What are you doing here? - by Jackie Ribbe
Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 1:22PM By: Jackie Ribbe
This familiar question God posed to Elijah in 1 Kings 19 has been one that has taken significant meaning to our family while we are here in South Carolina. When we first came to Columbia in August, my answer to this question was that we were here for Rob to do research for his PHD dissertation, and for our family to have a new experience. It didn’t take long to realize that my answer would soon look very different!
It is a very unique opportunity to be taken from all you know as familiar and placed in a temporary setting that holds very few pre-conceptions of who you are or what you do. Yes, people knew we were from the north as soon as we spoke a sentence! Some knew we worked at a camp or were from Wheaton College. But in general our identity was basically unknown. Not only did people not know us, but our familiar way of doing things also changed….school was different, some of the food was different, our closest friends were a thousand miles away and even our style of worship at church changed. In the midst of this, I began to see that I was not just what “Three Lakes” made me to be. Here I wasn’t a director’s wife, a church secretary, a Northwoods girl, a Bible study leader, or a close friend. This left me with the pending question of “who am I really?”As God often does when he’s trying to teach me something, everything in my life seemed to point to the same topic….songs on the radio, Bible study readings, sermons, retreat themes, etc. IDENTITY. When most of what I know is stripped away, what is left? God in his kind and gracious way began to lead me through a time of self reflection and prioritization. Then he blasted me with the greatness of himself! What I am learning during this sabbatical in SC is that my identity begins with knowing who God is, who he created me to be and then living into that. Wow! I am made in God’s image plus crafted into a one-of-a-kind unique creation! What is even more amazing is that I can be that anywhere! I don’t need my comfortable house, peaceful landscape, familiar community or predictable lifestyle to be what God created me to be.
My challenges to those reading this are: Who are you in God’s presence? Who does God know you to be? What have you let define your identity? Then remember that our calling may be a temporary thing, but our intrinsic value to God never changes or ends--that is our true identity!
What am I doing here? I am being invited into the presence of God. It is here that I will stay. It is here that I am really known!
The Ribbe Family in South Carolina.
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