enough to make it for me.

Imagine if when presented with said gift I had said, "Oh thank you. It's so pretty. I just wish it wasn't this ugly rusty brown color. I wish it was green. I always wanted a green dish." And then imagine if I followed up with "I don't know why you put a handle on it though. The dish is way too big for this tiny little handle. If I even tried to hold it by the handle, the handle would probably fall off. I would have made the dish smaller or the handle bigger." And what if I added, "Why didn't you make it have a smoother surface like the one that Johnny's mom got? Her's is really smooth and I'll bet it doesn't scratch her furniture either."

And then what if at the end of all that, I finished with, "You know what? I'll bet if we take it to the pottery repair store, they can make it perfect!"

I am pretty sure he would have been crushed. All that time he spent in creating something because of his love for me would have been wasted and his heart would have been smashed.

I think that must be how God feels when we talk about all the things we wished we had instead of what He gave us. I am never going to be 6 feet tall. He made me this height for a reason. I'm never going to have a perfectly flawless olive complexion. I am always going to be pale and freckled, because He made me this way. I might someday be a rock star, but I doubt it, because He gave me a different set of gifts.

I wonder if I lived my life in love with the creation that He made, what would my life be like? I wouldn't be jealous of other people's looks or personalities or gifts. I would know that I was created with incredible love by a Creator who made me perfectly me.

All that to say, just love yourself for who you are. Don't spend your life wishing you were someone else, with someone else's talents and gifts and looks and personalities. You have it all! And you are perfect. So am I. True story.