My identity is both complex and simple. I am a child of God, wife, mother, daughter, friend, soulmate, entrepreneur, veteran, horsewoman, knitter, author, blogger….. You get the idea. I wear a lot of hats. None as important as being a child of God. Without Him, I lose the rest of all the beautiful things in my life. I was reminded of this recently after an encounter with my teenage daughter.
Each morning I post at least two gratitudes on Facebook. It’s my way of staying positive and sharing the good things in my life with my family, including my Army husband, currently stationed overseas. After a particularly emotional evening with my daughter, the next morning’s Facebook post read:
“This morning my gratitude is for God. Last night I had planned to attend an anniversary celebration for a good friend. My teenage daughter was acting like she’s 15 going on 5 (imagine that)! Had I blown her off like I wanted to, I would have missed the moment her shell broke, spilling out into my lap a child in pain and fear, my baby who needed her Mom.
I’m thankful God whispered to me last night as I sat alone in my bedroom fuming, ‘go downstairs and watch the movie even if you are angry.’ I could have missed it.”
Our children are tough, living in a world too harsh for young souls, too harsh for mine. Yesterday I was reminded I need to look beyond the behavior because it’s just another wall being built. Last night, we knocked some of it down. Way to go God!!”
I so often get wrapped up in my own life I forget other people around me have an inner life too. What I see is but a glimpse of what is.
I love all of the amazing things I get to do today. I am blessed with the freedom to go anywhere, do almost anything, speak my mind and worship as I want. We live in a unique nation, in interesting times.
But here’s the thing, we are all people first. At the other end of the Facebook post is someone reading it. It’s not just a smartphone or computer screen. The someone is a human being.
Based on my daughters’ experiences in school so far, I realize this generation of kids has changed. They’re different than when I was in school. Yes, kids have always been mean. When I was a teen, we were all trying to figure out who we were. We morphed and moved between social groups, styles, music and hangouts.
I was a chubby, awkward girl in the corner of the room, trying to figure out how to be as cool as everyone else looked. The same is true of kids today. But the setting has changed.
The technology invented to bring us together too often divides us, making us less empathic, less attentive, more prone to lash out without thinking of the harm we might do to someone.
I love my iPhone, my tablet, my gadgets. I’m all for the latest technology, though I don’t always understand it. My love of technology doesn’t hold a candle to my love of God, my family, my horse, my dogs, my life and yours.
I pray God always taps me on the shoulder or hits me over the head, whatever He needs to get my attention. I don’t ever want to miss “the moment.” I never know who I’m going to share “the moment” with.
It’s important I keep the channel open with God. If I give Him more attention than my texts, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, my life will continue to be rich with gifts of the Spirit.
Robin Aldrich is the author of Bootstrapped! Creating a Small Business on a Budget. Robin founded the Boomerang Business Project in 2015 to help other small businesses thrive through personal and professional development.
For more info, please visit Robin’s website!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work. I wish you a blessed and prosperous day! ~ R.
Originally published at medium.com