Where's Waldo?

I love my life.  I relish the crazy, full, diversified schedule that we keep.  I love saying yes to things.  I love feeling accomplished and tired at the end of the day.

However, between being a pregnant wife, part of a ministry, a small group leader, a homemaker (though that is often debatable), a friend, a sister, a daughter, and a person, I tend to feel a little like Waldo:

If the childhood urge hits you like it hit me, click on the image to enlarge and highlight over this next line if you need a hint:

He's in the upper left quadrant!  

Sometimes, I can't find me... the girl who loves to curl up with a cup of coffee in a silent room escaping in a book... a passion for creative writing sometimes so overwhelming I could cry... a need to indulge in art and emotion and compassion and a yearning to just feel and relish the connection between myself and my Maker.

It takes effort to push these things aside for a moment.  As an achiever, I'm always striving for the next thing, waiting to check off the next line of the list.  Sometimes, I forget that that girl with oddly deep and analytical thoughts and emotions is ok.  I shove her aside for the other one - the do-er, the one pushing for excellence.

But when I make that effort, when I turn off all of the distractions, I am reminded of Who made her, and that He did it for a reason.  When I let Him overcome me, the rest of the list doesn't seem so important anymore; the responsibilities no longer so heavy.  I am allowed and encouraged to be the daughter indulging in her Father's love and compassion and mercy.  It's alright to be motivated by the depth and the emotion and the passion, because all of those things stem from Him.  I am flawed, but I am His masterpiece in the making.

You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.  --Psalm 139:15-16 (MSG)