Since I've been working at Joann Fabrics (over a year now!), my creative side has come out. My most recent tutorial following project is this bowl cozy. (Let's be real...I'm not quite creative enough to come up with the idea and figure out how to make it, but I CAN follow an online tutorial like nobody's business). Anyway, back to the bowl cozy. This one was my first attempt and I made mistakes. I didn't cut my batting to the exact same size as my cotton material and it shows. Literally. The batting is poking through at the seams in some places. I posted the above photo on Instagram (and Facebook) with this caption: "Staying home with my snot-filled head and sinusy cough this morning = breakfast and using the "test bowl cozy. Just because it has some flaws doesn't mean it isn't useful." Read that last sentence again. God spoke to me as I was writing that. Just because YOU have some flaws doesn't mean I can't use YOU. Intellectually, I KNOW this. Deep down inside, where most people don't get to see, I question it. God has a history of using flawed people, though. (Yes, we're all flawed, but bear with me...) He used Joseph to save the Israelites after his brothers sold him. You may be saying, "Wait. That's on his brothers." While, yes, it is, Joseph wasn't completely innocent. He didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. He blabbed to his brothers about the dream he had and they hated him more. Not once, but twice did he share his dreams. Or what about Moses? He had the opposite problem. He didn't want to talk. Yet, God used him to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Take David. Yes, that David. The king. He committed adultery and had the husband of the women he slept with killed. His accomplishments? He is called a man after God's own heart. That's high, high praise. He didn't live in his sin. When it was brought to light, he knew he was wrong. He asked, begged God for forgiveness. And God forgave him. And used him to grow the Jewish empire. Or take Paul. Before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he hunted Christians down and persecuted them. He is now known as the greatest missionary who ever lived. Me? Yes, I have flaws. Sometimes I talk too much. Sometimes I don't talk enough. HE CAN STILL USE ME. He can use YOU, too. Decide not to live in self-doubt. Trust God. Allow him to use you...flaws and all.
