“Body and soul, I am marvelously made!” (Psalm 139:14)

The human body that God created is a phenomenal work of art and science, comprised of numerous systems working together in concert. Among them are the digestive, musculoskeletal, nervous, respiratory and circulatory systems.  The central component of the circulatory system is the heart. The human heart beats more than 3.5 billion times in an average lifetime but this miraculous organ is formed long before birth. The human embryonic heart begins beating approximately 21 days after conception.

A recent article by Jennifer Kahn says “long before we feel a thumping beat in our chest, there is a moment when our heart first begins to take shape. At that point, it’s hardly fair to call it a heart – it’s just s spec-sized clump of cells without a pulse. But like a house being raised brick by brick, that clump, infused with cardiac stem cells – protean cells that are able to take the form of any heart tissue – expands into an elaborate structure. Some cells become muscle, aligning into four separate chambers. Others become valves and arteries, weaving intricately through muscle walls.  With architectural precision, every kind of cell falls neatly into place”.

King David penned Psalm 139 centuries before Ms. Kahn wrote her article, but the fact remains that we are marvelously made. Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of that fact because we are bombarded with so many advertisements and commercials designed to sell products. In order to do so they have to convince us that were are lacking or deficient in some area.

Women’s magazines are filled with advertisements for products that promise to erase wrinkles, even skin tone, defy gravity, whiten teeth, make us thinner, firm our skin’s structure, or ignite our natural glow. Weight loss products are sold by svelte spokes models that are really only 15 years old and never had a weight problem in the first place. Hair care products are peddled by models with gorgeous, glossy bouncin’ & behavin’ hair – never mind the fact that they are wearing wigs or hair extensions. Give me a break!

Recently I saw a TV commercial selling a product that promised to grow lashes. It is a treatment for inadequate eyelashes. Inadequate eyelashes?  Who sets the standard for “adequate lashes”? Who are these lash police anyway? Worse still are the possible side effects that can include eyelid discoloration or brown iris pigmentation.  Talk about risk… Honey, if I feel “inadequate” in the eyelash department, I’ll just buy some!

Some articles have lovely pictures of women and suggest that, “This is what 30, 40, 50 or 60 should look like”. Who says? I’ve decided that I am what I should look like. I am God’s one-of-a-kind masterpiece and I am marvelously made.

Other articles recommend that you should reinvent yourself. I think I’ll pass on that one too.  I didn’t invent myself in the first place, God did. And I am marvelously made – and so are you!