A friend recently told me that she was glad I hadn’t really changed much since becoming a mom. She meant it as a compliment – that I still have my sarcastic, dry sense of humor and am rarely nonplussed by most things in life.
But it got me thinking…I am a very changed and different person than I was a little over two years ago before I was gifted motherhood. If people don’t see that change, it likely means I am not letting them in and showing them my new reality.
You simply cannot go through something as life-altering as becoming a mother without it changing you. It’s impossible.
What else would you put into that category?
You simply cannot go through something as life-altering as ________________ without it changing you. It’s impossible.
I can think of a few more examples. Loss. Serious sickness. Unexpected change.
Meeting Jesus.
If our life-altering encounter with Christ has not caused people in our lives to take notice, perhaps we need to reexamine how we’re living. If a friend told me that they were glad I hadn’t really changed since knowing Jesus more, I can’t think of a bigger cause for shame.
As someone who has to fight against the urge to keep people at a close-but-not-too-close distance in my life, I get why it’s easier to not show Jesus to people in our lives. God may be working under the surface and not in obvious ways in our lives, but that’s all the more reason we should be letting others in to those struggles so that they can see our “good works and praise [our] Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Vulnerability is the birthplace of community. We’ve (including myself!) got to be willing to move past the surface and dig into each others’ lives to demonstrate how Christ is changing us.
In the spirit of getting to know us as authors of the blog better, you’ll start seeing some questions at the end of each blog post that will give you a little insight into who we are. Feel free to follow up with thoughts or questions in the comments below!
Get to know the blogger
What was your favorite TV show as a child?
The Cosby Show. Since all the news about Bill Cosby came out over the past few years I honestly don’t know what to do about my feelings about that show. It was such a staple in our family and we can still quote and reference it for laughs and lessons.
What is one of your biggest pet peeves?
Poor grammar. Just ask my husband – I am constantly correcting things he says. Whether it’s ending a sentence with a preposition or mispronouncing a word, I tend to be a stickler when it comes to grammar. But that’s not to say my own grammar is perfect, so if you catch any mistakes in my blog posts don’t be afraid to let me know!
Do you have siblings? If so, do you have any birth order traits?
I am a classic youngest child (I have one older sister and one older brother.) I’m outgoing, laid back, and want others to take me seriously when it comes to work/proving myself. As a child I was not interested in academics and was not athletic, but wanted to join all of the group activities so I could have fun with other people. That’s why you’d find me on the soccer field, at a Model UN tournament, in the spring musical, and in student government. As one article on birth order puts it, youngest siblings “just want to have a good time.”