Mistaken Identity

I have two really great sisters-in-law. They both make me laugh and it has been so much fun being able to spend more time with them in the past six months of life. I have pet names for both of them, although they don’t know it. I call one Ornery and one Feisty! Trust me when I say this is a true analysis of both of their lives.

This Christmas a part of my extended family from my Dad’s side gathered. It was wonderful to see aunts and uncles that I don’t get to visit with often. At this gathering I was able to catch up with one of my cousins that I haven’t seen in years. I met one of his children for the first time and observed what an amazing daddy and husband he is. He also is extremely shy, so to have a conversation with him took some doing. I saw him multiple times sitting quietly with his children playing a game in one corner of the living room. To an extreme introvert, a house brimming with children and loudness can be painful. There was another observation that I made, he seemed to be a little shyer around one sister-in-law, “Feisty”. After everyone left, “Feisty” and I helped clean up and were talking. I asked her about my cousin’s shyness, to which she responded; “Well, I probably know why he is a little skittish around me!” She had that smirk on her face and I pressed her to tell her secret. Our family also does a yearly fishing trip, it was on one such trip Feisty saw my brother, her husband bending over his tackle box. She looked around and saw no one, so she thought she would seize the opportunity to add a little spark to their marriage. She walked up behind him, put her hands on both buns, and gave them a little love squeeze! He stood up and swung around in a hurry…you guessed it…it wasn’t my brother; it was my extremely shy cousin!! All she could get out, as the color drained from her face and returned in multiple shades of red was, “sorry!” He stood there dumbfounded and said nothing! No wonder he acted like a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers!!! I laughed until I cried and have been giggling and chiding my sister-in-law about it now for a month.

Mistaken identity…..how often we make assumptions, only to find out what we convinced ourselves to be true, isn’t true at all! As a woman seeking to follow Christ, this identity thing is big. The question is always, what am I going to believe? Do I believe; what I think, what the world says, what the enemy of my soul whispers or what other’s opinions are? Let’s be honest, this is an issue where the rubber meets the road, and will be the determining factor as to how I will live. Left alone to my own thoughts and influenced by the things listed above, I think of myself as; unaccepted, rejected, insecure, inadequate, not the right size, not good enough, doesn’t have what it takes, and all of that is Mistaken Identity! The struggle is always to shut the door on lies and embrace truth. To know my identity, to embrace and renew my mind to who God says I am.

Literally, FOOD FOR THOUGHT;
I am God’s child John 1:12
I have been justified Romans 5:1
I have been chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, sealed Ephesians 1:1-14
I am complete in Christ Colossians 2:10
I am adequate in Christ 2 Corinthians 3:5-6
I am free of condemnation Romans 8:1-2
I can not be separated from the love of God Romans 8:35-39
I have not been given the spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
I am God’s workmanship Ephesians 2:10
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me Philippians 4:13

Choosing, (and not always with boldness, sometimes with a voice that is more like a mouse squeaking rather than a victorious overcomer!) to shut the door to lies and embrace truth.

Amazing Grace…how sweet the sound!
Love,
Kim