Wednesday, February 20, 2013

No More Make Believe


I may have been a shy little girl on the outside, but inside there was a huge, out-going imagination at work. In the comfortable places of family and friends, I gave my imagination free reign. Some days I was Shirley Temple, singing, dancing, curls bouncing around my face. In the days after we saw "Pollyanna," I acquired a British accent and sang my heart out, after carefully assigning the neighborhood kids the lesser parts. And when someone told my Mom I resembled Annette on the Mickey Mouse Club - well there I was - acting out one "Spin and Marty" adventure after another.

Summer days were filled with adventure - my little sister always willing to follow my lead. Day after day I would step into another character, creating stories that ended only when Mom called us in for the night and beginning again with a new day.  I also loved riding my bike, swinging on swings, swimming in the nearby lake, hiking through the woods behind our sub-division, fishing with my Dad, but creating those adventures - that was the most fun of all.

The trouble is, much of that "pretending" has followed me into my adult life. I am apt to try to fashion myself after someone I deeply admire. Someone who, in my mind, is the kind of person I want to be. When I was a little girl, it was just a game. Now, it is liable to lead to a losing of myself - a discontent with who I am when I'm trying to emulate someone else and fail miserably.

It is all a part of this setting aside the idols in my life and becoming the "me" God created me to be. To finding contentment in who I am and allowing the Father to work in my life according to His wisdom. He knows the plans He has for me, and they are not to make me a carbon copy of someone else no matter how admirable they may be. They are not to give me the gifts He has given someone else or to do the things they are doing. They are to use the gifts He has placed in me to bless others and glorify Him. They are good plans.

Joining Jennifer today:

 

Blessings,
Linda