For We Are His Workmanship His Masterpiece

"For we are His workmanship [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

On January 1st, a student walked into the open doorway of my office and asked if she could “hang out.” My office is more like a conference room; it's huge.

I had plenty of other things to do, and none of them required complete privacy, so I said, “sure.” My door is always open.

The student sat on the couch across the way and began working on an art project she had to do for a group. The office was quiet except for the sounds of my typing and the crackling of the fireplace.

"and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:19

A couple of minutes later, another student showed up at the door and asked if she could hang out in the office too.

I asked the young lady that was already in the office if she was okay with it, and she was fine, as long as it didn’t change the quietness of the space.

I continued my work. The two didn’t talk or interact much during the next twenty minutes. The room remained calm and peaceful.

Soft music, crackling fire, and tapping fingers on the keyboard of my laptop.

By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." 1 John 5:2

I heard one of the students moving around behind me and turned to see what was going on. The girl who came in first had stood up and was moving toward the fireplace to get warmer.

I kept an eye on her to ensure she was safe since I didn’t know her well yet.

She stopped a few feet away and was warming herself.

Her attention was captured by a piece of wood I had taken out of the fire earlier.

Sometimes the fireplace is finicky, and I had to start it over that morning. I had placed one log that was mostly burnt but not burning on the tile floor near the fireplace.

At the time, I figured I would put it in the fire later when the fire was hot enough to finish burning it.

Like any good teenager, she couldn’t help herself. She touched it.

I said, “You may not want to do that. Look at your hands.”

She looked down and saw that her hands were covered in black char from the burnt wood.

All of a sudden, an idea hit me.

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." Romans 8:14

I thought to myself, “I don’t need to stop her. It’s messy, but it’s safe.”

I stood up and grabbed a piece of printer paper. I handed it to her and said, “Make something with it.”

She sat on the floor and started creating.

An hour passed, and she had hardly looked up. I began taking photos of her creation because it was so fascinating. The images above are what I saw…

Created by one ridiculously talented student and captured by one lucky person who knows her, Jeremiah Guidos.

~ Give a kid a burnt piece of wood and see what happens. ~