My family loves Disney, and our latest fascination/obsession is with the movie Encanto. A miraculous house grants powers to the family members who live there. For some reason, the heroine, Mirabel, isn’t given a gift or power when she comes of age, and the story tells of her search to find meaning in life as just an “ordinary” person.
Her sisters feel a different kind of pressure as they seek to live up to the gifts they’ve been given.
Isabela sings, “What could I do if I knew it didn’t need to be perfect?” in “What Else Can I Do?”
Louisa sings, “I’m pretty sure I’m worthless if I can’t be of service,” in “Surface Pressure.”
Don’t we all feel this way? Finding out who we are is a task for the young, but it is also something we face as we age and our circumstances change. If I retire, and I’m not a doctor anymore, who am I? Now that my daughters have all begun their own beautiful lives and I am not called upon to mother them every day, who am I? And doesn’t the world call us worthless if we can’t somehow be useful to society? Ouch.
As I shared this sense of shifting identity with one of my daughters, she said, “But you didn’t mention your Christian identity.” And she was right.
My identity in Christ isn’t based on what I can do or how perfect I am. It’s based solely on God’s love for me. He doesn’t care that I’m not perfect or strong or even useful. He knows me better than anyone else and loves me anyway.
So, my friends, if you are struggling to claim your identity, or find your gift, or identify your power, remember this:
Your identity is God’s beloved child.
Your gift is his unfailing and unconditional love, and your power is his love within you.
Though the mountains fall away and the hills be shaken,
My love shall never fall away from you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says the Lord (Isaiah 54:10).
I’d love to hear your comments below, and if you know someone who could use this encouragement, please share.
I had to smile when I read the title of the post. One of my nieces sent me a mug for Christmas that says, “I’m an aunt. What’s your superpower?” One of my brothers recently sent me a message saying he believes God has a mission for all of us, and it’s different for each of us – we do our best to live our lives with Jesus as our guidepost and we are carrying out God’s mission – big or small, famous or not, recognized or unnoticed – it is our mission and I personally think we feel most fulfilled when we are doing just that.
Mary, I love your mug! And I think you and your brother are right. We feel most alive and complete when following the path God prepared for us. Thank you for reading!
Thank you for this. I’ve always been someone’s something which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it seems you do lose a bit of yourself while filling these roles although I’ve grown in other ways & enjoyed being someone’s something. When I was young I was my parents daughter. When I was married I was my husbands wife. When my children were born I became their mother. I work in pharmacy for so long that if I was in the grocery store & someone would see me they would say oh I forgot to pick up my prescription before they would say hi. I was the pharmacy lady. Well I haven’t lived in my parents house forever, I’m divorced so I don’t have a husband, my children are grown with families of their own and I don’t work in pharmacy anymore & though I’m still a bit of each of these life roles which I’m thankful I’ve had & experienced I’m someone a bit different. This helped me to remember who I’ve been all along.
I like the way you put it – “someone’s something.” And you’re right, we will always be a little bit of all those “somethings”- they help make us who we are. Thanks for reading, Marta!
Love this Colleen! i retired from nursing, and that was a question I did ask myself. My children are grown up and gone, but now I’m a grandmother. I find joy in volunteering, praying for 2 of our priests as a Seven Sisters Apostolate (2 days a week) in Eucharistic Adoration, and enjoying time with my grandchildren, my friends, my husband and doing the things I love to do. Sometimes it’s just reading, other times it’s busy activities. God is good!
Thanks for reading and sharing, Mary! I’m glad you found joy and purpose after you retired. When retirement eventually happens for me, I suspect God will give me plenty of other things to do! He is good indeed.