Our house has been filled with a teething toddler and infant. Needless to say, sleep has been off and on and off again. The other night, our almost two year old refused to go to bed, so with the warm spring weather outside, I opted for a walk around the neighborhood in the wagon – soothing for him and sanity on my part.
The neighborhood has surely grown on me, since our move here in October. Mini roses line the walking paths in yellow, white and pink hues, matching beautifully with the variety of flowers our neighbors have planted. We walked and waved to fellow walkers and gleaned a few roses from the path as we went, decorating the Radio Flyer in flowers.
In the morning, my oldest son immediately took notice of the small arrangement I had made with the flowers (he has an amazing eye for detail), and looking up at me after asking where they came from said, “You’re a Flower Mom, right?” squinting his eyes to make a point. “You love flowers.”
I laughed and agreed and admired his sense of detail and curiousness and desire to know me.
It is in these small gestures that we are known. Who we are and what we like and what we are about. Sometimes others point them out in ways that are unfitting and not accurate and give us definitions that do not define us, while at others they pin point us.
Yes, it is sweet my son calls me Flower Mom but others are not as sweet. Our identities can be easily weaved in to conversations or by accomplishments but God keeps reminding to keep my identity firmly planted in him, no matter how sweet or harsh the words of others may be. Our identities are established because of the God, who sent Jesus to die for us. To ransom us from who we once were and to bring us in to his fullness.
May you go out this month with a smile and your identity written on your heart. May this month be a month of pressing in to who God says you are; slowing down enough to stop and smell the spring roses and hear his heart for you.
You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
Song of Solomon 4:7
Originally posted in The Inspire Monthly newsletter, May 2017.