right where You are, that's where i left my heart.

"it was as though he (king david) literally boasted aloud, 'look at who my Shepherd is--my Owner, my Manager!' the Lord!"

--phillip keller a shepherd's look at psalm 23

i read an article yesterday of a girl in middle school whose mother worked as a high-profile supreme court correspondent for CNN. she would say to her friends and to people she met, "MY mom works for CNN; MY mom is on t.v....who is your mom?"

she was finding her identity in who her mother was--in her mother's job. to the girl, who her mom was also defined who she was as a daughter.

the article went on to say that one evening the mother came home to tell her daughter that she had been let go from her job because the network had eliminated the position. the daughter became angry and confused and for months would say things like, "well, my mom USED to work at CNN."

she was still finding her identity in her mother, but without the label of high-profile reporter, her daughter felt she had actually lost her own identity.

i think this sort of thing happens often because we are actually made to find our identities outside of ourselves.

king david boasted in being a part of a flock--the flock of his Shepherd...his God. he found his identity in his Master, the One who cared for him, who he trusted, sought the counsel of, rested in.

the girl from the article did the same, only she found her identity in another human. so when the one she rested in suddenly lost her belonging in her field of work, so did her "flock"--her daughter.

so then, we have to find ourselves and our identities...our rest...in the One who never changes, the only One who can actually give us identity because HIS identity never fails or changes.

He is always God, always Father, always Lover, Friend, Shepherd, Provider, Healer, Counselor...........