5 Minute Friday ~ Identity?

Joining in with Lisa-Jo for another 5 Minute Friday...

"On Fridays, a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write gather to share what five minutes buys them. Just five minutes. Unscripted. Unedited. Real.

Your words. This shared feast.

If you have five minutes, we have a writing challenge.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back to 5 Minute Friday and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

OK, are you ready? Facebook chimed in last night and overwhelmingly voted for a prompt either about mothers or Mother’s Day. This was one of the suggestions and I love that it can apply to any and all, mother or not. So please give me your best five minutes on..."

Identity…

This is the creature there has never been.
They never knew it, and yet, none the less,
they loved the way it moved,

its suppleness, its neck, its very gaze,

mild and serene.

Not there, because they loved it,

it behaved as though it were.

They always left some space.
And in that clear unpeopled space they saved
it lightly reared its head,

with scarce a trace of not being there.

They fed it, not with corn,
but only with the possibility of being.

And that was able to confer such strength,

its brow put forth a horn. One horn.
Whitely it stole up to a maid - to be
within the silver mirror and in her.

I first heard this poem, Possibility of Being by Rainer Maria Rilke, over 20  years ago, while I was an undergrad at university, studying to become a teacher in the field of education. It has, in many ways, defined my teaching philosophy ever since.

It also identifies so much of what I believe I need to be as "Mama" to this gift-tribe of 8.

As a kid, I enjoyed kids - but mostly because it was "expected" of me. Growing up, I typically pictured myself as a missionary advernturer with some shadowy progeny running around somewhere, but that was never the focus. So while there was always this vague notion that someday a couple of kids would be a part of the equation, I never dreamed about becoming a mama... until I was one. I certainly never imagined having 8 kids - although that old TV series Eight is Enough was a favorite... 'course that makes me think these days that God was already tendering my heart to become the person He had in mind for today.

But back to that poem...

I love it because it speaks to me the truth that as a mama - I'm to encourage my precious ones to recognize the potentials, prospects and possibilities as well as the occasions and opportunities that God has for them

...not necessarily their own dreams (although often, God, in His grace and mercy, allows them to coincide)

...certainly not the black and white of my visions-sometimes-delusions.

(This photo includes our niece, Leandra, who is living with us this year.)

As their mama, I pray I help point them to the path that their identity must be found in the One Who always has been, Who is and Who always will be; in that occupation-sometimes-preoccupation, I also pray they see me living that my identity is not found in them and who they become, but in the very same One Who always has been, Who is and Who always will be...

Found in God - surrounded by His perfect plans, there is so much space to be and to become all that He hopes and prepares for us.

Is there any better identity?