Our church held its annual women’s conference, called Flourish, this past week.  One of the comments that kept circulating on the screens between sessions was that the same God who make the Earth and the sky thought that His creation would not be complete without you.  One of the speakers commented that God’s plan and timing for our lives was for now – not 100 years ago or 1000 years ago or 1000 years from now, but now.  At the end of one of the sessions, the giveaway as we exited the sanctuary was a coffee mug.  There were 3 or 4 saying on these mugs and the saying you received was arbitrary – pure chance (or perhaps divine appointment).  One of the sayings was “Be Brave,” another “Hello Gorgeous” and a couple more.  Several of my girlfriends hoped to get the mug that said “Hello Gorgeous” and that was the saying I was hoping most to avoid.  I have struggled most of my life believing that I am pretty, let alone gorgeous.  And guess which one I ended up with?  You guessed it.  I had to fight a huge urge to trade with someone else to get a mug with something that sounded less intimidating.  I can “Be Brave” all day long, but to look at a mug that tells me I’m gorgeous?  That takes a lot more bravery for me.  I don’t even drink coffee!  So how easy would it be to keep that mug in my regifting drawer (don’t judge me – I know you all have one of those too!), except that I couldn’t give it to anyone from church and that’s where I know most of my friends.  Or an equally easy choice would have been to just hide it in the back of the cupboard where I keep my coffee cups and just forget that it’s there.  The Holy Spirit prompted me that I had been given exactly what I was supposed to receive, so I (reluctantly) put it in my bag and took it home.

The mug has sat on my counter for the past two days, in the box, daring me to decide what to do with it.  This morning was cool and dreary (odd for May in Texas).  When I got home from church and was making breakfast, I decided that this silly mug was not going to get the best of me, so I made a cup of hot chocolate to go with my eggs and toast.  While it was still uncomfortable for me to look at the obnoxiously large gold lettering every time I took a sip, it did remind me of the scriptures that state that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and that God knew me before I was in my mother’s womb (Psalm 139: 13-14).  I also had to remember that God does think I am beautiful: “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you” (Song of Solomon 4:7) and that I was created in his image (Gen 1:27).  God is the very embodiment of beauty.  God doesn’t make any mistakes and it truly only matters what He thinks about me.  Even with all my flaws and bad choices and scars, He sees me as His masterpiece.  I am thankful for the daily grace He extends while I continue to learn this lesson.

So, Hello Gorgeous.  Know that you are beautiful beyond measure and that God’s plan for this point in history would not be complete without you.