Who Am I?

I regularly hear Papa say, "it's not what you do [that defines you], but it's who you are". After hearing him say this to multiple people, I took a second and found myself asking the question 'who am i?'. We often ask the question 'what did I do?', or we glorify ourselves by saying 'I did that'. Instead of humbling ourselves, and keeping quiet before God, we praise ourselves and shout so that everyone can hear the great things we have done or, are doing. It's good for me to be ashamed of myself for not glorifying God and praising Him for the great things He has done through me, and taking the credit as my own. Why does is matter what we do? If God doesn't look at the great things we accomplish, then who's acceptance are we looking for? We aren't perfect beings, and we have lots and lots of room to grow. Christ loves watching His children grow. Slowly by slowly I am finding out who I am. When I came to Uganda, it wasn't to see what I could do for this country. Being here I have found a part of myself. This is who I am, I am a teacher and a learner, I am a daughter and a sister, I am a failure and an achiever, I am caring and judging, and I am a follower if Jesus Christ. God has blessed me with a heart of love for people. Today I picked up little Moses and squeezed him and I almost cried because of how much love I felt for the little guy. I have always been an affectionate person and it is my way of showing love. We all need to know that we are loved. God's love for us is forever, undying, unfailing, inexplainable, undeniable, and for eternity. No one can love like our Father. Can you love the one who steals from you, would you love the one who speaks ill of you, will you love the one who betrays you, do you love the one who looks you in the eyes and says "we will kill you!"? Through all the choices I made, places I went, things I said, Jesus loves me still. Who am I? I have been in the deeps of this world, I have seen and felt the raw creation of men, yet that is not who I am. I have succeeded many goals and accomplished high expectations, still that is not who I am. I am who God has made me to be, and I am still on my way to reaching all that He has for me. I am born again. I am living life, and Christ lives through me. I am His follower and He is my leader. Growing up I was afraid to find out who I was, because I knew I fell short of the expectations of this world by who a Christian "should be". Eventually I gave up on trying to be accepted, and in the end I gave up on trying to mold myself to the religious rules of Christianity. By giving up on all this, I didn't realize that my faith in God had disappeared. I lived a wild life of foolishness and excitement (according to humanity). Today I thank God for saving my life, and protecting me from falling off the edge and from suffering some major consequences of the life I was living. I was reckless and naive. Even though I did all those things and led that kind of life that is frowned upon, that does not define who I am today. I will never forget the choices I made, but I will always remember that God was with me loving and protecting me. I am His forever. My faith in Christ is stronger then I could ever imagine. I sometimes laugh because I find myself talking to God rather then praying and asking Him to do something for me, and I realize how much I enjoy a relationship with Him and I know He loves it even more. What this all comes down to, is that I dont fear my past, I dont fear my future, I know who I am and I am happy. Everything falls into place perfectly when we decide to let God lead our life. He is the driver and I am just along for the ride. I completely love that God wants to live through me. He lets me make decisions on my own, and when I choose Him, life couldn't be more perfect. so ... who are you? :D

Just so you know, I love you all SO much!!