Do you ever spend lots of time preparing to get your driver’s license picture taken? It is one of the most crucial pictures you are going to take every couple of years, so you might want to look good for it. And no matter how hard you try to look good for it, when that little plastic card gets delivered to you – you hate the picture. Well, sometimes you might like it, but I doubt it would be one you would frame.
This morning, I took my younger son with me to our local elementary school to vote on Super Tuesday. And as I was scrambling around uncaffienated looking for my vote registration card, I found out that I only needed photo id. Well, that was it – and we hopped in the car to do our civic duty.
That photo ID tells a lot about you: eye color, DOB, full name, address, DL number, weight (ooh, that’s a tricky one), if you want to donate your organs when you die, etc. But, there is so much that the photo ID can’t tell about you – and that’s more of what this blog post is about.
When I meet new women one of the questions I like to ask is who are you? Or what do you like to do. There really is no right or wrong answer, but I think the answer that women give says a lot about where their identification lies.
I’m _______’s wife. I’m ____ & ______’s mom. I’m a writer. I’m a photographer. I’m a creative. I’m an executive. Or…I run. I do yoga. I love to cook.
These are all good and accurate responses. But, our identity doesn’t come from these temporal things. Yes, I’m Eric’s wife. I am E and S’s mom. I’m a writer, a creative, a photographer, I love to bake cupcakes. I try to be healthy. I love NCIS. I cherish sweet friendships and it hurts me to no end when relationships are strained for one reason or another.
I wasn’t married until I was 34 which is REALLY late in my Christian circles. So, I remember having to answer the “do you have a boyfriend, are you dating, when you getting married” questions for so long. But, I think even a bigger danger than singles finding their worth or identity in their jobs or relationship status, is wives and moms finding their worth or identity in their husbands or kids or the state of their home.
I started reading Brennan Manning in college, and really love his spiritual writing and how he interprets the Christian life. Here is one of his quotes on finding our identity solely in Christ:
“Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.”
As my husband graciously reminded me this weekend – I am in the Beloved. It comes from Ephesians 1. We are in Christ. We stand in Him. He can’t let us go. No matter what your inner voice says to you, or friends say to you, or strangers say to you – no condemnation belongs in those who stand in Christ.
So, the next time someone asks you for your photo ID, you can think to yourself as you hand the person an outdated, no makeup, bad hair day, out of focus picture on a little card, I am HIS!