God's creation is good. Always has been and always will be. Today, January 12, is a special day in our house. It's our middle child's 16th Birthday. Birthdays are a natural time to reflect back on past years. Time has the advantage of giving us perspective to see what we can't see clearly in the moment. When our son was born I loved him immediately even though I didn't really know him, but God knew him. I didn't know that he would be smart, strong-willed, and active. I also didn't know that God had given him a heart for loving those less fortunate, and that he would grow through things like mission trips and church retreats. As a parent, I just get to experience these events as they unfold in real time before my eyes. God, however, sees the whole picture of this life that he's created even before we take our first breath. He has a plan for each life. I can just see God being excited as we reach our potential and hit certain milestones. Especially as we realize our God given gifts and use them for his glory. I pray that each one of us would seek out our gifts and praise the God that created us for his specific purpose. You, my friend, are a marvelous creation. Fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psalm 139:13-16 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. ¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. ¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.