Have you found a time in your life when you question, who am I?

When I was a child a popular question where I grew up was, who’s your daddy? I knew Bill was my daddy and Bet was my mama. I knew I was the little sister of Cathy, Eddie, Benny, JoAnne, David, Denise, and Helen. When I went away to college I was a nursing student and a Delta Zeta. Then after marriage, I was David Jauss’s wife. I totally lost any individual identity when I had children! I was always DJ, Charley or Will’s mom.

In the time since my baby went off to college, I have found that a great deal of the identity I held on to for many years was displaced. I wasn’t involved in the many activities I had been with my kids and I was pursuing goals that were mine and mine alone. At a writer’s conference, I was asked by a publisher, who are you? It was the first time I didn’t have a ready-made answer of an ownership that was connected to my family.

I have never felt that belonging to my family, birth or by marriage was a loss of identity. It was a quick answer of belonging. Once those seasons were in my past I had to really think, who am I? Being confident, in who I am, has never been a struggle for me but when the publisher asked me, my answer was not so quick and confident.

Who am I in the empty nest? I am my husband’s wife. In his job, there is no getting around it! I continue to be my children’s mother when I am in their circle. I will always be my daddy and mama’s daughter along with being the baby of my family. However, now in another season, I needed to identify who I am.

Who am I?

I am a child of God. This I know to the core of my being.

I am strong and confident because of my faith.

I am a proud wife of an amazing husband that I love dearly and like most of the time! He is the man God has given me to dance through this life.

I am a writer. To admit this to me was much harder than the writing process. I began to embrace the gift God has given me and use it to glorify Him.

I am a mother. A mother who no longer needs to oversee every aspect of my children’s life. A mother who is a mentor and guide through the young adult years of their lives.

Identifying who we are begins with trusting God with who He has created us to be. Understanding that above all the chaos and confusion He has a plan and hope for our future. He has gone before us to prepare the way. When the seasons of our lives change and we question who we are, turn to Him for that identity. Standing strong and confident in who He has created us to be to glorify Him guides us to use the gifts we have been given to continue to move forward.

We are His.

We are strong.

We are living life to the fullest.

As seasons change and life continues on and on, grab onto your faith and let God pull you along. Life can take you into places where your identity is displaced. Place your identity in Him. God has been there before you and has a plan and hope for your future. Knowing who you are in Him helps in the changing seasons that are sure to come.

Where are you now? Are you in a place of not knowing the answer to the question, who am I? Are you living life to the fullest knowing who He has created you to be?