Growing

"So often we miss life's beauty because we are preoccupied by its flaws. Instead of taking off our shoes to feel the feathery soft grass beneath our feet, we complain that it's growing so fast we don't have time to mow it. Rather than enjoying the gregarious woman behind the supermarket counter, we blame her friendly chatter for delaying the checkout line. And what about us? Who stares back from the mirror each morning? A child of God who is growing daily in His image or someone whose nose is too big or too small, whose hair is in a state of perpetual rebellion, or whose skin is aged and worn?"
(this was taken from the book Praying the Names of God.

This paragraph while it is powerful as a whole is not what struck me. It is one phrase, "...a child of God who is GROWING DAILY in His image..." I had to ask myself , "Am I growing daily in His image? Am I even striving to look and be like Him? To reflect His image? Daily?'"
I remember a time when I was twelve years old, shortly after I gave my life and heart to the Lord, crying on my Mom's lap because I failed the test that the Lord sent me that day. I don't remember what it was, probably growing angry at my siblings, ignoring my chance to serve, or simply a daily struggle. I'm not sure it matters what it was but I was so frustrated at myself and in tears because of it. How long has it been since I have cried at the end of the day for flopping it? Far to long. Oh! To have that childlike faith again! To often I don't give it a seconds thought. It challenged me to again look at the the things that come my way as a chance to grow, as a test of love from the Lord.

Kay