I Like Me Because...

Our church meets in a cute elementary school decorated by art projects. It's the kind of place you see and realize you did, in fact, like school at one point. We meet in the cafeteria and Sunday school classes take place in the classrooms.

Haven still coughs like an old man who has smoked all of his life (the doctor said it would hang on for a couple of weeks...), so I kept him out of the nursery. We sat in the service until he would not be silenced by the finger foods I offered. We began what has become our Sunday morning ritual: wandering the halls.

Along two stretches of the main hall were paper plates cut into the shape of hearts. On the top, each said, "I like me because..." and the child wrote the reason in the middle of the plate. Most of the children wrote things like, "I'm a good swimmer" or "I help people" or "I get good grades." Then, I saw one little girl wrote, "I'm loveable."

I wondered what I would have written on my own plate. I'm a good mom, I'm in college, people like me (usually), I'm a good friend ... what's your answer? So often we feel good about ourselves based on what we do or what other people think of us. Isn't God's love based on one simple thing: I am loveable. Just the way I am.

I'm learning about that kind of grace. It slows me down. It whispers in my ear to stop the rat race of people pleasing. It is hot tea on these Fall days. It is enduring and strong. It is seeing God more clearly and knowing Him better. It strips me of my pretenses and releases me to be.