I am...

My 15 year class reunion was this weekend. Not sure what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised by a relaxing and enjoyable time with a group of kind, funny, cheerful & laid back old friends. At almost the conclusion of our get-togethers, we were posed with the question, "So, what do you do?".

I should have expected and prepared for such an obvious question when I haven't seen people for over a decade, but I didn't...and because of the fact that I really hate that question, I fumbled my way through it with several little factoids that amount up to basically nothing. The reason I hate that question is:

1. My vocation as a wife and mother is difficult to quantify in terms of our cultures obsession with "career", and
2. The jobs I've had and degree I've earned tell very little about "who" I am.

So what would my preferred answer be? Certainly that's complicated, but here's a stab: I am a friend. As a friend, I love to show love to my family, I love to serve my husband and children and neighbors and friends and strangers. My model is Christ, who laid down his life to serve the others around him...and although I have a long way to go, it is this that drives me.

I mean, there are many other "things I do"...go garage saling, spend time in my flower gardens, way to much time on the computer, homeschool my kids, play Bunco, exercise, sew, curl up with good books, play with my kids, watch movies, bake, bake, bake, try to eat healthy, take lots of naps, clean out my paper piles every few months, on and on and on.

But as I laid in bed mulling this over (at 5:30 this morning, ugh!), being a friend is what stood out as the most obvious label. Now, whether this fits in the eyes of others or not, I'm not sure (Rustin, you better let me know if I'm self-deluded) but next time around at least I'll have an answer!