A Self Portrait

This semester I took a black and white film photography class.  One of the assignments we had to do involved taking a self portrait of ourselves.  My professor said we could be creative with it - that a "self portrait" didn't necessarily have to be a portrait of our faces.  I was relieved.  I've never exactly been a lover of my face (it's hit or miss).  My skin is nowhere near perfect.  My cheeks are chubby.  My eyes get all squinty when I smile, and I've always thought my lips to be oddly shaped...And that's just my face.  So as I was brainstorming ideas of things to hide behind in my self portraits, I stumbled upon the idea of cutting out parts of model's facial features from magazines and using them to cover my own face.  I was tickled by this stroke of genius, and proceeded to find some magazines, cut out parts of model's faces, tape said parts to my face, take the pictures, develop the film, and slave over the prints in the dark room  (needless to say, film photography is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears...literally.  I got a paper cut while I was doing this assignment).

As I was reviewing the final product (which is the image you see above), a thought struck me:  Is this how God sees us when we change our appearance?  I mean, usually we just wish we looked different, but obviously some people take action and get plastic surgery; some even go to the extremes of bleaching their skin.  Is this how God sees us, His creation, when we long to be different from how He created us to be?

 

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

 

{Psalm 139: 14-15}

 

If I truly believed this verse, I might worry less about covering up my imperfections and embrace them instead, because the Creator of the universe took some time out of His schedule from the time I was a twinkle in my parent's eyes to the day of my birth to knit me together.  The Lord picked my eyes, my nose, my lips, and constructed me, His masterpiece.  Picturing that image in my head, I want nothing more than to be exactly how He created me to be.  

 

Thus, a challenge for you.  I challenge you today, (and every day after this one), that each time you catch your reflection to remind yourself that you were constructed by the same God that called the world into being, and you are wonderful.  Because you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

 

 Source

 

 

Stay fearful and wonderful, my friends,