Psalm 139:13-14

DIY. Do It Yourself. You can Google or YouTube just about anything and find detailed instructions on how to accomplish a task or make a craft. Tired of the old gray caulk around my tub, I found a YouTube to show me how to remove it and replace it the right way. Get the materials, follow directions, and success. Back in the days before internet, we used Manuals. I used Haynes Repair Manual to replace the valve cover gasket in my 1973 Camaro LT – that wasn’t nearly as easy as re-caulking a bathtub, but the harder the task the greater the satisfaction of accomplishing it.

Let’s be clear – I am not at all artsy-craftsy, that kind of creativity has never been my gift. You won’t find me on Pinterest or stocking up at Michael’s. I just love using my hands to make things work – give me a plan and the tools to implement it, I’m your gal.

This weekend I decided to fix a musical water globe. It was given to me by my dear friend Zee years ago when my children were little. Sitting atop a pink wooden base inside a clear glass globe is a mother in a big overstuffed chair. She is dressed circa late 1800’s, a little girl on one arm of the chair and a little boy hanging on the other, both of them looking at the book she is reading to them. It embodies the intimate time of motherhood when the children are little and hang on your every word – and you. I like to think the book she is holding is the Bible. Lately the figures have been sitting upside down in the glass, the glue worn out from children shaking it to see the delicate snowflakes.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 139 that the Lord God, Creator of the Universe, made all the delicate inner parts of our bodies, that He knit us together in our mother’s wombs. I began to think about that as I unscrewed the music box from the bottom of the base and figured out how to remove the rubber stopper without damaging the glass globe. I needed a small screw driver to remove the music box, thin delicate knife to loosen the edges of the stopper, and pliers used to carefully coax the decades-old rubber out. Once it was out, I dried the parts, glued the Mother and children back on the stopper, fitted it carefully, gently, slowly back inside the glass and re-fastened the music box. I turn it upside down and back again, watching the flakes settle around the scene. Small hands will enjoy it once again.

I wonder if that is how God feels when he creates a baby. What a delicate process that must be, and what joy He must have from creating and knowing the soul of each child. Does He love restoring us after we are broken as much as He loves knitting us together in the first place? The Psalm also says how precious are your thoughts about me, God. I suspect there is even more satisfaction in repairing our brokenness, because that means we have come to Him to get our hearts right. Oh how He loves us, to be in relationship with us! Let us gather close, hang on the arms of His throne and feed on the Word.