Like a moth to the flame, I seem to be instinctively drawn to newspaper articles that set off my bizarrometer. In light of that, I give you the following true story:
“A 33-year-old woman is accused of stealing her daughter’s identity to attend high school and join the cheerleading squad. Wendy Brown is charged with felony identity theft after enrolling in a Wisconsin high school as her daughter. The criminal complaint says Brown admitted to telling school officials she was 15 because she wanted to get her high school diploma and join the cheerleading squad.”
Okay, let’s all pause here and take a deep, cleansing breath.
When I read this article, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The poor daughter in this story will undoubtedly become a cash cow for a professional counselor. Let’s hope she gets a buy one/get one free deal and takes her mom in with her.
A woman who wants so desperately to get a do-over and be a high school cheerleader that she tries to impersonate her daughter? Puh-leeze. Even gallons of “Oil of Delay” can’t cover up 33 years of living, and precious few 30-somethings can pull off back flips and splits like a nimble teen.
Who could live with a hormonal teenage girl and think, “Gee, I want to be you!”?
Why not just ask to be strapped into a roller coaster for a non-stop, seven-year ride?
I squeezed everything I could from my teen years, but I have no desire to get on that ride again.
Had she succeeded in her scheme to “become” a teenager again, I’m pretty sure Ms. Brown would have been sorely disappointed. As with so many things in this world, the concept is better than the reality. That’s always the case when we try to act out roles not written for us.
We’ve probably all done it at one time or another – wanted to be someone else, look like someone else, have talents like someone else, attract attention and acclaim like someone else, have a house like someone else, a job like someone else, a family like someone else, a car like someone else.
This woman just pathetically and publicly walked into a trap that can snag any of us if we get so obsessed with what we want that we become blind to all we have.
God gives us grace to be the person He has created us to be, not a copy of anyone else. No one else’s shoes are quite as comfy or their paths quite as smooth as they may seem.
God does have a new identity for each of us, but not one that is stolen. When we place our lives in His hands, we receive the identity of Jesus Christ, and He sets about re-creating us into the uniquely best “us” we can possibly be. The character of Christ wrapped in our individual, sanctified personalities, gifts and quirks.
Forget pep rallies, pompoms, or anything else you’ve missed or lost along the way. God has something much better for you right here, right now. Trust me – it’s something to cheer about.
“…When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:15b-16)
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)