I am an introvert. And I've had to learn to be okay with that. I wrote about it once way back before Katherine was born. And now I'm the mama of a two-year-old and guess what? I'm still an introvert. I've seen others post about the introvert life this week and that always makes me smile and feel known. Crystal Paine (Money Saving Mom) shared a Huffington Post article entitled 23 Signs You're Secretly An Introvert which is quite accurate. And then she posted about learning to not feeling guilty about being an introvert. It is always encouraging to read someone who thinks like you and understands you. Even that little reminder from Crystal helped me to know it is okay, and necessary, to accept yourself and to do what you need to do to take care of yourself. And if you follow Jen Hatmaker on Instagram you probably saw her post a shirt about introverts. That one definitely made me chuckle. It's just so true though. As I grow and walk through more of this life, I'm learning to embrace who God has created me to be and have confidence in that. It is not always easy. I don't always know what will energize me or what will drain me. Sometimes it just depends on the place, on the people, on the circumstances. But the more I take time to process the times I have become overwhelmed or have shut down, the more I can learn and grow, communicate to others and encourage others. The more I learn about who God has created me to be, the better I can do what He has called me to do. And the whole process takes grace; the whole process is grace. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. God's grace created; God's grace saves; God's grace prepared; God's grace sustains. It is by God's grace that I am saved. My salvation is not a result of anything I have done. The only boasting I can do is in the work of Christ, in what God Himself has done. And as I accept His grace and see His grace in all things, I also must accept that I am His workmanship.
Our kind, loving, gracious God created each of us uniquely. We are His workmanship. And He prepared works for each of us to do, works that can only be rightly done with our unique personalities and traits and giftings. As we walk in the works God prepared for each of us, we walk in grace. As we walk in the works God prepared for each of us, we spread His fame and glory to the nations. So, I'm learning to embrace being an introvert, in all its awkward glory. Of course, I'm definitely not saying we should embrace the sin in our lives. I'm saying there is beauty and grace in embracing who God created us to be. It is in that embrace that we begin to fully embrace grace and live out our unique callings.
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