Created in His Image
An afternoon with Madison, my daughter, is a rarity these days. She's 18, a senior, and is interested in her friends, cheerleading, driving, spending the night with friends in our home and away from home, and she loves her time alone; the usual teenage girl things. But, she also likes to spend time occassionally with me, her mom; an unusual teenage thing.
Madison shared with me on this particular morning, that as she was reading in her Bible, she liked a verse she came across in Proverbs. Since we were going out together anyway, she wanted to know if she could get some blank canvases and paint the Scripture on it to hang in her room. As she said this, the thought occured to me, "Just as God commanded His people in Deuteronomy 6 to impress truth, the teachings of God, on their children's hearts, we are commanded to do the same. God said to "talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. He said to tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deut. 6:7-9 NIV) God's Word should be at the forefront of our conversations with our children and visible for us to see in our homes.
So, of course I'm not going to discourage her from focusing on Scripture, so off to Hobby Lobby we went. She purchased paint, paint brushes, and canvases. Everything she needed to create, we bought.
When she finished, she came downstairs to get me so I could come see what she had created.
Not only had she created the one with the Scripture, but she had created two more canvases.
Madison shared with me on this particular morning, that as she was reading in her Bible, she liked a verse she came across in Proverbs. Since we were going out together anyway, she wanted to know if she could get some blank canvases and paint the Scripture on it to hang in her room. As she said this, the thought occured to me, "Just as God commanded His people in Deuteronomy 6 to impress truth, the teachings of God, on their children's hearts, we are commanded to do the same. God said to "talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. He said to tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deut. 6:7-9 NIV) God's Word should be at the forefront of our conversations with our children and visible for us to see in our homes.
So, of course I'm not going to discourage her from focusing on Scripture, so off to Hobby Lobby we went. She purchased paint, paint brushes, and canvases. Everything she needed to create, we bought.
The moment we returned home she set up in her room and went to work. She was up there the rest of the afternoon working away on her creations. (Time alone well spent.)
When she finished, she came downstairs to get me so I could come see what she had created.
Not only had she created the one with the Scripture, but she had created two more canvases.
Created in God's image...God creates. He is the Maker of all things. The Creator of heaven and earth. Why should we not create? We have His DNA.
"So God created them in His own image, in the image of God, He created him; male and female, He created them. (Genesis 1:27 NIV)
I love to watch my daughter create. Whether it's with her photography, writing, painting, a school project, or a card, she is being like her Creator; she's being the creator (little c) He created her to be!
"Thank you, Jesus, for Madison. She is such a grace gift to our family. Thank You for the way in which You have created her with a sensitive and compassionate heart. Help her to express her love for You as she gives back to You through her creations. I praise You for the precious time she and I have together. I know that my time with her in this season is waning. I pray this day was well spent and that together we created a memory that we will both cherish for a lifetime.
In the sweet name of Jesus' , Amen."
My Pleasure,
Melanie