I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
Reflection
When I was a kid, I hated my eyelids. It sounds like a small thing, but to me, it wasn’t. I hated how my eyes looked when I smiled, like they disappeared. I hated how eyeliner never worked on me like it did for the other girls at school. It became an obsession. I researched surgeries and taped my lids back just to feel “normal.” Just to feel enough. Years passed, and one day I saw a photo of my cousin. Their eyes looked just like mine. The same hooded shape. The same smile. But on them, they looked beautiful & distinct, I loved them. And something shifted inside me. For the first time, I saw myself not as a mistake to fix, but as part of something much bigger. I thought: Why would I have, for all these years, wanted to change the features my ancestors gave me? Altering myself would be erasing the history of the hundreds of people who fell in love, survived, and sacrificed so I could exist. To change the body that the divine shaped with such intention. Just to meet someone else’s society standard. would be to turn away from a sacred design. That realization humbled me. It brought me to tears. I spent so long wanting to erase something that was never broken. The very features I once tried to hide became a doorway to healing. Now, I love my eyelids. Now because they’ve changed, but because I’ve learned to see them for what they truly are: evidence of gods love for me. Evidence of my family. Evidence that I am wonderfully made.
by Ali Clark
For Pondering and Prayer
A challenge: Look at yourself in the mirror this week in the mornings. Pretend you are talking to yourself as a small child. Tell yourself that God created you with love. Choose one part of yourself you’ve struggled to love.
Ask: What would I tell myself if I was a small child coming crying to me with this insecurity?Then affirm out loud to yourself. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Prayer: God thank you for creating me with care, depth, and intention. Teach me to see myself clearly, as you did when you made me. Where I’ve rejected myself, please bring restoration. Where I’ve felt shame, please bring peace. Let me honor the body that holds my story. Let me live like I believe I am wonderfully made. Amen.
