mom
woman
liberal
convservative
feminist
pro-life
pro-choice
Alabama
Auburn - ha ha
And I work in a work of labels:
special educatuon
autism
learning disability
teacher
therapist
And people get keyed up if they get labeled incorrectly- a label in error can color others' perception, boxes you in to expectations and tells you something about yourself you'd rather not know about yourself.
I've been struggling with my labels... and how the implied responsibility affects me emotionally.
About the time this all came to a head, I was gifted Nothing to Prove by Jennie Allen. I'm only two chapters in but it's helping chip off the chains of the implied expectations.
And three days after I finished chapter two of Nothing to Prove, I arrived at a conference for speech-language pathologists in the state. We were given badges with our names and school district. And at the same table, the volunteers were offering ribbons to add on to your badge. And these ribbons had labels like "trailblazer." I picked up a few and put them in my bag- those labels that I wanted to be.
As I sat in the first session, other SLPs from my district sat around me. And they handed me the ribbons with the labels that I secretly wanted to be! "THIS one is Soooooo you, Buffy!!!"
"Aaaaand THIS one!"
Wow. THIS is what people see in me.
What if we told the people in our lives how we feel about them? Maybe they wouldn't believe the lies the enemy tells them? Maybe they would have the courage to soldier on knowing someone was cheering them on.
Words can make or break. I know this full well. Do you believe the lies of how the enemy labels you or do you hear the names the Father calls you?
Child.
Loved.
Mine.
May we hear the Lord's names for us.
And act accordingly.
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