When I grew up, words like "you're so creative" "wow, what energy" and "how happy can one girl be?" followed me where ever I went. That's code word for "bless her heart, she'll not match in a Buster Brown outfit" It indeed was a good life. As an adult I realized a few phrases never followed me...."Wow, how good you did that" "Gee, you sure can keep a clean kitchen" or "Love that size 6 look!" I spent years trying to become all things to all people....otherwise known as pleasing. Pleasing is potentially the ugliest thing a girl can do to herself. It, in its worst form, takes away any semblemce of self respect and appreciation and replaces it with "you're never enough" self talk. You measure each thing you do very unfairly against someone who has a gift in that area....in my life it was homekeeping that always defeated me the worst. I can sweep a floor and then mop and it doesn't even look like I tried. I read books, I took lessons...yes lessons! from a kind older cleaning lady....yet there was simply NOT the effect others had on the floor.
Nevermind that God graced me with skills and gifts of my own. It didn't matter to me that I have a gift for working with children, either individually or in large numbers. That organizing and leading large programs for them is a joy to me. That I enjoy and even prefer junior high and senior high youth groups to say....docile adult ones. I simply spent oodles of time judging harshly that I didn't fit in the box of those other "together adults."
Growing into lovely has once again allowed the God breeze to indeed whisper to me that God made me just as I am. That He knew upon creation of my directionally impaired ways, that there would never be a formal dress that didn't have a drip stain under my chin, that in the midst of any family crisis I may indeed get all family members laughing at something mundane I didn't do on purpose. God is God and last time I checked, He made everything for a purpose....even me.
This week I finally became okay with the fact two young ladies can whip my wood floored home in shape in 2 hours flat.....that when I come out of the office they have done more in 120 minutes than I used to in 5 serious hours labor trying to make it look spiffy. What's more, they don't even break a sweat! They are joyful about the gift they bring into my home and share so willingly. It isn't a hard thing for them.
God didn't create us to all be cookie cutter images of each other. We are all given our own seperate gifts and that's the splendor of it. Why in the world would you think a God who created the zebra and the giraffe and the playtpus thinks anything should be the same have the same skills? Nothing in creation is that way....we all have our own roles, tastes, talents, and joys to share......all He asked was for us to take our talents and multiply them for the kingdom.
I am thankful this morning for the life I have, faults and all.....but most of all I am thankful that God indeed made us different....yet loved us all the same!
P.S. It did indeed make my heart happy to see I can stack the silverware in the drawer orderly....for the girls simply put it in the drawer! Wahoo, there IS one thing I can do orderly!
Nevermind that God graced me with skills and gifts of my own. It didn't matter to me that I have a gift for working with children, either individually or in large numbers. That organizing and leading large programs for them is a joy to me. That I enjoy and even prefer junior high and senior high youth groups to say....docile adult ones. I simply spent oodles of time judging harshly that I didn't fit in the box of those other "together adults."
Growing into lovely has once again allowed the God breeze to indeed whisper to me that God made me just as I am. That He knew upon creation of my directionally impaired ways, that there would never be a formal dress that didn't have a drip stain under my chin, that in the midst of any family crisis I may indeed get all family members laughing at something mundane I didn't do on purpose. God is God and last time I checked, He made everything for a purpose....even me.
This week I finally became okay with the fact two young ladies can whip my wood floored home in shape in 2 hours flat.....that when I come out of the office they have done more in 120 minutes than I used to in 5 serious hours labor trying to make it look spiffy. What's more, they don't even break a sweat! They are joyful about the gift they bring into my home and share so willingly. It isn't a hard thing for them.
God didn't create us to all be cookie cutter images of each other. We are all given our own seperate gifts and that's the splendor of it. Why in the world would you think a God who created the zebra and the giraffe and the playtpus thinks anything should be the same have the same skills? Nothing in creation is that way....we all have our own roles, tastes, talents, and joys to share......all He asked was for us to take our talents and multiply them for the kingdom.
I am thankful this morning for the life I have, faults and all.....but most of all I am thankful that God indeed made us different....yet loved us all the same!
P.S. It did indeed make my heart happy to see I can stack the silverware in the drawer orderly....for the girls simply put it in the drawer! Wahoo, there IS one thing I can do orderly!
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