Nice Little Projects, After All

Readings: Job 34:19--"...who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands."

Psalm 136:26--"Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever."

 

I decided to plug in my sewing machine and make a few Christmas gifts this year. About mid-way through the first project, I began to wonder why I did so. As I put the finishing touches on the gift, I started seeing every little flaw that I had created along the process. Doubt began to take over whenever I would work on or look at the project. Why didn't I just buy something instead of trying to make something? One day a friend came along and I showed the project to her. Her response was much different than I expected. She was honestly impressed with my handiwork. She, without giving false flattery, told me how much she knew the recipient would enjoy the personalized gift. Later that evening, I once again picked up the project and looked at it. This time however, I looked at it with eyes of appreciation rather than eyes of skepticism. Instead of seeing every slight error I had ruminated on earlier, I now saw a much neater version of the project where I painstakingly removed a row of stitching and carefully replaced it to make it look nicer or re-trimmed a spot here or there to neaten everything up. It turned out to be a nice little project, after all.

When we're feeling extra critical about ourselves, our neighbors, or our surroundings, we need to remember that we are, after all, created in God's image. The human part of us that is limited in scope, tends to want to zero in on the flaws. How much better to look through the spirit of God's infinite love and see just how blessed and divide we and everything around us is created. We've all turned out, after all, to be nice little projects, too!

 

Peace be with you.