I=IDENTITY

Sometimes my philosophical side runs rampant and it happened to me today after Sunday School while I was waiting for Ray to return after taking the children back home. I started out by remembering the fact that often the children in Sunday School will call me 'teacher' or 'grandma' or just simply 'Charlotte.' I suppose that thought caused me to think about how each child views who I am, and that morphed into the thought of my own feelings of identity. I remembered the nice man who came to the coffee shop and began sharing with me his feelings of a lost identity since he is no longer in the service of our country. Even though he served many years, he shared that he felt lost and worthless since he does not wear a uniform. I also thought of a friend who had worked for many years in a position of responsibility, and who shared her sudden feeling of a loss of identity when she retired from that position. I thought about several years ago when I carried the identity of a 'missionary,' and the changes that have taken place since those days. I, along with you, have carried many identities throughout the years that have changed with time. The interesting phenomenon about these identity changes is that the true "I" has been unchanging throughout these 50+ years, though the identity changes have brought huge changes in my life. Sometimes it seems like we who are human and share this earth place our value on our identity of the moment (I am an important person...I am not important-I am a nothing). I would love to become a person who realizes that my true value as a person is only in my identity as a Creation and Child of God; and this knowledge would be ultimate in my feelings of my identity and value in any circumstance of my life.

I am a daughter

I am a mother

I am a wife

I am a grandmother

I am a sister

I am an aunt

I am a cousin

I am a friend

I am a coworker

I am a teacher

I am the wife of the caretaker of the mission

I am responsible to make decisions that affect the lives of one dozen ladies

My true value is in my identity as a Creation and a Child of God.

"Then said I, Here am I; send me." ~Isaiah 6:8

The true value of each of these adults and children who come to the mission and who live around it is their value as a Creation and a Child of God. Thank you for your interest in them.

Have a wonderful week, and remember that you are a Creation and a Child of God!