by Laura on This I Believe.
Close your eyes, imagine yourself on a winter's day and you're out for a walk. Snowflakes gracefully float around you. You notice their intricate and unique pattern as they land on your sleeve. Looking quietly, you admire their beauty and simplicity. It's as if the tiny flakes seem to know they're one of a kind and have no need to compare themselves to one another.
Just like the snowflake, there is no human being on earth exactly the same. I believe every person is created in the image of their Creator and is made with an originality only He could create. I felt this immensely in my life because I was born with a disability. Having to face reality, I learned at a young age that I wasn't quite like every else around me. I had to ask myself, "If I wasn't 'normal' then what am I?" The answer came through my faith and scripture like Psalms 139, verses 13-15, where it says "You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb..... I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Genesis 1, verse 27 also helped me understand my beliefs as it states, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Words like this and others give me peace and understanding in the moments I doubt my "normalness".
Even when I know my uniqueness is an important part of me, I often wonder why I still so easily conform to society's system of comparisons and standards. I then realize it's those struggles that teach me how to be even more grounded in my belief of being created in the image of my Maker. It helps me to be more like the snowflake that is unique and one of a kind.
People often ask me if I ever wish I wasn't disabled. I usually pause for a moment , and then I reply, "No, because it makes me who I am and without it I wouldn't be the person you know." Though that's true, maybe next time I'll just say, "Hey, it doesn't really matter because I'd be a snowflake either way!"
Just like the snowflake, there is no human being on earth exactly the same. I believe every person is created in the image of their Creator and is made with an originality only He could create. I felt this immensely in my life because I was born with a disability. Having to face reality, I learned at a young age that I wasn't quite like every else around me. I had to ask myself, "If I wasn't 'normal' then what am I?" The answer came through my faith and scripture like Psalms 139, verses 13-15, where it says "You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb..... I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Genesis 1, verse 27 also helped me understand my beliefs as it states, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Words like this and others give me peace and understanding in the moments I doubt my "normalness".
Even when I know my uniqueness is an important part of me, I often wonder why I still so easily conform to society's system of comparisons and standards. I then realize it's those struggles that teach me how to be even more grounded in my belief of being created in the image of my Maker. It helps me to be more like the snowflake that is unique and one of a kind.
People often ask me if I ever wish I wasn't disabled. I usually pause for a moment , and then I reply, "No, because it makes me who I am and without it I wouldn't be the person you know." Though that's true, maybe next time I'll just say, "Hey, it doesn't really matter because I'd be a snowflake either way!"
6 comments:
Beautiful...
I love that!
That was so beautiful.
Ummmmm. Duh Tara, my Stake Pres. was with us. I repented right afterwards, and what can I say about the men they are both cute.
Thank You!
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