Driving my daughter to school God reminded me of how fearfully and differently we are all made in the image of God.
Early in life and most of my marriage I had this false idea, that things would be better if they went my way and everyone thought more like me. I spent far too many years trying to make that happen. I am open to change and always asking the Lord to show me what I'm doing wrong or what I can improve in. He has been working on me and teaching me how to see His uniqueness in every person He has created.
One day I slowly started too see how much better life was when I just embraced everyones differences and began to see the beauty in that. It started off with the Lord asking me "Will you love me unconditionally?" Of coarse my answer is always "yes." then He went on to show me how loving my neighbor (husband, children, friends, family) no matter how different and sometimes frustrating they might be means I'm showing Him how much I actually love Him.
1 John 4:20-If someone says, "I love God," but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
That morning when I was driving my daughter to school, we were out early and went out for a coffee date we had a pleasant time. On our drive to school she asks me to open the window and there is nothing wrong with that except for the fact that I dislike windows being open while driving. I don't like the noise, wind, my hair going everywhere but this particular morning I decided to just let her. As we are driving I look back in the rearview mirror and I see her with her head back, eyes closed, wind blowing in her face and the sun shining right at her, there was just a peace about her and it just made her look so beautiful, it also gave her a few minutes of rest that she needed before heading onto a busy day. In that brief moment God showed me how different we are, something that would irritate me is bringing my precious daughter so much pleasure. I could have said no I don't like the window down and we would have missed this beautiful moment in time. Knowing she loves the windows down and just letting her enjoy it made such a wonderful memory for me and reminded me of how different we all are and that there is nothing wrong in that.
We could all be different in many ways, one likes water (swimming, getting wet) and the other doesn't, one is always cold and the other hot, some like the sun others the rain, the food we like, how we handle money, raise our children, organize, even how we spend time with our Lord. There is no perfect way it's just about knowing who you are and how you connect. I'm always watching out for what makes my husband and children unique and special and trying to see how it can benefit our family instead of wasting all my time and energy on trying to change them. I'm teaching my children we are all different and that is special. Each of us is a gift from God and we all need each other to have a fun and wonderful life. Every single person is made in the image of God. This truth is so simple and once embraced is life changing.
Genesis 1:27-So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Psalm 139:14-I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.