Our first Christmas as a married couple, I knitted Colby and I stockings. We were living in Alaska, I didn’t have a job, and I needed some sort of goal to keep me busy. So, Christmas stockings it was.

A true knitter would look at these stockings and laugh, but I am still very proud of them despite the holes and large technical errors even an untrained eye can spot. They are tiny and can not hold very much physically, but these little stockings house a plethora of memories and triumphs from a season of growth.

Of course, when I was pregnant with my first daughter, who was due in December, I had to knit a stocking for her. And in keeping with tradition, I am currently knitting a stocking for my second daughter as well.

Now, you might be thinking “wow a fourth stocking? This woman must be a pro knitter about to be sponsored by the yarn aisle in Hobby Lobby”, but you would be wrong. For one, there has been four years since I first made Colby and I’s stockings and the one I am currently working on. Fours years of not honing in on my knitting skills. For two, knitting can be hard. Yes, when you make a scarf or pot holders, it is pretty straight forward, but something that requires shaping like a stocking uses more brain power and strategy than the average person realizes.

So, while this is the fourth stocking I have made in my knitting career, it still takes me just as long and probably has the same number of errors as the very first one I knitted. Knitting can get very technical. You have to pay attention to so many minute details to get the exact shape you want. I always forget how unforgiving this activity can be until I am racing the clock to knit a Christmas stocking.

When I read Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb”, I am reminded of the great attention to detail God had when creating me. This verse reveals the intricate workings of our father and the time He took to form each one of us. God isn’t up in Heaven knitting scarfs and potholders, no, He is knitting the most technical piece one could think of. Every stitch is a part of our lives that he carefully planned out.

When I am knitting these stockings, I think about the joy they will bring one day when my daughters can understand that I made them special for each child. I think about the parts that are difficult to do and how I need to slow down to make sure I really get it right.

Isn’t that how God is with us? He is delicately shaping our minds, bodies, and hearts with the joyful knowledge of what we can do for His kingdom one day. And God is taking His time with us. He slows down, and unlike my knitting masterpieces, there are no errors in His creations.

At times, it can feel like He might have missed a stitch with you, but read Psalm 139. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. There are no mistakes. If God worked that hard on you in your mother’s womb, can you imagine the technical skill He is using now? Everyday we are being shaped by Him.

Verse 16 says that our days were “ordained … before one of them came to be.” God has seen every day of our lives before we are even born. Even our worst days. The days that feel like He made a mistake in us. But, He also saw the days of redemption. The days we realize we are exactly who God made us to be. There are no mistakes and there is no regret in the work He put into knitting you together.

One day my children will (hopefully) appreciate the time I spent carefully crafting a stocking just for them. It is time for us to appreciate the time God spent on us. Live your life as the masterpiece you were created to be, and thank God every day for the work He put into creating you, stitch by stitch.