The Collage of Us

Mona Lisa collage

Have you ever considered who you are?  I mean...you probably know who you are.  I'm Becky Darlene Sanders Dietz.  But I'm so much more.  I come from a collaboration of two families--the Sanders & Childress families.  But then it goes back...and back...and back.  I have red hair like the Childresses and a loud laugh like the Sanderses. I grew up around the sarcasm and a fun sense of humor in the Sanders family and some strong female genes in the Childress family.  And not only am I a mosaic of two families, I'm made up of many experiences with family and friends.  For instance, Peggy Morris added to the collage of Becky Sanders Dietz by being my best friend from 2nd grade until college.  She added lots of experiences to the mosaic of who I am.  Cousins helped make me who I am as did aunts & uncles.  Teachers also contributed to the framework of who I became.  Have you ever seen the TV show, "Who Do You Think You Are?"  When you watch it, you realize certain traits have been passed down for generations...things we had no idea we'd inherited from someone else.

None of us are an entity unto ourselves.   We are uniquely created and God has placed us in the boundaries which He determined for us.  We don't see it clearly now...but I believe some day we'll see how those beautifully light and gregarious days--and even those dark times which baffle us--will become a glorious rendition of our own collage.  We don't make up our own story even though we are given choices every day.  It's the input from other people's lives which also influence us--and our response to them.  I am a wonderful combination of my mom and dad who love/loved God and two brothers and a sister who loved, laughed, poked, and steadfastly influenced me while we lived together-until today.  Then I joined my story with Andy's and his families'.  They've contributed to my portrait for almost 40 years.  Even the families my children have married into have added sparkle to the watercolor of my life!

I'm amazed when I think of the input of others into my own life...the patchwork quilt of who I am.  And it causes me to want to invest light in the portrait of others.  But if our collages were full of only light, it wouldn't be as beautiful. So I can even be grateful for those who painted the dark colors in my life.

It's good to sit and recognize who we are.  We are a masterpiece which God is meticulously painting.