Beautifully and wondrously made – Imperfections and all
Recently while at the National Black Book Festival in Houston, I spent time with my lovely label mate, Cheryl Lacey Donavon. As we both prepared our author tables in a manner that would be aesthetically pleasing in the eyes of the festival attendees, I noticed that Cheryl had copies of “Our Daily Bread” on her table to give to those passing by. When I asked about them she said, “Here, take one. Let’s get some more of the ‘Word’ up in ya!” I smiled, took the small pamphlet and while it did make it home to Austin with me, it only made it to a stand next to my laptop. No further. No pages opened. Not a word read for days. After all, I had only taken it to appease Cheryl and avoid a loving slap upside the back of my head from her. I paid way too much for these braids; I couldn’t risk her making one fall out.
Although I had avoided the back of Cheryl’s hand, God had a way of saying, “I will not be ignored.”
A few days later, while responding to an email about guilty pleasure beauty regimes, I shared with my online girlfriends that I NEED pedicures. I explained that I’m hard on my feet and do not give them the attention they need. Yes, I’ll admit it…Deeva has ugly feet! There, I said it. Now run, tell THAT!
After my online confession, I looked to the side of me and that little pamphlet seemed to be screaming at me. It said, “Didn’t you hear me the first time…I said, “I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!” Scared of a slap upside the head by a hand much larger than Cheryl’s, one that holds the heavens and the earth, I figured I better obey. So I picked that small book up and flipped to the message for the day.
Peacocks and their Kin. That was the message. It started off explaining how beautiful male peacocks are with their blue-green plumage and colored eyes in hues of gold, red and blue. It said that they are beautiful birds, but…they have ugly feet!
Hummm, I guess that puts me in the peacock ‘kin’ category. I know what to say or think when a person steps on my toes…but how do you respond when God does it? Inquiring minds still want to know the answer to that one.
The message went on to say that God often chooses us to accomplish His works and to display His gifts despite our imperfections. All I could do was look to the heavens and smile. Go figure that! I said out loud to myself. Suddenly reality took its turn in slapping me. See most of us, at some time or another, feel; week, unworthy, or limited by one thing or another. We all have our moments when all we see is the ‘ugly’ despite the colorful rainbow that resides within us. But what we really need to focus on is our kinship to the peacock with the ugly feet; we need to recognize that something about us was uniquely and exquisitely made for greatness.
So what if you’re not the prettiest, the strongest or the best. So what if you have crooked teeth, no education, a physical limitation or talk with an accent. So what if you come from the poor side of town, have limited resources, or haters lined up a block long waiting to see you fail. So what if you are like me and have ugly feet.
So what! So what! SO WHAT!
That doesn’t change a thing.
Just like the peacock, you’re beautifully and wondrously made – Imperfections and all! When it comes to your destiny, “One monkey don’t stop no show; even if that monkey is YOU!” Don’t be the last one to know what God has been trying to tell you all along. It takes imperfections in each of us for the perfection to show. So walk proudly into your destiny, and do it with your imperfections in tow.
Take it from me, being hard headed won’t stop a message from getting through, especially when it is destined to be delivered.
Now run, tell THAT!
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