Monkey see, monkey do :P

You know how little kids like to copy and imitate people? Well, guess what?! It doesn't go away when we grow up... We go on imitating people throughout our entire lives, whether we realize it or not. We are naturally programmed to always be looking up to and aspiring to be like someone. Children have heroes, teens have idols and adults have role models. Sadly, many of us, after being born an original, die a cheap imitation.

One of my favorite quotes is, "Surround yourself with who you want to be". Your environment is everything. Young people especially need to have someone in their lives who will say to them,"This is the way, walk in it!" Learning from your own mistakes is not always the best way, considering that some mistakes offer no second chances. Still, we are all human and even the best role models are not perfect... So much for imitating people...

I love my pastors... They are the reason I was drawn to The Image. When I first met them almost 3 years ago now, I thought John was crazy and I couldn't stand Vita. As I got to know them, I changed my mind to think that they were ok... pretty cool, but nothing special. And then, 2 summers ago everything changed... When the tragedy struck, it hit me how much I really loved and cared for them as all of a sudden I was mourning for their loss. Watching them go through the unthinkable, watching Vita's strength, grace and peace as she was dealing with the murder of her two sisters and two nephews... Hearing John speak at the funeral, watching the family continue to steadily love and trust God, and all the crazy miracles that followed in the months ahead, totally won me over. I looked at John and Vita as people who could truly say, like apostle Paul, "Follow me as I follow Christ." I wanted to be just like them. I loved, admired and respected everything about them. Now that I am their assistant and spend LOTS of time with them I know that they are not perfect... But I still want to be just like them in a sense that I want to reflect Christ like they do. They are my mentors, my role models, my heroes, my leaders, but only because the person that they are imitating is Jesus. I see their love, care and concern for me and it moves me. I see the way they love and care for others, for our (big) baby church, and it moves me more.

Our church is called The Image, the image of Christ, because we want to reflect Him... His nature, personality, character everything about Him. I want to reflect Him... So I surround myself with people who do :) I really hope that my girls feel the same way about me. I know that they know I'm not perfect (they younger ones still think I am), it didn't take them long to figure it out either, but I think they prefer it that way. I want to live my life in a way that people will look at me the way I look at John and Vita. I know I'm not them, and I don't want to be them. I know who I am and I love being myself... I want to be everything that I was created to be and do everything I was destined to do... and I know that it's only possible in Christ. He is my Creator and I'm His Creation so how can I truly be my original self without Him?

Humble people are the most trustworthy people because they are not afraid to admit that they're wrong and won't try to cover up their mistakes out of pride. They are not afraid to say that they don't know everything and that they still have a long way to go. True humility is admitting that you can't do a thing without God. It's not relying on your own talents, strengths and abilities, but trusting God's grace to guide you through. Jesus was very humble... Me? I'm still learning to imitate Him...