Finding My Marker’s Mark

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     I thought I had bugs flying in my kitchen. First I assumed they were tiny gnats, then possibly a large black fly. I don’t like bugs, especially in my house.
   But when I stopped and looked again, I realized what I was seeing was a sudden burst of floaters in my left eye. mmm, this isn’t good.
 
   First thing the next morning I was at the eye doctor who dilated my eye and didn’t like what he saw. They scheduled me for an appointment right away the eye specialist.
   Yep, I had a tear in my retina that he promptly repaired with the laser.
   My eye is healing well with only a few gnats and flies spots still floating by.
   Both doctors peered deep into the back of my eye. With an intense bright light I think they probably could illuminate everything from my tonsils to my toes. I wonder if they saw any of the secrets and dirt hidden in the corners of my heart?
   “You have a beauty mark on your retina,” Dr. Pesin told me at my two-week recheck. “Nothing to worry about, but you should know about it.”

A beauty mark?  deep inside me?  That kinda sounds nice.

 

 
I imagine if he looked closer maybe he could read the fine print engraved there,
“Made in Our image.”

My Marker’s Mark.

Normally I wouldn’t have thought too much about this hidden fingerprint of God, but fellow blogger and friend Jen Ferguson has been writing about on her blog:

“You are beautiful and I want you to know that you are. And you are beautiful simply because you are created by God and He revels in the magnificence of His creation.”

She continues, “What if we let God’s Word lavish our souls with wonder and amazement? What if we believe Him when He tells us that we are beautiful and that we are His? If the creator of the universe made me, I not only possess some sort of beauty, but I am calling God a liar when I call myself ugly.”

Yep I have always considered myself rather plain, plumb, and pitiful. Far from beautiful. Perhaps that is why her series hit my heart so strongly.
And now reading the comments and other blog posts about this same theme, I am finding so many others who struggle with a poor self image. I am not the only one who thinks this way about herself.
Rebekah of A Soft Gentle Voice blog wrote this:

“True beauty comes from within; from a heart that is humbled and at peace; a spirit that is at rest with its Creator; a soul that has been restored. 

No amount of make-up can effectively remove a miserable scowl, no adorning of costly apparel will cause us to be anymore precious, and no amount of airbrushing can make a heart at peace.”
And don’t you love coincidencesGod-incidences? I heard Stephen Curtis Chapman’s classic song Fingerprints of God the other day. There I was driving along St Route 34, bobbing my head and singing my heart out with him.

“Fashioned by God’s hand and perfectly planned

To be just who you are

And what He’s been creating

Since the first beat of your heart

Is a living, breathing

Priceless work of art

And I can see the fingerprints of God

When I look at you

I can see the fingerprints of God

And I know it’s true

You’re a masterpiece that all creation

Quietly applauds

And you’re covered with

The fingerprints of God”

Guess I can’t argue with the Creator. God’s message of love is wrapping its arms around my heart and leaving its imprint.
I am covered with His fingerprints. I have His beauty mark to prove it. Though it was hidden until the doctor discovered it, the truth is God inscribed His Maker’s Mark permanently within me. And now I know it!

What helps you to know you too are beautiful and loved by God? What is your Maker’s Mark?

 

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Comments

  5. blankJean Wise says

    Thanks so much Nancy. I was floored when the doc said I had a beauty mark inside my eye and just knew right then and there, it was a message, a divine reminder.
    love the verse you shared too. Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus and we both will make progress

  6. blankNancy Ruegg says

    Over-the-top wonderful post, Jean! ‘Love the way God is removing the blind spots, so you can see how beautiful you are!

    What helps me know I am beautiful, too? As I’ve grown older, and the wrinkles have started developing on the outside, God’s been developing something of greater importance and worth on the inside: a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4). It’s not fully developed yet, but I see progress!

  7. blankJean Wise says

    I was going crazy in the car singing that song, Laura. and don’t really care if anyone saw me either. HA!
    Psalms – good choice

  8. blankOutnumberedMom says

    Love that song, too, Jeanie. What a wonderful concept — the Maker’s Mark. How neat.
    What helps me to remember I am loved by Him? Psalms. Lovely, lovely reminders.

  9. blankJean Wise says

    You are sweetl Jen, We all where masks though to be honest I feel like I am living more like my true self now more than ever before. God is good!
    Let me pray about the post. I could start where this post start and add more but need to pray first. Thanks for the offer. You are doing a great work with your internet ministry, Jen! bless you

  11. blankJean Wise says

    yes my eye is improving daily. I too am so grateful we live in a day where this can be fairly easily fixed. I am counting my blessings and the lessons God is showering on me!

  13. blankJennifer 'Miner' Ferguson says

    Jean. Oh, I wish I would have known those inner feelings of yours when I had you in a hug. Wanting so badly to just speak lavishly over you, looking into your eyes and declaring that you are, in fact, fearfully and wonderfully made. But God seems to be doing a pretty good job communicating with you. 🙂 You know, Rebekah is going to do a post for the series. Perhaps you would like to write one, too, about your new found discoveries when you are ready?

  14. blankRebekah says

    My Maker’s Mark – how wonderful! To think that we are made in His image! We need to step back and say “Wow”
    I’m glad your eye is healing as well as how you are seeing yourself! He is working on me too!
    I’m blessed that you linked and were encouraged over at my place.

  16. blankMia says

    Dear Jean
    This is my most favorite post of yours by far!! Oh, we have such a skewed idea of what it means to be created in the image of our Pappa! He wore a thorn of crowns to restore us to the place where we are the crown of His creation. He is not ashamed of us!! But that liar starts whispering that lie into our hearts with our mother’s milk! What joy when Pappa frees us from shame!!
    Much love, dear friend, and I hope your eye heals completely!
    Mia