i am...

"the words 'i am' are potent words; be careful what you hitch them to.

the thing you're claiming has a way of reaching back and claiming you."

[-AL Kitselman]

i've thought a lot over the past few days and weeks about identity. how do i identify myself? we all long to belong somewhere - to have family, to have community, to be loved as we are. that is why the redemption story is so powerful [well, that's part of the reason]. and all of this identity stuff seems to come up this time of year. or at least it does in my world. 

i think it's because of two particular things. 1 - you're either seeing family or you're not, and since family is part of our holiday tradition in our culture it doesn't really matter which side of that coin you're on, it makes you think about your identity, and where you find your identity. and 2 - the new year is coming, and that makes everyone think of resolutions, and where they are [or more appropriately who they are] currently, and how they want to change over the course of the next trip around the sun.

we identify ourselves in so many different ways. and sometimes we get stuck in one identity, and we cannot seem to get out of it. 

this time of year though, i come back to the fact that Jesus became a man, a baby, so he could rescue us. so he could identify with us, and we with him. he was infinite, and became finite. he constrained himself so that we could know him. so that we could know his father. our father.

so that we could identify ourselves as children of the king. on this earth i am many things to many people, but for eternity, i am a child of God. how then should children of God live?

because that is our true identity.

yes, family matters. truth matters. people matter. 

but who we are in Christ. we are redeemed. we are loved. just as we are.

and when we don't know anything else, when we're not certain of anything else,

we can be sure of that.

much love to you this christmas!

katie