We have been in school for several weeks now. To say we have gotten into the groove would be a stretch. However, we are thankful for our schools and the teachers each of the kids have been given. So far it has been a good year. It has been especially fun seeing all the new skills our little kindergartener has been learning. She can hardly wait to do homework each night. This has been a dream for her and she will probably ask for extra. While each child is different in their approach to school, she is one who belongs in the classroom. Bring on the worksheets, textbooks and tests. She will have her No. 2 pencils lined up and sharpened.

One of the booklets she brought home had a title on it that caught my eye. It said, “Who Am I?” She had written her name above the title. While the book was not about her, it is a question she will have to answer. It also reminded me of the movie I just saw called, Overcomer. That was a question asked and one that some of the characters had a hard time answering. Who you are is not the same thing as what job you do, what your marital status is, economic status or what your class rank happens to be. Who you are has so much more to it. It was bought with a price by our Creator and it defines who I am.

At one point if I had been asked the question, my answer would have been a pretty surface one. Those days are long gone and my identity is secure in who God says I am in His Word. Anything else is shakable, changeable and unreliable. If we based our identity on say our wealth and then one day it was gone, who would you be? If you had worked for one company for 20 years in a certain position and then one day you were let go, who would you be? If your church that you were a huge part of suddenly split, who would you be? If your identity came from your outward appearance and then this whole aging thing sets in and this image is not sustainable, who would you be?

This identity thing is a big topic right now in our country. So much confusion and it is heartbreaking. Why is gender such an issue? You were made one or the other. Your birth certificate can clear it up if one starts to question. Beyond that takes a bit more digging. If you grew up in a Bible based church, you have heard plenty of stories about Jesus and have heard about His love for you. Just look at the cross. There is a good starting point. You are loved. Let that one sink in. It might take awhile. Because of our sin, the cross was necessary to pay what we owed to purchase our forgiveness. Jesus did that for each person, no matter how long or little they lived. You are forgiven. All you have to do is believe, confess and receive. Not hard, very simple in fact because children do it all the time.

My prayer for our family and you today comes from a wonderful teaching I heard while in pickup line. “I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19) When you can say this is true of you, your identity will no longer be in question.