To Be or...To Become...

This week is about Transformation.

Once in a while, when we wax nostalgic, it's easy to just gloss over the bad stuff. And sometimes, when we're in a bad place, we dwell on the bad stuff in our lives.

God is all about transformation.

There are things in my life that I would have done differently if I could - "if I knew then what I know now" - embarassing things that, frankly, I hope no one ever finds out about. And we all have those moments, I think.

But those moments are part of what makes me, me. I may be a little more compassionate because of something painful in my past, a little more forgiving because of someone who has forgiven me, maybe a little more patient because I've tried the patience of others. I may be able to understand what you are going through because I've been through it myself. Yeah, I've been embarassed, frustrated, hurt - and I've embarassed, frustrated and hurt others, too...

And God doesn't make all that go away. Yes, I'm forgiven, yes I'm free from the shame of my past. But God takes it and uses it to make a new and better tomorrow for me. God TRANSFORMS who I am into who God wants me to be.

So, yeah, I've got some little skeletons in my closet. But they've made me who I am. No, they're not for public consumption. But those moments may be one link that we share as we share in this thing called life.

Transformation. Who I am, not who I was. And WHOSE I am...

** By the way, the image is a composite of two I pulled from www.morguefile.com - a GREAT place for free images...