[Faith-talk] Fw: Whose Kids Am I Raising? {Encouragement for Today}

Tue Dec 27 03:18:20 UTC 2016

This is something we all do.  It seems to occur more to disabled and 
blind people.  A TVI [teacher of the visually impaired might say, "A 
lot of other blind people walk fast.  Why don't you?"  Not even giving 
it a second thought that, either the blind person is more laid-back and 
therefore moves slower or, maybe he/she has other disabilities.

Forwarded message:

From: Proverbs 31 Ministries <devotions at proverbs31.org>
to: <bethkats at samobile.net>
Subject: Whose Kids Am I Raising? {Encouragement for Today}
Reply-To: Proverbs 31 Ministries <devotions at proverbs31.org>
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2016 08:15:46 +0000

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Whose Kids Am I Raising?

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Julie Lyles Carr 
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November 16, 2016
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“… we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were 
better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do 
with our lives. Each of us is an original.” Galatians 5:26 (MSG)

You’d think I’d be a faster learner. Devotion Graphic 
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But there I go again. In a dressing room. Under those unforgiving 
florescent lights. Trying on that cut, this style, that fad that looks 
so cute on so-and-so.

And not so cute on me.

On these hips. At this age. With this coloring.

Trying to copy what I’ve perceived as darling, cool, elegant, hip, 
effective on someone else. Trying to push it onto the confines of me.

Pretending again that cookie-cutter approaches will yield a custom fit. 
Ignoring the individual nuances of my complexion, my build, my budget.

It happens in dressing rooms. It happens when I’m trolling online 
message boards and blog feeds. More significantly, it happens 
relationally. In my faith. In my marriage. In my work and home life.

And, gulp, in raising my kids.

Confusing inspiration with impersonation.

From the conversations I have with women, I realize many of us share 
the same conundrum. Whose life am I living? The one God destined for 
me? Or one that I’ve built from a pile of comparison? What about these 
children I’m raising? Am I raising them according to who God has 
designed them to be … or who others think they should be?

We want to walk in wisdom. We seek great examples. We want to learn.

But then something shifts. And we veer into a forgery, attempting to 
live a life that’s not our own. The line between gathering and applying 
wisdom versus falling into retrograde copycatting is a fragile one.

I can be tempted to compare my kids, my work or my marriage with other 
people’s, feeling like I come up short. But nobody has ever raised my 
kids before. No one but my husband and I have conducted this particular 
marriage. No one but God and I walk the path He has for me. I can learn 
from others, and I can even gain wisdom, but their lives are not mine to copy.

Because my life isn't meant to be a copy.

If comparison is the thief of joy, it is also the mortal enemy of 
originality. Because our creative, imaginative God doesn’t bind us in 
cookie-cutter patterns. He is an eternal author, writing fresh 
narratives over each of His kids’ lives. I adore the way Eugene 
Peterson puts our key verse in The Message version: “… we will not 
compare ourselves with each other … Each of us is an original” 
(Galatians 5:26).

Take courage with me in that amazing thought. We have much greater 
things to be doing than sizing ourselves up. Or down. Or measuring our 
kids against the neighbors’.

We are bespoke by what He spoke.

I read about a man who desperately wanted to be a great painter. He 
admired the great masters of the art. He studied their techniques, 
their color combinations, their subject matters. But instead of taking 
those lessons and applying them to creating masterpieces of his own, he 
became a prolific art forger.

He copied.

And was caught.

Why would someone with such incredible talent — who could emulate the 
greatest painters of the age — reduce that to become a human Xerox 
machine with a paintbrush?

But then again, why do I?

Why do we?

Because … it’s scary to lean into the originalities God infuses into 
us. It’s a launch into the unknown. When we live as originals — when we 
raise originals — we’re reminded that living life is sometimes a wild 
and unpredictable ride. We often prefer predictable patterns over 
leaning into the fresh story God is weaving.

But we can choose courage over copy.

Today, let’s compose. Let’s celebrate. Let’s see what God will do when 
we stop comparing and start embracing that God loves to do new things.

In each of us.

Heavenly Father, thank You for infusing fresh creativity into the 
making of each of Your kids. I praise You for the originalities You 
place in each of Your children. Help me not to cheapen Your original 
work with a comparison copy. Give me courage to live as Your unique 
child, to raise the unique children You’ve given me and not compare 
myself to others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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TRUTH FOR TODAY

Isaiah 43:19a, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you 
not perceive it?” (NIV)
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RELATED RESOURCES

Find insight and encouragement for identifying and celebrating the 
originality in your child and yourself in Julie Lyles Carr’s new book, 
Raising an Original: Parenting Each Child According to Their Unique 
God-Given Temperament. 
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CONNECT

Enter to WIN a copy of Raising an Original by Julie Lyles Carr. In 
celebration of this book, Julie's publisher is giving away 5 copies! 
Enter to win by leaving a comment here 
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{We'll randomly select 5 winners and email notifications to each one by 
Monday, November 21.}

What if there’s something better on the other side of “normal”? Check 
out Julie’s book trailer! 
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