Big Takeaway: We bring our Heavenly Father joy by being who He created us to be.
Have you ever been to Cracker Barrel?
Who am I kidding? We've all been to Cracker Barrel! If you haven't, let me know and I'll send you a gift card so you can try the hot buttery biscuits and hashbrown casserole ASAP.
Cracker Barrel is one of my favorite road-trip stops if we have time to sit down to a meal during our travels. Last week, Kyle and I packed our bags to head south and made a point to stop for breakfast along the way.
As we walked inside, we noticed our son, Luke, smiling with all eight of his teeth waving at everything and everyone in the restaurant.
He waved to the colorful trinkets and toys in the waiting area, the smiley hostess, the wood-burning fireplace, the older gentleman in a red t-shirt eating breakfast by himself, and the family of three sitting across from us. He even waved at the black and white portrait of a stern-faced older woman hanging next to our table.
To my surprise, everyone he waved and smiled at waved back (minus the portrait). I loved watching his pure, innocent gestures of kindness and friendliness light up the faces of the people around us. Luke didn’t care what anyone thought of him, he was just being himself! He brought the people around him, including me, joy.
After breakfast, God laid this on my heart:
My child brings me joy by being himself, not someone else. The same is true in our relationship with God.
We bring our Heavenly Father joy by being who He created us to be.
I know this may seem elementary or something we’ve all heard and learned, but if I’m being honest, I’ve struggled with people-pleasing, setting boundaries, and caring too much about what people think of me because I’ve forgotten this truth.
It’s an easy rut to fall into sometimes, isn’t it?
We forget we have a Heavenly Father who designed us with a specific, super important purpose that's unique to us. We get distracted. We get busy. We get tired.
I totally get it.
If this is something you've wrestled with, I want today to be a reminder that you bring God joy by being you!
You don’t have to be like someone else to be accepted today.
You don’t have to impress a certain crowd to be loved.
You don’t have to earn one more dollar to access a God who promises to meet your needs.
God made only one of you for a reason. Don't be afraid to make it count today!
Reflect:
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT) is one of my favorite verses to refer back to whenever I need encouragement! Try to memorize it this week or write it in a place where you can see it often: "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
Name one thing you like about yourself. I know this may feel weird, but if God were to answer this question about you, He’d have a list a mile long. When we learn to appreciate who we are, we learn to appreciate whose we are.