And so it begins.

Shalom. After some initial thought, followed by encouragement by the lovely Brooke Adams, here I am. Writing a blog at 1am.

So, this being the first blog post I'm making, my initial thoughts were, "I should introduce myself incase some stranger comes along and wonders, 'what is this kid all about?'" Or even to reveal myself to those near and dear to me.

Then I started thinking about how we tell each other about who we are.

It's about what we own.
-I have a guitar.
-I don't have a car, but I do have a bike.
-I have 2 dogs. One I love with everything, the other not so much.

It's about our appearance.
-I'm 5'10".
-I've always been told that I look like my mom.
-I'm French Canadian, have green eyes, and brown hair.

It's about our past experiences.
-When I was in pre-school I got 11 stitches in my head right before the Christmas pageant. I was hardcore and went after they were done with me in the ER.
-I was abused as a child.

It's about how we entered into this world:
-I was born August 28, 1988, 2 weeks earlier than my mother's due date.
-I came out pooping and was almost born in the elevator.
-I was born in Indiana, near Lake Michigan.

I could go on: it's about family, our friends, our hobbies, what shows we watch, what we listen to, what we eat, what we hate, what we believe, etc. These things matter, yes. But we allow them to take on a whole new form and they go from beyond describing us; they label us. They can easily be waivered, manipulated, changed, or discarded due to unexpected events or what people we're around (and what we really want them to believe or know about us).
It's who we are, right?
We're humans. We all live. We all experience hardships.
We're broken.
We're hurting.
Overlooked.
Discarded.
In hiding.

We're humans. We all live. We all experience joys.
We're hopeful.
We're determined.
Happy.
Content.


But these things, they still don't identify who I am. Truly, deep in your core, they don't describe you. Not who you fully are. Not who you were meant to be. These things are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

So, turning to the only source I know to be true, the Word of the living God, I sought out truth. Who am I? Who are we?
(If I've lost you due to throwing out Scripture, I'm sorry. Not for the fact that you don't like what I've had to say; I'm sorry that you probably don't think you are these things. If you ever come to a spot where you see these as truths and believe it all, your life will be nothing less than changed.)

I feel cliche at this moment. So many things that I'm about to list off are known. But that's it- they're just KNOWN and not much beyond it. They're not fully embraced, lived out, believed, accepted... And even when we get to those spots of accepting it and living it out, it's often made a temporary thing. Like- "I messed up in this area, so God can't call me His child." I'm guilty of having this mentality, and it's a great trap to get us distracted. But that's a whole other subject.

Anyways...who I am. (and who you are, as well)

God's best friend forever:
John 15:15- I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
(In verse 16 Jesus continues to say that we did not choose him, but rather HE chose US to be his disciples. So, chalk another one up. Chosen.)

Chosen before birth to be set apart. God's kiddos. Redeemed. Forgiven.
Ephesians 1:3-8- Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Made new.
2 Corinthians 5:17- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

More than a conqueror.
Romans 8:37- No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Called to declare the praises of the King. Called out of the darkness.
1 Peter 2:9- But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

These things...just the beginning. I could go on and on.
Fearfully & wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
God's treasured possession. (Deuteronomy 7:6)
A child of light. (1 Thessalonians 5:5)
Freed from sin's power. (Romans 6:7)
And so much freaking more beyond that my mind can't take it and I'd be sitting here for hours.

So, there- who I am. And hopefully, hopefully you got a glimpse of who you were meant to be, or a nice refresher. I know for me, it was a refresher, a good reminder.

Next time someone asks you to tell them about yourself...remember.