by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea

“You know what it is, right?” It was years ago when my son handed me his drawing and asked me that question. And may I say, I handled it like a real pro. Actually no. I may not say that. Because I froze. Froze like a total mom-sicle.

I couldn’t lie. But what kind of mom-monster crushes her little boy’s artist heart? Got. To. Figure. Out. What. This. Is.

Nervous smile. Then, “Um, heh heh, well that part is definitely a Christmas tree.” That much had to be right. I knew I’d have to wildly guess at the big splotch though.

He deadpanned, “That’s pizza. It’s a picture of me eating pizza.”

Of course it was? But if a picture is worth a thousand words, about 1,900 of the words might’ve been missing. Also, if it’s true that life imitates art, I wonder if I should still like pizza. Or Christmas trees.

Just kidding. I love pizza. I love Christmas trees. And I love that son of mine so much more than any or all of that. His all-over-the-map art was every kind of beautiful to me—whether I knew where we were on the map or not.

I try to remind myself of that moment often. Especially when my life feels a little all-over-the-map. I design and plan my faith journey to look one way. And then look over to find my pizza is such a Christmas tree.

Your growth journey in Jesus might not look like the masterpiece you imagined. Maybe it looks rather upsey-downsey, jiggeldy-jaggeldy, pepperoni-and-tinsel. But sometimes, that’s art. Your growth is beautiful. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be a masterpiece. And you don’t have to be perfect to be God’s masterpiece.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do” (CSB). I love how the Amplified version expounds on His workmanship. “His own master work, a work of art.” Beautiful!

Even when our journey is not what we expected, not only does He still treasure us as His work of art, but He still has a grand plan for us as well. There are times a wayward wiggly line or a splotchy blot will become part of your story. But even the wiggles and splotches become spectacular when painted in the color of God’s grace. As a matter of fact, He can use a grace-covered smudge to shape us into better workers, servants, worshipers. Color us fulfilled!

Isn’t it wonderous to love and serve a God who sees your mess-ups, but includes you in a beautiful plan anyway? According to Ephesians 2:10, it’s a plan for special works He has in mind just for you. It’s good to remember you can trust Him to make even the upsey-est-downsey-est journey fruitful, meaningful—beautiful.

The beauty grows and glows as we draw near to Him, stay close to Him—lean in and listen to Him. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8 CSB).

There’s a striking loveliness in the truth that as we draw near, there’s always a nearer. As we lean in to listen, there’s yet more to hear. Oh, the glorious art of growing—drawing nearer to our God.

Rhonda Rhea is an award-winning humor columnist for great magazines such as HomeLife, Leading Hearts, The Pathway, and many more. She is the author of 19 books, including the popular romantic comedies co-authored with her daughter Kaley Rhea, Off-Script & Over-Caffeinated and Turtles in the Road. Rhonda and Kaley have also teamed up with Bridges TV host Monica Schmelter for the Messy to Meaningful books and TV projects. Along with Beth Duewel, Rhonda writes the Fix Her Upper series, and she also co-authored Unruffled: Thriving in Chaos with Edie Melson. She speaks at conferences and events from coast to coast, serves on many boards and committees, and stays busy as a publishing consultant. Rhonda says you can find her living near St. Louis drinking too much coffee and snort-laughing with her pastor/husband, five grown children, and a growing collection of the most exceptional grandbabies.