Photo by Catherine Meekins
Psalm 139:13-14 “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 that full well.” (NIV)
We live in an age of mass production. Just about anything you find on the shelves of a store has been through an assembly line in one way or another. Products are pumped through factories at incredible speeds in order to reach the paying customers faster and make the supplier more money. That’s why when you come upon something handmade it is so special!
In the past few weeks the temperature in Ohio has dropped into the single and negative digits. Some have found this frigid weather frustrating, but in our family this is when we hunker down in front of the fire and pull out our cold weather projects. Yes, just about everyone in our family knows and enjoys the art of knitting. I have fond memories of when you children were little sitting in a circle in the living room each with needles and a colorful ball of yarn in hand. I am not sure how many dishcloths, hats, scarves, and even mittens have been created on those cold days. So when the thermometer dipped a couple weeks ago Nathan, Abigail, and I found ourselves pulling out the supplies and going at our new projects with a vengeance.
As I have been steadily working on my new hat pattern a thought occurred to me. Knitting is one of the few crafts that requires a person to touch every stitch of the creation. In sewing you cut the material and sew around the edges, but in knitting you insert the needle, wrap the yarn, bring it around, and slip it over for each and every stitch. Your fingers are involved in forming every part of the final product.
What a wonderful example of how God lovingly created us. Psalm 139 says that God knitted us together in our mother’s womb. We were not all mass manufactured, but instead the God of the universe touched every inch of our frame, inside and out. We are unique in our looks, personalities, likes, dislikes, abilities, and more. Each one formed, stitch by stitch, with patience and love.
Not only that, but our heavenly Father created us with a plan in mind. Ephesians 2:10 says we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which were planned out before our birth. The master knitter had the perfect pattern for each person and brought us into being with all wisdom and skill, one stitch at a time.
When you look around at the masses of people populating the earth and are tempted to feel small and insignificant, take another look in the mirror. You are one in a million created for good works in Christ Jesus because you are not part of a mass production. You have been incredibly handmade, stitch on stitch, by the greatest knitter of all time. His product? The incredible handmade you!
Love,
Mama
The air was damp and sticky as I began the final stretch of my early morning walk. The warmth of the bedroom had wakened me in the wee hours, and after tossing and turning for what seemed like an eternity, I had ventured out to greet the day. Lost in thought I rounded the curve and headed back towards the house. Suddenly, a rapid, hollow tapping broke the stillness of the morning. The sound reverberated through the air like a popgun firing in close proximity.