I DO! – Spit and Clay – June 25TH

I DO
June 25, 2021

Spit and Clay

Psalm 139:15-16, ‘You know me inside and out; You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.’ (MSG)

Before I ever took one breath, You chose me. Your resounding ‘I Do’ to this little girl has echoed throughout time; Your emphatic vote for me. You are for me; not against me. So much so that you would split yourself in parts to send into my world so I would not have to do life alone.

Before I ever took one breath, You knew me intimately. You arranged all the little neurons and cells, the chromosomes, my DNA, like building blocks, building me. You sculpted me from spit and clay; with Your hope, I was born. You took Your breath and blew it into my nostrils; with your breath my lungs were filled. You counted the hairs on my head and numbered the breaths I would take from beginning to end. I’d never get another, nor would I ever lose one either. It is already perfectly mapped out, my existence. You fashioned me from a dream You harvested in Your soul.

Before I was even born, You saw who I would become. I wasn’t a surprise to You, nor has anything I have ever done or said been a surprise to You. I can accept now that, while You had hoped I would make better choices and would have chosen other remedies than I did, You are still accepting of me; what I happened to make a mess of, You are instead manifesting a masterpiece from. You aren’t determined to undo what I’ve done; instead You are repurposing my mistakes to have meaning, cause and effect.

Before I was ever born, You saw where I would be right now, on this day and time. You orchestrated great details on my behalf. Where I closed doors, You opened more, and the doors I opened that should have remained shut, You softly closed. You are a Gentleman with my heart, and all the little nuances that make me ‘me’, You caress and cultivate, and use for Your purpose and not mine. I am not a mistake, even the strangeness of ‘me’ isn’t a mistake in Your hands at all.

Before I was even born, You wrote my name in Your blood. You signed my forgiveness with the pen of loving-kindness with which You drew me. My name was on Your lips, and the oceans of my transgressions, You buried in the scars on Your hands. My shame was nailed to the tree You hung on, where You drew Your last breath for You and Your first breath for me. Your heart beat for me and it still beats for me today.

Before I was even born, You saw me. And You loved me anyway.

Psalm 18:19, ‘He stood me up in a wide-open field. I stood there saved, surprised to be loved!’ (MSG)

What a promise ‘I Do’ is! Whether we are committing to a person or simply being intentional in life, our word should be a cherished commodity. This month, journey with me in ‘I Do’ moments which are an oath, a vow, a pact, a pledge, an honorarium.