A Lesson To Learn

If you ever wonder if you’re kids are “getting it”, whether they will ever connect with God, or whether they will one day, I have good news.  This entry is my reprint of my daughter’s writing.  It’s definitely a lesson we should all learn:

At the end of Veggie Tales, Bob always closes with “Remember, God made you special and he loves you very much!”

And as a nearly-adult teenager, it sounds super corny. Like, yeah it’s true, but what a way to say it. But, what we blow off as a silly kid saying, is actually such an amazing reminder. God, the creator of the entire universe who made the earth, the stars, the sun and moon, created me just the way he wanted, with a plan and a future, and he LOVES me.

In Genesis 1:26-27, God talks to his heavenly companions and says “let us make them in our image.” referring to humans. And in 27 it says “And God created man in his own image, and in his own image he created them.” So God made us LIKE HIM. And as such, he clearly didn’t make any junk.

I think a little differently from others I am around. I process my world mainly in color and texture. Lots of things are too loud and I typically am a little WEIRD and go on forever about weird things like sharks or octopuses. And so sometimes, because I process this whole big world oddly, I feel alone. I feel like no one wants me because I am the pink polka-dot elephant and the Charlie-in-the-Box from the Isle of Misfit Toys (I happen to have these three unique characters and love them). Another thing I do is I plan things, or obsessively ask what the plan in place is already. So looking at my life right now, failing math classes, and feeling so lonely, I sometimes feel like my future and I are pretty well screwed.

HOWEVER

In so many in his love letter (the bible), God tells me that I am made just the way he wanted me and I am prefect the way I am. I made a list. 😉

Genesis 1:26-27

Jeremiah 29:11

Psalm 139:13-14

Literally the entire book of Ephesians.

And so many more.

So Jeremiah 29:11 is my favorite verse of all time. I can talk about it for decades, probably. But ill be concise:

It says “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for a hope and a future.”

Plans indicate having thought about the person or day that is being planned. Thus, I am clearly not an accident. And God doesn’t just say he has a plan and that it’s a good one, he DECLARES it.

The dictionary says this about declaring:

“to announce officially; proclaim

“to state emphatically

“to manifest; reveal; show”

And to manifest is to make something happen, to show. So God PROCLAIMED a plan for me, states EMPHATICALLY it is for my good, and will MANIFEST this plan in my life. That is amazing and it is insane to me that the God who could ask himself “Universe, universe, where did I last set down the universe!?” looks at me and made me and designed a plan specific to me and the way he made me. God gave me a plan to PROSPER me and for a HOPE and a FUTURE. Everything about this verse encourages me when I feel like I am alone with not future. Because for someone as literal as I am, reading a verse, a message in a love letter, that explicitly states that I have a future, and hope, and prosperity and they are all from the creator of the universe is amazing and completely bewildering. AND HE DID THIS FOR EVERYONE. My baby cousin Clementine and he brothers. Me. My Uncle. My mom’s cousin with Lymphoma. My GG who was alive for WWII and died because of the asbestos. EVERYONE. YOU. ME. EVERYONE.

And Psalm 139:13-14 says this:

“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 this full well.”

And this literally states that God created me. He knows my personality, how my brain works, and my temper. David wrote that God’s works are wonderful. When I say something is wonderful, and I am not being sarcastic, I mean that something is so cool and awesome that I love it. My dogs are wonderful. My comfy pajamas are wonderful. My little nephew guy is wonderful. The way I feel when I see Joey and he calls my name is the way that God feels about us, except God MADE us and he feels this times about a gazillion. That’s amazing to me too.

I’ll admit that I don’t always turn immediately to these verses when I start to sink in to the quicksand that is feeling alone and worthless. The bad tapes and the voices from the past calling out from the Pandora’s Box ugly version and all. But when I do, when I think about how much God loves me and picture him wrapping me in his arms and saying “I love you kid.” The way I tell Joey and squeezing me tight, I feel comforted and reminded that I am His and he is mine. And same goes for everyone I know. I know this full well.