Freckles

A few months ago, I happened upon Reilly in my bathroom.  She was scrubbing her face with a great deal of concentration.  She appeared extremely frustrated and on the verge of tears.

"Reilly," I interrupted gently, "what are you doing?"

"I just can't get these dots off my face!" she bemoaned.

I looked at her for a few moments, a little take aback.

"Do you mean your freckles?"  I asked.

She nodded glumly as a single tear slowly ran down her cheek.

I took her into my arms and told her how much I loved her freckles.  How they made her so very special and beautiful.

She was not convinced.  In her mind, these markings were flaws, imperfections that she wanted to rid herself of as quickly as possible.

My heart broke for her.  I wanted nothing more than to show her how lovely she was through my eyes.  To teach her that often in life it is our unique differences that add beauty and depth to the world.

It was a lesson I needed myself.

I've done a lot of thinking about the different paths our lives can take.  No two journeys are the same.  Often we may find ourselves in places we never wanted to be.  It may be through our own weakness, or perhaps through no fault of our own-- but we assess our seemingly unappealing situation and cry out in frustration and despair.  I have done this in my own life again and again.

But as I watched my beautiful daughter look at herself with regret, I had a bit of a paradigm shift.

Perhaps all the bumpy roads and lonely avenues I walked in my past were not something to furiously scratch out of existence.  Certainly I have had regrets, and there are mistakes I have made that I would not repeat again in a million years if the opportunity presented itself.  But the simple fact of the matter is that those choices have been made.  And while the cleansing power of the Atonement makes us whole, and our sins are forgiven and forgotten of God, the power to choose differently is not an option.  We cannot go back and erase our past.  The consequences of our actions remain.

However, I've discovered that as we learn from mistakes made, Christ can turn even our most glaring weaknesses into something beautiful.

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul taught that "all things work together for good to them that love God."  (Romans 8:28)

Also in the Book of Mormon, the Lord explained through the prophet Ether that "my grace is sufficient for all men that humbleth themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."  (Ether 12:27)

If we can take our mistakes and bring them to the altar of the Lord, He can transform them into something remarkable.  Our life experiences-- even the not-so-great ones-- can bring a deeper understanding and depth to our lives.  We move forward with greater empathy for others, a deepened humility, and unshakeable conviction of our absolute dependence on our Savior.  The sins are washed away, but the wisdom we acquired will never disappear.  The freckles that we may wish to scrub away have actually become a thing of beauty.

So perhaps when we look back on past regrets with dismay over choices made, we should instead remember how the Lord looks on us after all has been repented of and forgiven.

He wipes away the tears and whispers of our infinite worth.
He longs to show us how we look through his eyes.

Beautiful, unique children of God. 
Freckles and all.