At the end of the school year, I was going through papers in my 8 year old, Sophie’s, book bag when I came across a pretty hilarious sight. It looks as though her teacher had asked the class to create an acrostic for their names that described who they are.
S – Sweet (Okay, Seet…but I knew where she was going with this.)
O – Oaf (Huh? I’ll come back to this one.)
P – Perfict (How ironic!)
H – Has blonde hair
I – Is Cool
E – Entertaining…(She nailed this one!)
Okay, did she write the word “Oaf”?!
I called Sophie over and said, “Hey, Soph. I love this acrostic you created. It’s so colorful and you did such a good job.” When I looked up at her I noticed she was smiling from ear to ear. I continued, “I was just wondering. What does the ‘O’ stand for?”
She piped up quickly, “Mom, it says oaf. Oaf IS a word. It’s in the dictionary!” I replied, “Yes, Sophie, it IS a word. Why did you choose it?” To which she retorted, “Mom, IT’S A WORD. It IS!” I began to realize she must have had trouble thinking of a word that starts with “O” and somehow settled on “oaf” of all words.
I invited her to sit next to me on the couch and said, “Sophie, let’s look up the word ‘oaf’ together.”
oaf – an awkward stupid person.
You can imagine the horror when it began to dawn on her that the word she chose to define herself actually did her a terrible injustice!
She walked away feeling a little silly and embarrassed even though I did my best to convince her it was not a big deal and we clearly know, without a doubt she is, in no way an oaf. (I chuckle even as I type this.)
When she was finally out of sight, I sat thinking. What she did is what we all often do. We go about defining ourselves in ways that seem impressive to us. We make claims as to what we are all about when often we don’t really even know. (You see this at times on Facebook – people defining themselves in ways that to them seem important or extraordinary but tend to cause others to scratch their heads.)
The truth is, it’s better for me to stop trying to define myself and allow God to have His way. Let Him write my acrostic. Be moldable in His hand. I mean, He knows me better than I know myself. And, really, He is the only one that matters.
Psalm 139: 1-18,23-24
O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
My encouragement to you today is to stop trying to define yourself. Allow God to mold and shape you – to make you into the person He desires you to be. I mean, let’s face it, no one wants to end up looking like an “oaf.”
