You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple.
He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple.
What’s more, you are his holy priests.
Through the mediation of Jesus Christ,
you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.
1 Peter 2:4-5, NLT

You’re a work in progress.

You’re becoming.

You are more than meets the eye.

God’s a Creator. He is shaping you and refining you, to be more and more like Him every day. He is a builder. God is building you into something better and more wonderful than you can imagine.

Construction is a messy process. There are delays and additional, unexpected expenses. The work God is doing in you is messy too. Sometimes it feels like you’ve fallen behind your schedule. Sometimes the cost of laying aside your old self feels too high.

Thankfully, the building process and the schedule aren’t under our management. We are the object of creation, not the creator of the object. We are meant to rest, as the building process moves forward, according to God’s plan.

This before and after are watercolor pen and ink creations depicting the building process of the wonderful church we loved so much in Arizona—King of Kings, PCA. The building process wasn’t smooth. There were all sorts of problems, but we know that God finished the building right on time, at the precise time He intended to finish. In the same way, God is working in each one of us. His timing is good and the outcome is certain. Knowing this allows us to abide in Him.

Today is the last Lenten Creation of the season, so please stop by the Meet Me in the Middle Project and read the whole story there!

These Before & After pictures come courtesy of my dear friend, Esther. She makes beautiful art—please check out her website. She also makes websites, all sorts of marketing materials, and the occasional school yearbook. She makes many people laugh on FaceBook with funny stories about her kids and she has lots of loyal followers on instagram, where she shares her process and her sketches. Esther and I met at church when I lived in Phoenix, AZ. She has an amazing work ethic, a great attention to detail, and she is just so clever. She’s loyal and honest and very, very kind. Esther is one of my favorite people and I’m thankful to call her my friend.