Recently, we did a complete cleaning job in my daughter’s bedroom that included putting everything through the wash. You know, once of those ceiling-to-floor cleanings that excludes nothing.

What we didn’t realize is how much wear and tear it would impart on her plush animals. There were some plush animals that came through the wash without so much as a hair out of place, and others? Well, there were others that looked almost completely changed.

I’m not going to sugar-coat it, there was devastation about a particular favorite, a CHAMPS dog that the twins won/earned at the end of their 5th grade year for their essays upon completion of the DARE program at school.

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After moments of sadness, my daughter went into action. She gathered several different combs, brush styles, a water spritzer, a hairdryer, and went to work. As she worked, her tears subsided, as she lovingly brushed each curled up section of fur. The more she worked, the more she began to love this dog. Even though it wasn’t looking like it originally did, her time grooming expanded the love in her heart for it. We talked about how the dog’s coat showed that it had been through a cleaning, that it had a story to tell.

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And by the end of the day, it was right back in the circle of beloved lovies on her bed. It had a place there, even though it had been through the rough waters of the washing machine and was different because if it. She loves it the same as she always did, if not more, for all the time spent grooming it.

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My Creator feels the same way of me, and the same of you.

Man, have I ever been through some rough waters, and I came out in a place where I needed grooming from my Creator, my Rescuer, my Redeemer. And? He loves me all the same. And I love Him all the more, for all the time my Lord has spent grooming me, preparing me for the place at His right hand, where I can be with Him for all eternity.

“But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.”
Isaiah 64:8

We may not all “look” like we originally were before some of our seasons of life, BUT, the Lord’s work on us is not complete until the end of days. It’s like we are in a life-long grooming session, a life-long spa day, where our Creator molds us, makes us, into the perfect creation He intended us to be.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6

So, if you’ve ever felt flawed, take HOPE in the knowledge that your Creator’s love for you does not waiver. He is the potter, you are the clay, He has begun a great work in you and will carry it on to completion, until the day of Christ Jesus!

Father, I’m a flawed, washed up, lovie in need of Your work in my life; in need of Your molding me, making me into the person you intend for me to be. Lord, the cleansing waters, the refining fires, can be rough, BUT I know that you intend them to work for good, that you have a plan, and that You will groom me until the end of my days here on earth. Thank you, Lord, that despite my flaws, that Your redeeming grace has prepared a place for me in the circle of the beloved, in Your everlasting kingdom. Thank you, Lord for these lessons that You place right in front of me day in, and day out. Father, may I never stop learning, never stop seeing Your hand in my life. Thank You, Lord for being such an amazing Creator, for loving me despite my flaws, and for being the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and yet still desiring a relationship with me, as a part of Your creation. Praise be to You, my King. For You are so very deserving all any and all praise my humble self can offer.