“I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I’m a masterpiece, I’m a masterpiece.” We’ve been singing this little ditty around our house for a couple of weeks now. It all started after I heard a message from a speaker talking about how God created us as masterpieces (Ephesians 2:10). I was so inspired that I started repeating, “I’m a masterpiece, I’m a masterpiece.” I let Kenny hear the message and he was inspired as well. I was so excited that I stopped Shiloh and Tiago from playing so that they could speak this truth as well. I  told them to repeat after me, and they did joyfully. 

A few months ago we were at the Magic House, and there’s this room that has a space where you can paint. There are only four canvases available at a time. Once one is available, one of the workers puts a fresh sheet of paper onto the canvas, writes your name if you are too young to write it yourself, and then you get to paint away. While we were waiting for an open spot, there was a teenager painting.  He kept yelling across the room to everyone, “I’m making a masterpiece. This is going to be a masterpiece.” Shiloh found his antics quite hilarious and kept asking me what a masterpiece was. I just kept thinking in my head, “yeah right.” “What kind of masterpiece could he have been creating? He looked as though he was haphazardly throwing paint around and just being a little obnoxious. It wasn’t until I looked over at his painting and to my surprise, it actually looked amazing.  it was a beautiful sunset. I said, “wow, you did make a masterpiece.” Again Shiloh asked me what a masterpiece was and I just told him that it was something really good. I think it stuck with him because he got extremely excited at the thought that he too could be a masterpiece.

I thought about how I was hatin’ on this kid and didn’t realize the talent he had until I looked further. He was not only a masterpiece himself but he created one. This kid was encouraging himself and sometimes, some days, that’s what we have to do. We have to remind ourselves who we are and who we belong to, even when others don’t see it. Even when our identity is questioned. It has to be something that we know deep down inside that is unmovable and unshakeable.

As it relates to our children, we are determined to be a voice that speaks louder and more consistent than self-doubt and critics. Our three beautiful boys are each different and special in their own way. They have separate struggles, but we are learning to celebrate their differences and speak truth to their weakness. As two of our boys enter into school this year, I wanted them to know that they are capable of doing each task that will be set before them, even if it takes a little while to “get it.” They are masterpieces, created to do good things and so are you!