Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

A few days ago, my daughter gave birth to her daughter. I am sitting and holding this little bundle of life, with an overwhelming sense of the treasure she is: a little person whose life outside the womb has just begun. 

I believe life begins at conception, so little Miranda Renae started life even before her mother and father knew about her. A tiny heart was pulsating and pumping blood. Backbone and spinal cord were forming. The digestive system was being created and small buds appeared which would become arms and legs. Between those beginning moments and this moment nine months later, Miranda has grown into a fully-formed – and small! – person. 

Her entrance into the world now gives her new freedom of movement and growth in every aspect of what life holds: spiritually, mentally and physically. How amazing! 

In this new life, it will take time for her to unfold, as it were. For a while, she’s going to spend lots of time sleeping and eating. Her little body has gone through a huge change, from living inside the womb to being outside in our world. Yet she loves to snuggle, because she knows who her mother is: it’s the voice she’s been hearing for months, the voice of the woman who gave her life and now gives her sustenance. 

I am amazed as I look at her fully-formed little person. I check out her toes and fingers; beautiful and tiny. Her eyes open and look at me and I wave. It’s hard to tell yet, but she may well have the strong nose of her mother and grandmother. Perhaps she will be tall, or have curly hair like her father. 

She is soft and new and beautiful.

What passions lie within Miranda? What gifting has she come with from God? 

As I look at her, I am reminded of Psalm 139, which tells us that God knows all about this. He sees us before we are born, and schedules each day of our lives before we even begin to breathe air. Most importantly, we are reminded that human beings are fearfully and wonderfully made.

When we look at a baby, we see a heaven-sent gift from God. And then the thought crossed my mind: do we see ourselves as heaven-sent gifts of God? 

As I talk with others…as I monitor my own thought patterns…I realize how easily we can become disappointed and ungrateful with the way God has made us. We may believe that some aspect of our selves is inadequate or deficient. Such feelings can cause us to demean ourselves; to be dismayed with our person rather than be thankful for who we are. 

Can we celebrate the fact that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made by a great creator? 

When you get up in the morning, take a long pause as you look in the mirror. Thank God – out loud – for the ways in which he’s made you. Thank him that you have purpose in his creation.