Discovering The "Real" You.....

    I know we have all heard the quotes "To thine own self be true..." and "know thyself". Lord knows I've heard those quotes hundreds of times...but, I never thought of them as something to really meditate on..but, to many of us, that might be a good thing to do. We all get so caught up in being wives, husbands, parents, whatever our occupation is, caregivers, children, our hobbies, our service, Pastor's wives, Pastor's husbands, etc.. It just seems like we have so many "things" that we are required to be that sometimes, we lose track of who we really are. It's all about the cause and looking the part. Our identity becomes what we do instead of "who we are". We become like legalistic little robots.  I've been so many things for so many others for so many years that I've lost track of who I am and who God has really called me to be. Who is Hope? What does she like? who is she? I'd failed to "know myself". How many of us suffer from this same malady? I've found myself seeking God on an even deeper level on who He's called me to be and what He's called me to do and...guess what? It's exciting! But, get ready! As you go deeper and grow closer, He will let you know what "things" you're doing that are time wasters and are not productive. There will also be people that you've been around for so long and all of a sudden, your conversations get shorter and shorter because you realize that you don't have as much in common anymore. You're going to have to be true to yourself and realize what's working and what's not and be led by God on what to step away from and then, be brave enough to do it with His help. It's not easy(especially if you are a "high profile" person)  But, it's all part of the process and we have to be willing to go through it in order to have the fulfilling life that God has called us to. As those "empty" things and relationships are shed from us, God is now able to put those things in us that will glorify Him and make us whole. We move from being Robots to being profitable stewards and servants of the Most High!
      As an ending thought, I remember the story of Mary and Martha. (Luke 10:38-42) As I read this, I thought about how we get so busy running to and from like chickens with our heads cut off. Going here and there to get this done, to get that done, to fix this, to fix that...just all over the place doing THINGS in our own strength, making ourselves dizzy..but Mary sat at the foot of Jesus. I really and truly believe that if Martha had chosen as Mary did and sat at the foot of Jesus as well and spent time with Him, in the end, everything still would've been accomplished...just without the stress. There is just something about putting Jesus first that makes everything else afterward fall into place........