My girls say I didn’t tell them they were beautiful when they were young. It must be true but it surprises me now. Really? Because I was daily astounded by the beauty of my children.

I was constantly aware of the fragile preciousness of the moments. The chubby baby faces staring up at me. The countenance of toddler joy. The surprise of discovery as the young ones opened their eyes to the beauty of life. Those were chaotic days, but I remember joy. I remember feeling almost frightened at the goodness of the blessings I had been given.

My children were beautiful, but I didn’t tell them.

Why? I wanted them to understand that every good gift is from above. If you are lovely, it is not your own doing. There is no virtue in a pretty face. Real beauty lies within you. Real beauty is not what you see when you look in the mirror. It is what is seen when you reflect your Creator.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

We are being made beautiful. God created us for a specific time, a specific place, a specific purpose.

We are His poem and we are living out the stanzas right now. We might be confused by the words. We might not understand all the rhyme. We might resist the twisting of the plot. But haven’t you seen how the beautiful stories are the ones with hardship, the ones with pain?

We are His sculpture and He is carving and molding (and can you feel how painful that work is sometimes?) But though it is unfinished and messy right now, it will be beautiful in its time.

He has put eternity in our heart. We are a forever project. We don’t know all His ways. We don’t trust in what He is doing, because we don’t always know what He is doing. We trust in Who He is.

He is a Creator and Potter and Master Builder. He does all things well.

This is your time to reflect your Savior. This is your time to be beautiful.