The person beyond the image you see in the mirror, rather, the person in the mirror who wants you to see YOU. The you beyond the figure who maybe still has some things to figure out.
The you in unique.
Yeah you!!!
Has the world or even the "good opinions" of others shaped who you think you are?
Did your parents tell you who YOU were going to be when you grew up?
Now that you are a parent, do you share with your kids who they really are?
Do your possessions, associations or associate degrees tell others who you are?
My guess, is they tell something, but NOT who you really are
Join me on this journey of self-discovery into God's "interior design" through body image, the power in the meaning of your name, and even how one 14 year old diagnosed with cancer knew who she really was. Hint, it's not cancer.
YOU were created to be you and you have somethings do in this world that only YOU can do.
The person beyond the image you see in the mirror, rather, the person in the mirror who wants you to see YOU. The you beyond the figure who maybe still has some things to figure out.
The you in unique.
Yeah you!!!
Has the world or even the "good opinions" of others shaped who you think you are?
Did your parents tell you who YOU were going to be when you grew up?
Now that you are a parent, do you share with your kids who they really are?
Do your possessions, associations or associate degrees tell others who you are?
My guess, is they tell something, but NOT who you really are
Join me on this journey of self-discovery into God's "interior design" through body image, the power in the meaning of your name, and even how one 14 year old diagnosed with cancer knew who she really was. Hint, it's not cancer.
YOU were created to be you and you have somethings do in this world that only YOU can do.
It's a Single Mom Thing, Not the Single Thing That Stops You!
Speaker 1:
Welcome to. It's a Single Mom Thing, the show for single moms by single moms. This is Sherri, your host, and I am happy you are here today. Remember it's a single mom thing and not the single thing that stops you. Do you know who you are? The person beyond the image you see in the mirror, the person in the mirror who wants you to see you, the you beyond the figure, who maybe still has some things to figure out. You, the you and unique, yeah, you. Funny when I think of the expression in my head yeah, you. I'm thinking of Jake in the movie 16 Candles. Now, I know I am totally dating myself here if you've never seen the movie or heard of the movie 16 Candles. Just a side note, you need to blow out some 16 Candles with some sisters at a movie night, so get this.
Speaker 1:
My favorite scene in the whole movie well, let's be honest, there were many, but my favorite favorite scene was the whole movie. Well, let's be honest, there were many, but my favorite favorite scene was the yeah you. It was at the end of the movie when Jake, the cute guy every girl wanted to date, was leaning against his car waiting for the girl he wanted to date, samantha Baker, played by Molly Ringwald. If you've not seen the movie, I guess I'm going to spoil it for you right now. Sorry, but not sorry. Throughout the movie Samantha was crushing on Jake, who was a senior and she was a freshman. Long story short. Samantha, being a freshman, thought Jake never saw her, or at least how she wanted him to see her. But at the end of the movie he not only saw her, he was waiting for her and she saw him seeing her, her eyes connected with his. And she says, while pointing to herself, me connected with his. And she says, while pointing to herself, me. And from across the street, leaning against his car, maintaining eye contact with her, he says yeah, you, hey, you, is this microphone on? I'm talking to the. Yeah, you Do. You know who you are and who you are not, because that's who you think you are. Will the real you please stand up. Welcome to another episode of it's a Single Mom Thing.
Speaker 1:
I think as humans we make the big mistake of describing who we are by our obsessions, possessions, successes or failures, associations, associate degrees, dollar figures and even our figure. We think we have us all figured out. Well, how can that be if all we are doing is describing things, but we are never really saying who we are. But we are never really saying who we are. Think about it If we describe who we are through things or acquisitions, well, doesn't that change, like the direction of the wind changes, not knowing where it comes from? So if a person, let's say, is living on food stamps, does that mean that they are less than?
Speaker 1:
As a Christian, I know who I come from. If you have a different religious belief, I'm sure your religion most likely tells you you are something. As a Christian, however, my faith tells me directly that I am from the great. I am the I am that created the universe, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. Who declares himself as the I am? Well, the I am. He knows my name. In fact, I am made in his image. So to know him, you will know me.
Speaker 1:
When people want to get to know you, what do they normally ask you, which really shouldn't be normal? They ask you things like what do you do? Where do you work? What college did you go to? Where do you live? Yada, yada, yada, yada.
Speaker 1:
Now this is me speaking, but I think when meeting new people, this exchange of communication, kind of short changes our value. We never talk up front saying who you are, declaring who you am or am not, or even it doesn't lead to questions of asking who you are. It has become so routine that it has become a part of our DNA of communication and for me, actually being such a social person, I honestly I really struggle with the awkwardness of meeting someone new because of the short change of communication that, to me, just doesn't feel right. It says nothing about me, nor creates an interest for the other person to seek the real me. The real me never stands up, kind of like I don't know when we get on to just talking about the weather, just saying what if our introductions and meeting a new person was more about introducing them to the real you Instead of the things that describe our experiences or the possessions we may have or not have?
Speaker 1:
Descriptions, in my opinion, are prescriptions of madness and misinformation. Think of it this way we know that in most cases, prescriptions are prescribed to remedy something right away, but they never really treat the cause of what's going on. So questions that only expect descriptions of things, in most cases, which are possessions and accomplishments and or failures. They never really share the who you be. So in most cases you don't even know who you are. No wonder sometimes we grow up confused, not even knowing who the real you is.
Speaker 1:
For me, it took me a long time to know the real me, as I thought I was those things, those were me. Power in the name. Okay, how many of you like me could say growing up that you were conditioned by the good opinions of others and who they said you were? In school it was based on a grade on your report card and or a accumulation of report cards. In sports it was based on whether you came in first or last place With friends. It was whether you were a best friend or a friend with benefits. Appearance, it was based on your dress size or the size of your chest. Fast forward a few more years, it was based on the initials in front of your name, or even the ones after your name. It was to the point where, if it was not apparent to you, in some cases your parents told you who you were and who you were going to be when you grew up, like who you are was in some far off place and not here. Wait, did they have like a crystal ball or something I know.
Speaker 1:
In most cases, most parents meant well and were only doing what their parents taught them. Do you see a pattern of that, maybe in your own life? That has gotten passed on? For me, for example, my grandma, who was one of 12 children and grew up in the Depression era and their family, let's be honest, had very small financial means as they were immigrants From that experience, the meaning my grandma gave herself and spoke over herself and who she said she was, was poor. To the day when my grandmother passed away at the age of 96 and had acquired a large amount of wealth from hoarding every penny she earned, she still thought she was poor.
Speaker 1:
Now, I mean two generations later well, I thought I too was poor from what was passed on to me, even though my family's bank account didn't reflect that. But I was poor in my mind, body, spirit and soul. That was me, or so how I thought it at the time. So let me ask you, your parent do you know what your kids are gonna be when they grow up? No, sometimes I think you just wish they'd grow up because you're tired. So why would you ever tell them, based on some future event or events that happened in your life. This is who you are, you see. What's really sad is that we are so conditioned by the good opinion of others sometimes that we even start saying the same things to ourself, just as I shared about being poor, which, listen y'all. Poor is an acronym for meaning passing over opportunities repeatedly.
Speaker 1:
For me, and for a long time, who I was, who I thought I was, was stupid based on my grades, poor study habits, or even because I was the smallest person in the classroom who was put in the back of the room, never able to see the chalkboard. Well, guess what? I was bored and not paying attention to the learning that was happening in front of me because I couldn't see the board. Therefore, my teachers and my mother were frustrated with my lack of progress, and the way they described my learning led me to believe that who I was was stupid. Today, I know that couldn't be further from the truth, because I am many things, one of which is a creative genius. Does any of that experience resonate with you? Who are you? Did you know and I learned this from my friend, author slash speaker, ginger Fitchett, who spoke to our single mom thing class, by the way, a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1:
Did you know that the name you were born with means something, describe something about you? Yep, it sure does. Look it up on good old Google. Now my name means darling, most beloved person. Now, that is not who I said I was growing up I didn't even know she existed. I'll share a secret with you. That is exactly who God says I am when I speak to him in our quiet time. I about peed my pants when I looked my name up on the web and that was the meaning I found in my name. I kid you not, take it one step further, meaning I found in my name. I kid you not, take it one step further as a Christian in God's word it also says that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalms 139, 14 through 16.
Speaker 1:
I am not a mistake, even though my mom hoped I would be a Scott and not a Sherry. I'm not stupid, alone, poor and not a sherry. I'm not stupid, alone, poor, abandoned, lonely, out of shape, old, less than I am. Certainly not the nicknames others gave me that were based on my height, stature and outcomes, and I am not my possessions. I am whole and complete like nothing. I am most beloved am whole and complete like nothing. I am most beloved. There is power in my name, hint, hint. So are you, even if you don't see it or know it right now. So, since you now know, hopefully you went on Google to look up your name. If not, what are you waiting for? So, now that you know the meaning of your name that you were given, be sure to share with your kids the meaning of their name. How awesome would it be if your kids were equipped with the power found in the meaning of their name now and not later Made in his image.
Speaker 1:
Many times, magazines and ads sell us and sell us short, let's say, because you're short or A plus size, have gray hair or even no hair, are a certain age, are in a certain season, or even what you can afford or could not afford to lose. Well, tell me this. Okay, someone near and dear to me, whose niece, at the age of 14, was diagnosed with cancer, lost all her hair during treatment. Was she her cancer? Was she ugly because she had no hair? Is that who she is? Do you think she said I am any of those things? Or possibly did cancer reveal at a very young age she is none of those things, but has something she can share with other girls her age looking for their real you, this young lady. She learned she is loved, beautiful, bold, blessed, confident, healthy, strong, experienced emotions, but she was not her emotions equipped and healed.
Speaker 1:
What's great about this special gal is that she knew who the real her was before she was ever diagnosed with cancer. She was a daughter of the king made in his image. She was a daughter of the king made in his image. As such, she may have had an experience with cancer, but cancer was not her, nor how she described herself. Her family knew it too, and they wrote it on the door and the windows of her hospital room, reminding her of who she is. She could see it Now. Even more fascinating was that the nurses, the doctors and the patients that passed by her room. They knew who she was too, even if they didn't understand her.
Speaker 1:
God, genesis 1. 27 says so God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him male and female. He created them. Now, I'm sure there were times her emotions felt like they were telling her something different, but at the core she knew with confidence that she was made in the image of God. In her journey. She had an experience with cancer, but she was not cancer. No, she was who her name said. She was healthy and strong. Her name is Valerie.
Speaker 1:
Now, come on, women, think about it. If the real you is blah, blah, blah, based on the way let's say the blah you feel every 28 days, that would mean the real you would change every month until menopause. And listen, that is a whole, nother season of change. Child, please Praise God. Like the clouds, those emotions pass, revealing the sun that is still shining. You, my friend, are still shining, even if you can't see it right now. The real you is behind those clouds of descriptions that have covered up who you really are. Are you your single situation? Is the real you less than because you have not? No, you me, we are not our emotions, we are not our circumstances, we are not our bank accounts, we are not the size of our jeans and we don't become someone when we meet a special someone.
Speaker 1:
You are you For Christian believers. You know you were created by God, who said yeah, you, this is who you are, this is who I designed you to be. Psalms 139, 13, 14 says for you formed my innermost parts, you knit me together in my mother's womb I will give thanks and praise to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well, girl. If he wrote a whole book for you, so check it. Inside of it is filled with his words of who he says you are. He didn't leave it for the world to tell you who you are. So get curious about who you are. He created you, just you, for a plan he wants to fulfill through, and only you.
Speaker 1:
Now here's the key, and this much I have learned you have to know who the real you is, to really step into those shoes and walk out that base story, letting the world see the real you, to be comfortable with the real you, no matter the size of your body that houses your spirit. Something I have also learned is that there is a process of discovering who the real you is and not who the world tells you, who the real you should be. It's a process of kind of like repiecing yourself together, much like a puzzle. You see, jesus overcame this world and he did it for you. You too can overcome this world and its worldly beliefs trying to shape you into its mold. He broke that mold For me. Hypothetically, I knew I was a star-shaped peg that never fit into a square peg hole, but the world said there was something wrong with that. But the world said there was something wrong with that. That's some kind of baloney. Will the real you please stand up? So do me this solid Take time this week, whether on the toilet or toiling around on your drive, to pick up your kids and speak out.
Speaker 1:
Who the real you is based on God's word, so I'll have a link in the description notes that you can like we talked about last week. Post on the back of your bathroom door or, even better, on your mirror. Now I took it one step further for me and I recorded them on my voice memos and I listened to them while I'm in my car, at the gym or even getting ready for work. Now I double dog. Dare you to do this for 30 days? I usually do this for me in the morning, because it's better than a caffeinated cup of coffee, in my opinion. Do this for 30 days and see if some things start to change. Do you feel different? Do you see things differently? Do you even want to do some things that the fake you never thought the real you could do. If you do this, along with some of the suggestions in last week's podcast on dreams, I guarantee you the real you will stand up. And please save some years and tears and start teaching your kids now who the real them is.
Speaker 1:
There are great books out there like who Am I? Rooting a Child's Identity in Christ, even who Am I and why Do I Matter? And again, I will have these links in the description notes. Now, remember faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God, as found in Romans 10, 17. So be patient in this process. I promise, as they are His promises to you you will discover the real you.
Speaker 1:
If you look for her and really want to get to know her, shoot, there might even be a Jake who sees you too. Might even be a Jake who sees you too. So don't sit down. Have the real you. Stand up. Girl, why have you not joined us at it's a Single Mom Thing classes? What are you waiting for? We are all there to discover and uncover the real you. Sure, we may have some baggage, but we are checking that at the door and not picking it back up either. If you live in the Tampa Bay area and want to join us. Visit us at shepherdsvillagecom forward slash classes for more inspiration and information.
Speaker 1:
Summer's here, or at least it feels like it, and have you lost your cool Girl. It's time to get your AC checked. Before it checks out in the heat of the summer, call our friend Jeff with West Shore Services, florida HVAC at 727-458-7474 and tell him your girl, sherry from Shepherd's Village, sent you. Have a wonderful week and remember it's a single mom thing and not the single thing that stops you. Thanks for listening to. It's a Single Mom Thing. I hope you enjoyed our time together. If you have more questions on how to have a relationship with Jesus or need prayer, visit us at wwwshepherdsvillagecom. Backslash prayer. For more information and resources, check out our show notes.
