Dents in my Fenders

My Pastor used an illustration yesterday that I can so relate to: lost house keys. I have a pair of keys somewhere in my house that I lost four years ago. Really. I swear that I lost them in the girls' bedroom but no matter how I searched, even emptying out all the dressers and their toy box, I never did find them.

Then on the way home from picking up my oldest girl from preschool camp, I heard this song on the radio. It really should be my anthem. While we were painting last night, I stepped in every paint spot on the drop cloth. I nearly fell off the ladder, and I mucked up a corner or two that I had just fixed. It's pointless to say it, but I'm far from graceful. I've tripped over my own two feet climbing stairs, squirted coke out my nose, and had more than my fair share of fashion mishaps.

In all this, though, the thing that I'm reminded of constantly is that this is who I am. This is my natural instinct, my natural self. God created me and fashioned my inmost parts, He set me apart before I was born. He knew that I would be this clumsy haphazard person who should be walking through life with a caution sign strung around my neck to warn people that I'm prone to accidents. But regardless of how topsy turvy I can be, God still loves me and made me this way for some reason- maybe to remind me that it's okay to laugh. I'm a serious person and if I hadn't learned to laugh at my accidents a long time ago, I'd never have a dry face or be able to wear makeup even a few hours.

I like the line in this song that says "I'm free to be me." Sometimes I forget that I can just be who God created me to be. I don't have to be prim and proper or meet all the expectations that society, family, and friends put upon me. I can just be myself- and you know what- I like myself, even with all of my flaws, failures, and ungraceful moments. In God's eyes I am His beautiful child- and you are too :)