WHO AM I?

“Who am I really?” she thought to herself
After he preached that we should ‘Get Real.’
Was she not the person she thought who she was?
Perhaps her perception of 'self' had to heal.

Should she believe what the others have said?
The good and the bad? The harsh and the kind?
So many friends loved her to pieces.
Perhaps did their love for her render them blind?

One day to a friend she unburdened her past
With fear let him see the depth of her soul.
For a moment what he thought, truly mattered.
Did he agree she was authentic and whole?

Will the real person please take a step to the light!
Was the real person the one who she was in the past?
Was she all those labels they had stuck her with?
Or did telling her story free her at last?

Who is she now, day in and day out?
Is she the one she always wished she could be?
Perhaps she is who ‘they’ gossiped and whispered.
Is she just deluded, refusing ‘their truth’ to see?

Her thoughts simply rambled and would not keep still.
Father, I need you to answer my prayer.
Teach me to be the person You want me to be.
Oh Lord can you hear me? Oh Lord, are you there?

Then in her spirit these words echoed endlessly!
You are my child! I have called you friend!
Your sins are forgiven! Your soul has been healed!
You are loved with a love that will never end.

For the real you, my dear, is who I know you are!
With flaws, imperfections, just plain, simple you.
You’re not even who you think yourself to be!
You are becoming like Jesus in all that you do!

Not yet perfected, still learning each day.
Facing the truth of what was, is, will be.
For everything that has happened to you
Has made the real you - your destiny.

Karin Ristau