I was the new kid in third grade at Woodlawn Elementary in Sebring, Florida, 1962. As an only child, I always felt alone, now even more so. The teacher said I was identified as “special” and would be “pulled-out” of my regular class once a week to go to a “special” class under the stage in the cafetorium to research anything that was interesting to me. “Special,” it fit, it felt good, I had been chosen, selected for something special, just like when I had been adopted, chosen, wanted, loved. Walking down the steps into the slightly darker, musky-smelling room under the stage, I picked up a book on photography. Turning the pages slowly, in awe at the wonder of this new world, suddenly there it was, the “Milk Drop Coronet” photograph by Harold Edgerton, an unseen world of objects in motion, capturing that which is ordinarily invisible to the human eye...yet it was real.
“Pretend you are “little Beth” and describe what it’s like to be you.” It was November 23, 2007, the counselor was helping me learn that “feelings are neutral” and how to let my feelings come to the surface, writing in my journal about how special “little Beth” felt in that room under the stage. Just a few weeks later, December 21, 2007, my family and I are visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. We walk through the central aisle, looking ahead, then suddenly, I turn my head to the right and from the corner of my eye, catch a glimpse of a photograph displayed in a darkened alcove. At first, I keep moving straight ahead, but something stopped me in my tracks and turned me around to go back and take a closer look. Back to the darkened alcove, back to the darkened room below the stage, back to my childhood. It was the memory which had just come to the surface in my counseling, the “Milk Drop Coronet” photograph by Harold Edgerton, framed and lighted, and on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was the same photograph I had only seen once before, and yet I had drawn a sketch of it in my journal just a month before this.
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I took out my cell phone and snapped a picture of this “Milk Drop Coronet,” and even now it is what I see every time I pick up my cell phone, saved as the background on my phone. The symbolism was unmistakable to me, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been with me all along—when I was knit together in my birthmother’s womb, when I was chosen, adopted, by loving Christian parents, when I walked down those steps and first saw the “Milk Drop Coronet” in 1962, when I turned to look at the darkened alcove to snap a picture of the “Milk Drop Coronet” in 2007, today and everyday into the future. He is with me, He is intimately involved in the tiniest details of my past, my present, and my future. Trusting God means looking beyond what we can see to what God sees. A wider view, a broader perspective, a new day, a new way of looking at things, of allowing all the feelings to surface.
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Because of Christ, I am not alone, He is with me, invisible to the human eye, yet “quicker than a wink,” in the blink of an eye, what was unseen is seen, in that other realm, that other dimension, just beyond the veil, visible in the heavenlies. He sees me, He knows me, He knew me, before He knit me together in my birthmother’s womb, I was planned, I am eternally significant. He knew that before I saw the photograph of the "Milk Drop Coronet" for the first time in 1962 that it would come to the surface with feeling in November 2007 and I would turn aside to take a closer look in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in December 2007…I am known, I was planned, I am significant, I have hope for the future.
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From Ephesians Chapter One, I know and believe that in Christ, I am blessed with every spiritual blessing, accepted in the beloved Son of God, adopted as a child of the King, chosen before the foundation of the world, redeemed by His blood, forgiven by His grace and mercy, and loved with an everlasting love. In Christ, we are known, we are planned, and we have hope for the future...
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Lord Jesus, Thank You for this encouraging Truth from Your Word, that in Christ, we are who You say we are. Thank You for the free gift of salvation, that we are justified on the basis of Your finished work on the Cross. Thank You that, right now, we are under the completely sufficient imputed righteousness of Christ. Because we have placed our trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, we are redeemed by Your precious blood. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. Knowing that God’s love for us and approval of us will never be determined by our performance is the most encouraging promise to which we cling—what great things You have done! We love You, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
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Look Up—meditate on Ephesians Chapter 1 …pray to see what it reveals about the character of God.
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Look In—as you meditate on Ephesians Chapter 1 …pray to see how you might apply it to your life. Be propelled to ask galvanizing questions about your discoveries: "Because God is_________, I will_____________."
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Look Out—as you meditate on Ephesians Chapter 1…pray to see how you might apply it to your relationships with others. Let the nature of God impact on every relationship, for your good, and for His glory.
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A dear friend, Janice Cruce, shared this comment about this post:
“What a blessing you are, Beth!” This was my heartfelt response to Janice Cruce: “You have been such an encourager in my life, both when I was a teenager at FBC Lakeland and when we lived in Tallahassee. It was such a divine appointment when I learned that you and Billy were serving at Thomasville Road Baptist Church. A full-circle gift from the Lord. I'll never forget being in the waiting room at the hospital in 1989 while my dear Daddy was having surgery, and having the phone ring on the table beside me. I picked it up, and it was Billy, asking if he could pray with me. I'll never forget the words he began his prayer with, because now, when I pray with people, I hear his voice in the words I pray also..."Lord Jesus, we ask that You wrap Your Loving Arms around Beth right now..." You were both God's gift to me in so many ways. I love you!”
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