All Things New
My youngest has a soft yellow “lovey” that she’s had since birth: “Duckie”
Duckie has slept with her every night for all of her 14 years, and it shows. The cloth is ripped and faded. And it is her absolute favorite. Each night when I tuck her in bed, we find Duckie and she pulls them into her face just below her nose to smell as she kisses the tattered cloth.
The eyes have been re-sewn. The stitching has been restitched with close to matching thread, but to be honest, Duckie looks rough. Like The Velveteen Rabbit.
I once bought Duckie a friend. A small plush duck with a fresh and bright yellow body and clean and pouty beak. It wasn’t long before Duckie’s friend was forgotten. Where did he go anyway?
Nothing could replace the love she got from Duckie. She didn’t want a new Duckie; she wanted to make Duckie “like new”. Nanny, her grandmother, suggested a “mustard bath” to brighten her faded yellow coat. It helped for a while, but Duckie was falling apart and needed a re-birth. So, I called a friend who is a talented seamstress. Operation Duckie Makeover is a go!
“Behold, I make all things new.”
God doesn’t make all NEW things, He makes ALL things NEW. That’s different.
We are complete and loved and worthy in Him from creation. We are ENOUGH. But when life wears us out or down, when we get tattered against the rough world, he doesn’t throw us out and start over. He gathers all of the stray threads of our frayed life and makes US new. Same love on the inside. Same creation fashioned by the Creator.
New Life.
A fresh perspective. New eyes to see. Arms stronger. Put back together. Better than before.
The core of who we are in Christ never changes, but we can live refurbished and decorated lives. Patched up with grace and sparkling with JOY. A celebrated outside to match the beautiful inside.
New. Radiant. Forever LOVED. Just as we are.
When she saw Duckie’s makeover, she was overwhelmed. With recognition. And with love for an old friend who was made new. She pulled Duckie close to inhale the familiar and to marvel in the new.