Who am I?

     What a good question. Who am I? Who are you? What is my identity? My name? Watchful Steward, Son of the Pure One. Is that all I am? It happens to be a detailed title and I strive to live up to its meaning, but I am far more - and far less. "Less?" you say? Let's begin there.      

     As I step further and further down the long corridor of time, I find that with every step I take there is a whisper that hisses down the hallway, 

“You took that step. Take a look at you!” 

Now based on the nature of the step, that voice can bring heavy guilt or swelling pride. In my weakness, I often believe that whisper, 

“Oh I am a horrible person” or, 

“Yeah I am pretty hot stuff aren’t I?” 

Do you notice what just happened? The whisper talking about my performance became an identity statement in my mind. Instant. Powerful.      

     So to counteract this, I am learning to respond to the initial whisper in a different manner. I now respond, 

“No, this is my identity (fill in the blank) and that action does not define me. I will continue to strive to fulfill my identity each day.”      

     You might imagine that when the step down that corridor is a mistake, my reformed response almost feels like a free pass. I assure you it is not. You see, each action taken brings us either one step closer to our identity or one step further from it. And when I step away from it, in order to return, repentance, learning, and often suffering must be traversed. On the other hand, when the step down the corridor is a success, this reformed response keeps the pride at bay, skulking in the shadows of ruin.     

     Since you now have some back story I will tell you the “less” of my identity.. and possibly the “more”.     

     The hunger for humility described above brings me to a simple identity: I am a son of God on a process of being made whole. Nothing too interesting. But for the sake of detail, I will elaborate. I am a male image-bearer of The King. Born to two of the most inspirational humans I know. I have two brothers. To one I am bound by adoption, the other bound by blood. One calls heaven home, the other continues to traverse the spinning globe. I would die for both. I am married to the most beautiful woman to ever hit the face of the earth. Her smile lights up the sky and her eyes pierce the soul. This beauty has given me two young men, the latter of which who will be born any week now. They are cavemen I now have the privilege of civilizing. 

     Born at the turn of the millennia, I have spent my life so far in several states, graduated nursing school, spent eight years in business, and am setting out to find my fate flying helicopters. Above all, the simple identity is really all you need to know. The Father is. I bow to The King. He is making me anew. Without Him there is no telling how hollow and vacant I would be. So I daily give thanks.      

     Thank you for reading. Who are you?