What follows is something I shared back in 2017, and wasn’t originally a response to this prompt, at least I don’t think it was. At first, I was going to title this response “Beautifully Broken” and share a poem that I’d written last February but I quickly changed my mind when I saw this old entry. While it was a distance down memory lane, I believe that it still carries some deep truths.

I know that we all, at some point, ask ourselves the question, “Who am I?”  The easy answer would be to look at the past and add up all that we have done to date.  I am sure that  if I were wealthy with a following of friends that adored me, I might feel quite accomplished.  I suppose it would be easier to justify mistakes and costly losses, reassuring myself that it has made me who I am so it was worth it.  How much money would it take for me to be OK with that last comment?  How many friends would it take for me to not feel regret over any hurts that I have caused due to my selfish mistakes in life?  I am not saying that I want to walk through my life in misery over my past failures, but they are there all the same, always floating in the shadows, seeking to pull me down into the depths of despair.  Being a human with faults and imperfections embedded in my nature is quite daunting, and yet God sees me as a precious treasure…go figure.  Rather than dropping a rock on my head, He lifts me up, and always seeks to reassure and encourage me with His grace and mercy.  It seems that my brokenness and failures are where God teaches me the most about who I am.  He does not seek me and love me because I am so good, but rather, because I recognize that I cannot do anything without Him.  I am not expressing my feelings to teach some big lesson, nor am I judging anyone else who may have an easier life than mine; I am simply sharing my heart in regards to my relationship with Christ.  I am on a journey of self discovery and what I have found is that Who I am is Christ in me.  I have accepted that I cannot do anything without Him.  I have spent nearly 50 years trying to do it on my own strength and have left a path of mistakes and regrets that I will carry to my grave.  But the difference now is that I do not carry them alone, but with the strength, forgiveness and love of my Heavenly Father, who walks before me, behind me, beside me and often carrying me.  Who am I? I am Redeemed, Reborn, Renewed, Forgiven, Cherished, and a Child of the Risen King!

While my favorite thing about myself is belonging to one much greater than I… my cookie baking skills are rather impressive (virtually speaking, of course), wouldn’t you say?

You do seem to come back for more, so at least they aren’t terrible. I’ll admit they might sometimes come with hair, feathers, or a bit of fuzz off the floor, but still.

Truth be told, I think that’s where the magic comes from…