I drink black coffee when I really like lattes, and I wear my hair straightened when I really like the way it naturally falls. I like to hold printed pictures in my hands, but I never take the time to develop them and always settle for Instagramming them instead. I appreciate the opportunity to be getting an education at such a respected university, but there's a part of me yearns to do something that is, according to my internal voice, far bigger than this. I think it is important that people are celebrated, but some of that thought selfishly stems from my desire to be celebrated myself. I surround other people with myself, but forget to surround myself with other people. I talk about things more than I pray about them and I talk about people more than I talk about the world. I love dogs, like a lot actually, but I think cats can be man's best friends, too. I appreciate loneliness, but don't know how to admit that. I desire companionship, but don't know how to express that.

I don't know why I do so many things that aren't fully representative of whom I am. It's not even because those things are better or more accepted by society, nor that I am seeking any sort of approval from myself.

I think I just sometimes forget to take the time to recognize things about the way I am and in what way it is important. We spend so much time focusing on who we are becoming or who we were. We, also, spend so much time on who other people are becoming or who they were. I dare you to take a guiltless moment, selfishness aside, to notice about yourself the things that you like and don't like. It's really beautiful that The Lord has created us exactly how we are, as who we are, and has designed all that it entails. He has given us senses; to taste good food with, touch animals with, see sunrises with, and hear the laugh of babies with. We experience life because we were created with the ability to, so why don't we appreciate our genuine joys in order to show gratitude to our God?

Figuring out who we are can seem like a journey, but it's not one that we have to have all figured out in a matter of seconds. Doing life with Jesus is a marathon and not a sprint. Even with all of these earthly things that help make up who we are, He makes it truly simple at the end of the day. Yes, even when I'm not entirely sure of who I am, I still know whose I am.

Ultimately, beyond my love for lattes and my longing for fellowship, I am defined by one thing overall: I am a child of God.