Titles

"Hey, I'm Beth, I'm.. um, well.."  

I faltered to figure out my title, some word that would describe who I was in a way that fit me, and nothing made sense. 

I think we all describe ourselves with titles that change with who we are interacting with at the moment. 

At work I describe myself as a teacher's aide, but when I feel like justifying the fact that I live with my parents I describe myself as a grad student, and when I feel confident I describe myself as a writer. 

The titles we give ourselves and the names we allow other people to assign to us can give us purpose or they make us complacent. If being at the bottom of the career totem pole at every job I have ever worked has taught me anything, it is that you should never let your job title determine your sense of worth or the effort you put into the job.

I am more than my job description. I am more than my self-description. I was created for something that isn't confined to the 9-5. Or to my twenties. Or to my narrow circle of acquaintances. 

I was made to bring glory to God. And if that's while tying kids shoes, and retying them, and tying them again, then that's what I'll do. And if it's by writing, that's what I'll do. I will dance, laugh, cry, speak, listen, teach, learn– all to His glory. 

There is no pre-made title that will ever fully encompass all the ways I serve and live and exist. No concise term to sum up who I am, where I am going, or what I will mean to the people I cross paths with along the way. 

Of all the thousands of titles I give myself, the only one that really matters is "accepted." Because I don't have to prove anything to God. I don't have to work my way up His ladder to a better, more respected position. I'm bought, paid for, guided, protected, pushed, pulled, comforted, and loved. Where I am, as I am.

And when I wear that title above all others, I don't feel so defensive, so territorial and on edge. Because that title isn't contingent on anything I do, or even who I am. It is based solidly and always on the fact that in Christ I have been declared perfect. Not because of anything I did to find my place, but because of what He did to secure it. And so, knowing that, I am able to fully inhabit whatever other title suits me at the moment, without letting it become who I am. 

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." (Romans 15:7)