These are a Few of My Favorite Things

I was once compared to Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. I loved it! To some people that comparison would be an insult. However, my mother raised me, so to speak, on The Sound of Music. If I complained of being bored and having no one to play with, my mother knew of six children that would entertain me and in would go the VHS. Of course in my teen years I hated the thought of this movie, but that was probably just a rebellion against my mom at the time. (Simple and stupid rebellion, but rebellion none the less. I did have some hateful rebellious moments, but that's another story.)

Now to some people, looking at me and knowing me, that analogy would be a stretch, but I think at the core of who I am I am a Maria Von Trapp. I enjoy nature and the simple things in life. I love songs and stories. I long for adventure and hope to be someone who rises to the occasion. I think a lot of us at our hearts are just like that. However, the daring in my heart does not always surface to be the daring in my life. I have had occasion where I have pushed past my fear and stormed in the face of the enemy and known just what was coming my way and that I would take it as it came. My first instinct is to say that this was not me but instead it was God, but the truth of the matter is God has put that in each and every one of us. It would be a disservice to Him and His design to say, I am a weakling and I can do nothing. NO! I can do anything, because He fashioned me in His likeness and He created me with a purpose. Whether or not I choose to tap into this nature that He has created is up to me, and when I do choose to tap into it He promises to come up right along side of me and to see me through! Yes "I am weak and He is strong" but that weakness is from the Fall; it is not what God intended. He  made us in his image with the purpose of fellowship with Him. He made us to look like Him; he gave us purpose - to have dominion in the earth. That is not the task of a weakling, but the task of the Sons and Daughters of God!

So often in the struggles of life and in the chaos of society we forget what makes us tick. We forget those things that God has created in us that make us who we are. We are not all  meant to have the same personality, to enjoy doing the same things, to have the same purpose. We are unique. God is a creative God, He wouldn't be much of a God if He had created the same person over and over from the beginning until now. God created us for fellowship with Him and with each other because we all have something different to bring to the table. (1 Corinthians 12:12, Romans 12:4-5, Ephesians 4:16). Most of the time we forget that we are meant to be different and we STRIVE to be like someone else, whether in the church or in society, because we think that's what is expected of us. We forget who we are, what we like, what motivates us, what brings us to compassion, what makes us tick. Those little things in our hearts that bring us joy are the brushstrokes to the paintings of our lives. They indicate what we are meant to do and what our life is meant to be.

Today remember who you are. Remember those little things that make you tick, that make you do a little happy dance in your head. God loves those things about us and I suspect that He does a little happy dance for us when we get to enjoy them. Don't pass up the small things and overwhelm yourself in the "big" things that essentially end up being totally unimportant. God created you to be unique and when we go to Him He wants to see us, not the person that we are mimicking!

And if you think I'm a nerd for being Maria Von Trapp, then that's exactly what I am and God loves me for it! So :P