I don't need my name in lights!

This being the month of June, I wanted to give congratulations to all the graduates out there and their accomplishments.  You have worked so hard and received special recognition, awards, and scholarships for all your hard-work....plus your treasured diplomas!

Have you noticed all the media attention surrounding the newest Bruce Jenner/Caitlyn story? It is on the front of every magazine, on every news story, popping up on my smartphone in the news-feeds.....on and on and on. And with this story goes much debating on how genuine all this is and whether or not it is just for fame and fortune. The limelight given to this one person is huge!

OMG! What a breathtaking wedding keepsake....a photographer taking wedding pictures captured the couple, a Marine Corps Cpl. and his soon to be bride, praying and holding hands from around a corner, in an effort to avoid seeing each other before the ceremony. And here is a quote from the groom, Caleb Earwood, "We were about to take our first steps in life together, and we didn't want to take a step without it being in God's will!" This one photo received over 6,000 shares and over 38,000 likes on Facebook.

FYI....Clint Eastwood has just announced that he is going to direct a movie about the heroic pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who landed a plane on the Hudson River in 2009. Because of his heroic efforts all 155 passenger aboard the flight survived. What a miracle...what a man!

You might be wondering what these four things have in common and why I am mentioning these seemingly unrelated tidbits of information (or maybe just what meds I am on at the moment!). Well, let me connect the dots that are playing out in my mind. Our self-worth in life can be measured by so many things...IE...the school we graduate from, the amount of awards we receive in life, the salary we earn, the level of fame or number friends we have, and the titles we are given. But, not everyone in life graduates from school, nevertheless a noteworthy school, or has media putting them on the news and in every magazine, or a post on Facebook that receives 38,000 likes (i won't receive that for my entire existence..LOL), or becomes a hero and has a movie made about them! Some of us just live life day to day, working their regular day to day jobs, raising their children, serving their family or friends.. .or pets.  You might pass one of us on the street and wouldn't take any notice at all...we don't stand out...a pair of jeans, a tee-shirt and our hair up in a clip....we just blend in. There are plenty of us out there that wouldn't have our homes in an architectural magazine or on the list of our city's "Tour of Homes". We live in modest homes, in ordinary neighborhoods, with comfortable but average furnishings. If you ran your finger through our daily calendars the appointments wouldn't be with heads of states, CEO's, magazine publishers, the deans of any Ivy League colleges. The appointments would be more like a doctor's appointment, or taking a sick friend a meal, maybe a play-date for the children, or a big smiley face on a Friday that means...Yayyyy, pizza night... ordering in! The only awards on our walls is the cleaning schedule chart attached to the bulletin board in the kitchen with the red check marks beside "clean bathroom"..."mop kitchen floor"..."make beds"...and the one I love the most "have dinner on time!" For many of us out there we will never be a medal received from the President, a salary of six figures, paparazzi following our every move, one of our treasured moments being seen by thousands, and most of us will never have a book or movie made about us or be called a hero.

Okay, don't misunderstand where I am going. I am not saying that awards, recognition, fame, fortune, heroism...these are not bad things in themselves. These things have the potential to be very good things depending on how they are used and how humbly they are received. For this post I just want to bring home the point that there are a lot of people out there that have not received any of the before mentioned gifts. But, they are still wonderful people, they are contributing humans, they have value in life. They are what God wants them to be and are doing what God designed for their lives....they are working honestly and hard in our shops and restaurants, on the side of the roads, in the halls of our hospitals and schools grateful that God has supplied us with employment. We are working day in and day out behind ordinary front doors in modest homes taking care of our children, our grandchildren, our parents, our neighbors, our friends...serving and bringing the love of Christ whenever we can. We live and play each day in an peaceful but ordinary kind of way...wearing a medal of Cheetos stain on our blouse, receiving recognition from the Wal-Mart greeter and the UPS man chatting a minute while delivering a free sample bought off Amazon. Again, to all those who have excelled in any way...GREAT...and I believe God has supplied you with the means, motivation, and opportunity. This is encouragement for the rest of us...God is happy with you! He made you...he has blessed you...he loves you...he is so very proud of you and what you are and do every day! There is a beautiful song by Francesca Battistelli- He knows my name..."I don't need my name in lights; I'm famous in my Father's eyes. Make no mistake, He knows my name. I'm not living for applause, I'm already so adored; It's all his stage, HE KNOWS MY NAME!" God made everyone of us with a special plan and a individual purpose Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart...". "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord"! (Jeremiah 29:11).

We are all special...we are all working here on earth to further the kingdom of God and God loves each and every one of us with or without awards, fortune, fame, heroism...he loves us because we are HIS and HE gave us the life we have. So go out today and give a smile, handshake, thank you, or hug to seemingly ordinary person that cross your path. Then give praise to our Father that he knows our name and we are adored by him!

O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O lord, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me"...You are my maker, my designer, my GOD!
Psalm 139:1-5