He’s just a dog. A plain one. We adopted Cooper from a rescue organization last winter, and now he has claimed a place on our couch and in our hearts.

He’s just a brown dog with a black muzzle – nothing fancy; not carefully bred. Nothing much to look at, until he’s lying next to you and the sun shines through the window just so.

I glance at him there on the couch beside me, then look again, running my fingers over his short coat. I realize that, instead of being plain brown, his fur is shining gold, different shades of brown and yellow artfully arranged with some black sprinkled in. Suddenly I discover that Cooper isn’t plain at all. Instead, he is wearing a coat of many colors. Did God gift it to him, like biblical Joseph? Could it be that Cooper’s creator took delight in giving even the most common of creatures his own beauty?

From the billions of galaxies being revealed by the newest telescope to the impossibly intricate processes taking place deep inside each cell, we are partakers in breathtaking displays of God’s creative genius in our everyday ordinary.

And yet, somehow, we are tempted to feel forgettable. Common. Even accidental. We forget that we are the pinnacle of creation, carrying the very breath of God in our lungs, tasked with partnering in the stunning works of creation unfolding around us.

I gaze into Cooper’s brown eyes, now noticing they are artfully ringed in black – the work of a make-up artist blinking back at me. And I remember how I cringed at my reflection this morning, focusing on the results of my accumulating years instead of appreciating the privilege of living them. Why do I notice miracles around me and yet miss the ones within? My outward beauty may be fading, but my spirit is becoming richer.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 4:16

He’s just a plain brown dog. And I’m just a woman on the downslope of years. But even an ordinary dog displays the creative glory of God, as does an aging woman – if we just take a moment to look.

How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24