NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

May 1 - Authenticity

Scripture focus: By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God. Hebrews 11:8-10 (The Message)

Positioned in my grown up body with some adult responsibilities completed, I find myself pausing to prepare for a new stage of development. Our youngest child turned eighteen, and for all intents and purposes, he's an adult. As clear as crystal, I study my children and realize that from the first day they made their entrance into this world their authentic self was already etched within each tiny heart. Their temperaments, love languages, and unique worldviews have held steady as their shoe sizes have grown and their tastes in clothes have changed to match the times. I wonder if my parents feel the same about me. Truth be told, it is sometimes easier for a mother to appreciate her children than it is to know herself. Soon the last school lunch will be packed (over 29,000 made) and the last games, concerts and talent shows attended. The last report card will be signed, and the final report card treat (if appropriate) will be purchased. But for all the packing and purchasing and attending and scheduling and yes, sometimes fretting, that has occurred over the years, there's one truth that stands out in my mind: before I met my children, God knew them. They had no idea where they were going, and neither did their dad and I – but God did and he still does. The only authentic life worth living is the one God dreamed about as he knit each of us together in our mother's womb. Trapped in my own body with a limited perspective, I forget that I'm a work in progress. But watching my children morph into their true God-created identity triggers a memory – before I had preconceived notions about what I could and could not do, God had big plans for me. May each of us never grow too old, too weary, too isolated, too tired, too grown up – to find our way back to God and his big dreams for each of us.

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The soul that rises with us, our life's star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness…

William Wordsworth

Recommended reading: John 1 - 3

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