Who do you want to be when you grow up?...

Whenever I was asked this question when I was young, the answer would
have been Tina Turner. I thought for a long time that I was adopted and that Tina Turner was my birth-mother...

As I have gotten older, those 'heroes', the people I want to be just like, have changed. What I want to be 'when I grow up' has changed.

Today, I had a chance to listen to one of 'grown-up-perspective-heroes'. Ardeth Kapp. I have always been in awe of this woman. In awe of the light and spirit she carries with her. In humble awe of her firm and immovable testimony.The woman can make anyone she meets feel like a dear, long-lost friend. She raidiates goodness. She is full of love and gives it freely. I want to be just like her when I grow up.

She spoke today on many things, but the one that struck me was the point she made of how important we all are. We are God's children. His off-spring. And all of the attributes He has, we have divinely placed within us too, though we might not be able to see them quite yet. A quote from her that I read some time ago, that has always stuck with me is "We did not come to Earth to gain our worth, we brought it with us."

I want you to really think about that statement...It is powerful. It is tender. We didn't come here to work each day just so we could earn love or importance in God's eyes, we already have that. We always have. Who you are is important. It is vital. Every single person in this world means something, means something to someone, and will leave a print or two on the heart of another. We are all part of the plan, and we play important parts in the lives of others as we help them feel love, God's love.

So back to my initial statement...Who do you want to be when you grow up? Who do you want to be like? My final goal is to be like Jesus. I've got a long way to go. But along the way, He sends me people. People who make me want to be and do better. People who are much more like Him than myself. They make me more. They stand as examples. Examples of love and kindness. Examples of what it looks like to really be a disciple of Christ.

And so I say: Dear Lord, Thank you for all of the amazing people you've placed in my path. I'm trying to be more like you, though some days it doesn't really look like it, as I fall so short. With your help and power, I know one of these days I will get it right. In the meantime, thank you for the gentle reminders and 'visual aids', Ive been blessed to call friends, that remind me how to be a little more like you.

I'm trying to be like Jesus;

I'm following in his ways.

I'm trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.

At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,...

I'm trying to love my neighbor;

I'm learning to serve my friends.

I watch for the day of gladness

when Jesus will come again.

I try to remember the lessons he taught.

Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts, saying:

"Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.

Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,

For these are the things Jesus taught."

-Janice Kapp Perry-

So yes, I have given up on the dream of being Tina Turner when I grow up. The voice, the legs, and the rockin' hair will never be me. But I feel good about what I'm trying to become, and who I'm trying to become like. I'm trying, and after today's 'visual aid' of seeing and listening to Ardeth, I am recommitted to my goal and will be trying a whole lot harder...