Hello, My Name is Goose Goose

A random responsibility I have at my school is to babysit the pre-school kiddos while their teachers get a well-deserved lunch break during the school's lunch hour! I love these little darlings-other than my middle schoolers, they are my favorite age group to teach.

They have also made me think quite philosophically.

One day as I was attempting to eat my salad while cleaning up boo-boo's, spilled apples, and other daily adventures, two giggling girls look at me and squeal  the following nugget of wisdom:

"YOU  ARE GOOSE GOOSE!" Say what?

"What is goose goose?" I question their idea.

"YOU!" they retort as one of them almost knocked over her chocolate milk due to her amusement.

"Um, friends, last time I checked they call me Ms. Caroline," I replied in a goofy voice.

"You're not Ms. Caroline! You're Ms. Goose Goose!!!!" And so the search for my identity begins.

                                                                                  *****
School was out for the day, and that meant I could finaaaallly check Facebook when I got home to my apartment-I'm kinda an addict. I posted what I THOUGHT was a witty status. Like away, folks!

But it wasn't. No one liked my status-except for the people like your mom who are SUPPOSED to.. I felt like an unpopular loser and shamefully took my status down. Hmph.

Why did this matter so much to me? It's Facebook, for crying aloud.

I guess it's more than that for me. It tells me who and how many people like me in my mind-based on who likes my stuff. And I guess how many people like me can easily affect how much I like ME each day.

But that's not the only thing I do. I list EVERY job or internship I've ever had up there, thinking maybe that I'm somehow more valuable if I can tell you about the two jobs I have right now as a Spanish/ESL teacher or that you'll think I'm well-traveled and a good Christ follower because of my student missionary terms in Peru, Guatemala and Texas or my summer camp stunt my junior year of high school.

I hope that the fact that I have 1,064 Facebook friends makes up for the month I sat alone at lunch my freshman year of high school or better about people I've felt rejected by.

And I worry that if I don't get tagged in at least one picture every week, people will think I'm boring.

Since different people and amounts of people like my stuff, I guess if I'm not careful how much I like myself changes to match that......

                                                                             ****
Sure enough, my name has changed. Good thing "Goose Goose" was not how I defined myself, because I am now "Mister." Mister? Really?! I asked 'em why I'm "Mister" and they said it's "because you are a boy." Great, do I look like a boy?!

(We had a talk about how that wasn't always a nice thing to tell someone before one of them spilled applesauce all over the table.....)

But once again, the pre-schoolers have a lot of wisdom without meaning to. You see, what people will call you will constantly change. Last week I was Goose Goose, now they call me "Mister." If I define my identity by what people may call me, it will change every week.

I need an unchangeable identity.

My name isn't Goose Goose. And it sure ain't Mister. My identity is this: I belong to God and I'm saved by His grace. Cuz that will never change, no mister, not evah. And it sure doesn't depend on Facebook likes.

 

FLYING GOOSE GOOSE GINGER!!!!!!!