Hand-made

Today, I finished a patchwork cushion cover that I have been working on for at least a year.

 

There was a real sense of pride in my work as I finished and I am really pleased with it and with my achievement, as I wouldn't normally class myself as one of those people who's good at sewing. 

 

When I had finished, I couldn't wait to try it out and see what it looked like: on my bed, on my spare bed, on the sofa etc.  I was excited and I wanted to use it and I wanted to tell other people about it.

 

It's not perfect: some of my stitching isn't quite straight and some of the squares are different sizes or overlap slightly, but it is a labour of love. It is unique and individual and personal and it is something in which I have invested a lot of time and energy.

 

It is hand-made and it is something to be proud of.

 

And as I finished, it made me think (in a very small way), of how God must have felt after He had created each one of us. 

 

The Bible describes us as being designed and personally hand-crafted by God, stitched together by Him:

 

          "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."

[Psalm 139:13-14 NIV]

 

And at the end of the creation story, the Bible says,

"God looked over everything he had made;

it was so good, so very good!"

[Genesis 1:31 MSG]

 

God looks at you and me and sees us as being so very good.  Not because we behave well, or do as we are told; not because we are without fault or flaw; not because we never make mistakes or because we are perfect.  But because He made us. 

 

We are hand-made by the hands that hold the world.