identity
Hey friends!!
Happy Monday - wanted to share a quick story before we jump into my thoughts about identity.
This morning, my roommate & I went for run. Before we left, we said goodbye to our other two roommates as they were headed out for work while we would be gone. We had 40 minutes to run 4 or 5 miles. I had an appointment, and my roommate had a work meeting, so we were maximizing our time to run & connect after a busy weekend. When we got home, we realized all the doors were locked, & neither of us had keys, wallets, or anything. We ran next door to the neighbor, who has kindly helped us break into our house before. (Unfortunately one or the other of us lock ourselves out rather frequently.) He tried all his normal tricks, and then remembered we recently had our locks fixed to be more secure. Maybe this is a good things for actual breakins, but it meant our usual trick of sliding a credit card in between the locking feature no longer worked. Our very kind (and slightly quirky) neighbor threw me his keys & said, I know you have a time crunch, go grab a house key from a roommate. So, I hopped in his car & drove to another roommates office to get her key so we could let ourselves. A hilarious & slightly stressful start to our Mondays - made better by a kind neighbor, and understanding doctor’s office that still saw me an hour late, & my roommate’s coworker’s patience as they waited for their meeting. Never a dull moment!!
Hope you are doing well! I don’t know about you, but it has been a busy season for me. I left my job in pediatrics at the end of January - which led to some changes in my day to day. This has been a sweet few months of nannying about 40-50 hours a week, powering through my undergrad with the goal to be a social worker, & of course - lots of friends, family, running, & Rocket time. I am so thankful for joyful & productive & very full days. I am also learning to implement some rest & healthy life balances in this season.
My days fluctuate a lot. I have had more time & energy to jump deeper into hobbies & social activities since leaving my job at the clinic. I started voice lessons a few weeks ago to explore an activity I love. I am able to run about 25-30 miles a week & have increased my average speed to about 8:30-9 minute/miles. I love getting outside with Rocket every day. I have so much joy in spending time with people God has blessed me with in this season.
When I was in 6th grade, we had a “graduation” at the end of the school year. My teachers gave us cute little diplomas, shook our hands, & we got to walk across the stage in front of our parents. One of my favorite teachers read encouragements to us as we walked across the stage. She read, “Sabrina, you shine as you seek your identity in Christ.” I didn’t really (and am still learning) fully understand what this meant.
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
All that to say, the biggest thing change has taught me is that my identity is in Christ alone. My identity is not in any job, relationship, activity, or ability. Now that my days have many differences, a wide variety of people I get to interact with & love, and lots of different brain energies to put to use, I get to find my certainty only in Christ. Sometimes, in trials, I found it easy to idolize my job, a friendship, or running to cope with struggles or provide comfort. Yesterday, I listened to a fantastic sermon on Psalm 54. The pastor discussed how as humans we so often desire control, safety, and certainty. This felt so relatable, & these are not necessarily bad things. But when we place our hope in Christ, we can trust His faithfulness & control over our lives. We do not need to operate out of selfishness, thinking that we have control or know exactly what with happen. I am so thankful to live in our Savior’s inexhaustable power, & trust that He will provide for me no matter what my days hold.
So friends, my encouragement to you it to lean into Christ & root your identity in Him. He is our greatest source of joy & direction.