As a 7-year-old girl, trying to impress my daddy who was in the medical field, I would say, “I want to be a doctor when I grow up.”
But when I was in the safety and comfort of my mother’s presence, the truth would come out. “I want to be a mom like you,” I would confess.
A lot of thought goes into what we want to be when we grow up, doesn’t it? But what about this: do we think about WHO we want to be?
If I’m looking for God everywhere, can I find Him in this every day, ordinary conversation we have with our kids and with ourselves? Yes!
As a Christian life coach, I know and see every day that our tender Abba cares more about WHO we are than WHAT we are!
Think about how important this is! We get to choose who we want to be, not just what we want to be!
I remember having a temper tantrum in the car one day, driving with my precious 3-year-old strapped into her seat behind me. I was yelling and seething and having quite an angry conversation with no one. Looking in the rear-view mirror, I saw the big blue eyes looking sadly out the window. I thought, “Oh God. I’m doing it to her. What my dad used to do.”
My dad crashed angrily and loudly through his life, wiping his anger on us with his words as he went. And we had no choice. We had to sit and take it. We were the depository for his despair.
In that moment, my gentle Abba Father had my attention! He was telling me: choose who you want to be, Bridget.
Did I want to be the person who causes dread and fear to spring up around people as I approach? Or did I want to be the very picture God created me to be- the image of Him? Full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
I get to choose. This was a radical new concept for me.
Yes! I get to choose. You get to choose! This is the freedom Jesus bought for us on the cross!
Anne Graham Lotz said the greatest gift we can give our children is our own healing. Did I want to let the Lord heal me? Yes, but how?
The Lord accomplishes what concerns me. (Psalm 138:8) This I learned. I didn’t need to know how to heal myself. I just needed to know Who would heal me.
I can remember seeing my dad walking from his car to the front door at the end of the day and I would be filled with dread and fear. Living in the stress of another person’s agony leaves a scar. It’s said that the pain you won’t allow to be transformed will be transmitted. It’s my experience that the pain you won’t allow to me transformed will be transferred. My father’s pain was transferred to me. I rolled up my own pain with his like a tight burrito and was in the process of transferring it to my children.
Is this who I wanted to be? No. NO! “I want the transformation. Lord! I don’t want to pass on pain and sorrow to another generation!”
The chains of that anger fell off me as the Lord loved me into wholeness and taught me to do the same. To love the people He’s given me into wholeness.
He transformed me to become what I longed for. What did I long for? Hope. Joy. Peace. Love.
Remarkable. Amazing! He gave me the desires of my heart and equipped me to give that to all those around me.
Proverbs 31 says, “…she gives out revelation-truth and feeds others. She is like a trading ship bringing divine supplies from the merchant.”
Getting to know my Abba Father has given me all I longed for with the bonus of getting to give it to others. Impacting generations, the way He intends!
What about you? Who do you want to be? Doesn’t this question deserve thought? Isn’t it one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves?
Your Daddy God is so ready to teach you all you need to know about Who He is so you can know who you are. If you feel like you could use a little help discovering this, please visit BridgetAndersonCoach.com. I’m a certified Christian Life Coach and it’s my mission to help women find the freedom and fullness God has for them.
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