GROWTH

Looking at my oldest son while he was sleeping made me realize just how big this kid has gotten.  I was wonderstruck thinking of the night we brought him home...it was the Fourth of July 2008 when he spent his first night in our house.  He looked so small in the bassinett in our room, and now I can't keep the kid in pants that are long enough.  There was something so familiar though, about watching him sleep, and I remembered a snapshot I keep on my dresser that has been one of my favorite pictures of him from day one.  Lately it's been burried under cd cases and bridal shower invitations. 
I grabbed it from my dresser, dusted it off, and snapped this photo.  Growth.  It gives me great comfort to know that we can all grow and change so drastically in such a short time, but yet our basic nature and the intrinsic pieces of us that make us who we are, can remain boldly intact.  Who you are is a gift from God.  What you do with yourself is your gift to him. 
Think of a beach pebble.  The waves pound away at it, changing it into countless different shapes.  The hot sun bakes it into different colors and leaves it sizzling.  It goes with the flow...taking what comes and fitting in where it can.  It changes always-sometimes quickly and sometimes over years. 
But yet no matter what, the components that make up that pebble are still there, just like they always were. 
One of my favorite quotes is from Hamlet, "To thine own self be true."  This is so much easier to abide by when you know that no matter what happens to you, nothing can change what you are made of.  I like to think that I'm made of the following things: laughter, hugs, kevlar, Southern charm, cream cheese filling, pepperoni, caffiene, hat trick, Marilyn Monroe, glitter, and just a little bit of tears.  What's on your list?