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God’s Fingerprints – You are who you were when you were ten

June 1, 2010 By Jean Wise

“You are who you were when you were ten,” my friend Diane said to me the other day. That statement fascinated and haunted me.  Is it true?
I think God wires us certain ways when we are created. We can learn outside and beyond those initial markings, but these often are our strengths and core passions.
Who were you at age 8, 9 or 10?  Thinking back I realized I was a writer and imaginative explorer. My fourth grade teacher called me a poet and gave me a special book of poetry at the end of the school year.  I remember summers playing in a make believe sailboat exploring deserted islands – in reality the boat was a smaller tree with great limbs to climb through and the island, the empty lot behind my house.
Now I don’t think we are locked into who we were at age ten, but if we take the time reflect on who we were as a child before all the adult masks were donned and the world told us who to be, we may discover our true selves – who God meant us to be.
What do you think?
Every life is a fairy tale written by the fingers of God. Hans Christian Andersen

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Comments

  1. blankClella says

    June 2, 2010 at 1:30 pm

    I was always as I am now. HA Scary isn’t it to those who know me? Seriously, Our God-given talents and personalities are a part of us even though we grow into them as we get older. I wrote in diaries and made up stories even as young as seven. Jeanie, you always make me think. Thanks. Love Clella

  2. blankStacy says

    June 2, 2010 at 12:21 am

    yes, both fascinating and haunting. I’m glad in some ways I haved changed but I do miss the frivolty of childhood 🙂

  3. blankJean Wise says

    June 1, 2010 at 10:12 pm

    Thanks for all the interesting comments. I love the idea of having our kids journal when they are around that age – to capture their hopes and dreams and see what follows through later on in life. Maybe the next post I will share with you all the experience i had with journaling a decision through a difficult year only to discover I actually wrote out the answer – to the date – in my journal the previous year. Yet I learned so much in the discovery also. but that is the next post……

  4. blankKaren says

    June 1, 2010 at 7:40 pm

    I believe in that a good bit. But change can happen, thank goodness. I wouldn’t want to be what I was then. 😛

  5. blankKristen says

    June 1, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    You know…these are really interesting thoughts. I think that that age is a very impressionable age. I tend to agree that for the most part…your core being is virtually the same now as it was then. I also think that there are so many circumstances that shape a life it can change who you are at your core (or superficially). This is going to give me some good food for thought for the rest of the day!! 😉 Tweeting it out for Tweet Me Tuesday!!

  6. blankSheri says

    June 1, 2010 at 2:34 pm

    I love this! I think it’s true; as we grow up we let life get in the way of who we really are, and we let others influence who we want to be. Children are so lucky to just be content with who they are!

    I think all the discontent happens at puberty, which my family is right in the middle of 🙂

  7. blankMichelle says

    June 1, 2010 at 2:30 pm

    Very interesting indeed. I think we are definitly just as God created us even at our younger ages. We are gifted with certain talents and provided certain passions but we certainly need to grow.

    I think I’ll try and remember when my two children are ten to create a journal for them of that year to look back on and see who they were becoming and how much they have grown since then!

  8. blankMelinda says

    June 1, 2010 at 2:06 pm

    I like the idea of that … I think it’s true for the most part. The core of who we are is the same. I remember winning a class writing contest when I was in second grade (I won a strawberry shaped notepad!) and that was the first confirmation that I could write and I can never remember wanting to do anything else (although I guess I did have a brief period when I thought about being a teacher.)

    I like thinking about this idea because I think it reminds us God put desires and purpose and gifts in us from when we were very small.

    Tweeting this out as part of Tweet Me Tuesday! ;0)

  9. blankJohnnie says

    June 1, 2010 at 2:01 pm

    I love knowing a little bit about ten-year-old Jeanie. Thanks for the fun post and the great Hans Christian Anderson post

Healthy Spirituality – a sacred space to nurture your faith, grow closer to God, and belong to a community, walking together on life’s journey. This blog is written by author, speaker and retreat leader Jean Wise

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