What makes you you?

This is the question I ask my students on the second day of school. This is their first assignment. A simple, four-letter question.

I make it very clear that it may be the hardest writing assignment of the year.

Before getting started, I explain how
they CANNOT answer the question:

1. They cannot use roles or positions.
2. They cannot use achievements or activities.
3. They cannot use something that can be taken away from them.

Then, I give them the why:

1. If they don’t know who they are, they’ll become who everyone else is or who others expect them to be.
2. If they place their identity in temporary positions, activities, or achievements, they’ll be lost when these fade or fail them.

This isn’t a spiritual class exercise, but an assignment to allow them to think deeply, reflect, and define themselves without the noise around them.

If stuck, I tell them to start on the surface and
I give them an example:
I’m a teacher…but why?
Because I love students…but why?
Because I see their potential…but why?
Because God pulled potential out of me.

There it is.
This assignment always
brings me back to Him.

Teaching can fail me. It fails me daily.
But the One Who created me, the One who defines me, the One Who makes me me NEVER WILL.

Sports, activities, friends, relationships will fail. Achievements, awards, championships will fade. Our husbands, kids, and own selves will falter.

But at the end of the day,
One name remains.

And that is Who we need to attach
our identity and individuality to.

Maybe the question I should ask
to you is, “Who makes you you?”

The enemy is after your identity.
He is after your individuality.
Cling to Your Creator.
Be identified by truth.

What makes you you?

The truth that a KING, a SAVIOR, our GOD
handmade you in your mother’s womb, handpicked you for His Kingdom, and single-handedly saved you for eternity.

And THAT makes YOU pretty special ♥️