Picture Time!

The holidays have come and gone. Sweet times were had and many pictures were taken. I’m posting this picture so you can see most of my eleven grandkids and meet my granddaughter Remy. Those are her legs off to the side. Haha. She’s a doll and I thoroughly enjoy her. She just doesn’t always care to have her picture taken. Somehow her position in this photo reminds me how I sometimes feel. I love to be around people I care about and am a little susceptible to FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out, for my baby boomer friends) if I’m not included in social gatherings. But at the same time I can get a little overwhelmed and would like to just slink off to the side and watch the action. I find much satisfaction in hosting and preparing for guests, but once they are here I just want to make sure everyone is happy and has all they need to feel comfortable without me necessarily needing to be in the action. A lot of people think I’m an extrovert, but I’m not. I heard the term “extroverted introvert” some years ago. That would be me. I am energized by solitude or connecting one-on-one or in small groups with people. But I am good at planning events and will open up my home to larger groups. That’s when I become the metaphorical legs in the photo. I wanna be there but don’t need to be in the middle of it.

True confessions: Sometimes I wish I were more of a “life of the party” kind of gal. I wish I were funnier. Or prettier. Or better at… whatever. But God created me to be just who I am. He “knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13) and He is “familiar with all my ways” (Psalm 139:3). As I muse about the new year ahead, rather than pondering solely on resolutions and goals that are typically things to do, I want to consider who I am–who God created me to be–and seek to do that better. I desire to know my creator more and more, thus understanding more deeply who I am and what He has purposed me to be and do. I’m reminded of some of the lyrics of a worship song by Andy Park called “In the Secret”:

I am reaching for the highest goal
That I might receive the prize
Pressing onward
Pushing every hindrance aside
Out of my way
“Cause I want to know you more

I want to know you
I want to hear your voice
I want to know you more
I want to touch you
I want to see your face
I want to know you more

In 2024, let’s seek to understand ourselves and our purposes better by knowing our creator more. Maybe someday I’ll post a picture of little Remy so you can see her darling face and ringlets of curls. When she’s ready. 🙂