Dear Speck, calm down!

What would you consider your greatest achievement to date? What is the precious gold medal you proudly (and rightfully so) display around your neck? What is the source of your swag?

For example, being a great mother and homemaker is an excellent and worthy achievement. It takes a special type of person to repeatedly wake up on demand to the squeals of a tiny human without a paying audience.

Truth is, whoever you are, just by the virtue of being alive, YOU are AMAZING…no quibbling with that.

You might have some serious skills with a skillet and can make magic food appear from sprinkling a few ingredients together. I salute you AND the million others pulling off such culinary feats in their kitchen. Or maybe when you write a blog post or status update, it’s dripping with wisdom comparable to that of Solomon. Your ability to beautifully and delicately convey your thoughts through the straitjacket of 140 characters is truly worthy of 1,000 likes and more. But if you’re sincere, you’ll be the first to admit that you’re not the only wordsmith pecking away on their smartphones right now.

I write this post wonderfully aware that there are around 3.8billion smartphone users around the world.

3.8billion…that’s a lot of bloggers, ‘tweeters,’ ‘Instagrammers,’ etc.

I am an amazing speck in the grand scheme of things.

Unvarnished truth

However, true humility is not self deprecation; humility is me understanding that although I am relatively insignificant in the grand scheme, I can still do my best to fit into the part of the puzzle assigned to me. In fact, it would be irresponsible for me not to because, then the puzzle will not be complete.

Painfully aware of his mortality, short comings and limitations, David still emphatically declares in Psalm 139:14; “I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” Dear Speck, God is your biggest cheer leader. You may be a Speck, but a gloriously complex and unique one at that. You are worthy.

Here’s the kicker – the same God who fronts and celebrates all that you have to offer also reminds you that you cannot base your boasting on these things. These things are literally shaky grounds.

Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise and skillful person glory and boast in his wisdom and skill…let not the person who is rich…glory and boast in his [temporal…] riches but let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically…]

God, Jeremiah 9:23,24(AMPC)

Enter Corona…

I don’t know about you, but my anchor in this season has not been my job or amazing cooking/mothering skills (in fact, the latter two officially entered survival mode since week two of #lockdown). I’ve been held up by just knowing that even in this chaotic time, the world is NOT spinning out of God’s control. I have had to literally tether myself to the belief that God is good and able to weave wonders out of this painful puzzle.

So, if like me, you’ve been anxious that you’re letting your children down with your patchy homeschooling or you fear that your children might come out of quarantine with brittle bones because of the battle with pizza (which you’re currently losing 🙂 ), I’ve got a word for you dear Speck – calm down.

Yes, do your best to best to steady your ship and remain assertive at the helm of your life; as long as you remember that your worth is not intrinsically tied to your navigation skills but the fact that you have a Maker who values you even on the day when the weather is stormy and you’re just sick and tired of steering and trying to stay afloat!

So, do fully enjoy on the days when you can flip a pancake whilst feeding a baby in an armchair and vacuuming the floor with one hand tied behind you, but please don’t let it become the basis of your boasting. Look around you, there are literally millions of Specks running the race, brightening up their little corner and they are just as worthy.

Consider this: maybe these unscripted times is an opportunity to reflect on and embrace your glorious ‘Speckness.’