Who am I?

Back in February my online blogger friend, Jenny, posted Labels and Identities — Then and Now. At that time, I had planned on writing my labels and identities but didn’t get to it until now.

People have all kinds of labels for everything. Every label can mean something a little different to others. If I say biker to you, do you think of a burly-looking, scary dude with a beard down to his belly, leather clad with tattoos peeking out? Or do you think of a bicyclist? Surely you don’t think of a skinny, white, tattoo-less, Christian girl because Christians don’t ride motorcycles — or do they?

Really to be completely honest, I hate labels. They always seem to pigeon-hole me and I feel I’m giving the wrong impression. Yet, how can I relate to you who I am? Perhaps I have to give you the label and then my definition of the label.

Stay-at-home-mom: Oh, this is a biggie. Most SAHMs have pre-school children at home they are taking care of — me? I have one daughter who is in school. When she was pre-school age though, she went to daycare. But, I am a mom and I stay at home during the work day.

Work-at-home-mom: This is another hazy description. Most people would ask “what do you do from home?” Meaning — “what can I do to make money from home?” If you know the answer, please tell me. I have tried to start many different kinds of businesses from home. Yes, I have actually taken in money from clients, but I think I’ve spent a lot more than I’ve taken in — not the best in business sense. Currently I’m trying to follow God’s will in writing — so if I just concentrate on His work (ministry) is that the same thing as having a business?

Surely there are moms out there who are saying that washing dishes, cooking, cleaning and doing laundry are all work. Any mom or wife for that matter — you know what? even single people have to do some of this too — that’s all work, but most of the time that doesn’t count as a job. Even if it did, I leave the laundry in the washer or dryer most of the time and dishes pile up on the counter until absolutely necessary to wash them.

Biker Mama: I shared about this one already.

Web developer – Geek: When people ask me what I do, it’s one of the hardest questions for me to answer. If I say web developer, they think I can make websites that do all kinds of flashy animation and such. Um, no. If they don’t really know much about websites or the Internet and I say I work on computers (I have before and still possess some knowledge to do so), they want to know if I can come wave my magic wand over their computer to make it run faster. If I say that I prefer to work on blogs, their eyes go cross as if I’m speaking a different language.

Christian: You’d think this one would be a good label, but frankly, it depends on what people have encountered before. Some people have only had experience with some Bible-thumping Christians who tell everyone they are going to hell. Most people unfortunately call Christians hypocrites and think they are really judgmental. When I say I am a Christian, I’m saying I believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Son; He died on the cross, rose the 3rd day and ascended into Heaven; He died so that I could be forgiven of my sins; I didn’t do a single thing to deserve any of it. This is what I believe. You may believe something different. I’m not going to judge you or throw my Bible at you.

Tomboy: When I was younger, I was a bit of a tomboy. I hated dresses. Laughed at my older sisters who dyed their hair at the first sign of gray in their twenties. Remembering my youthful exclamations of “growing gray gracefully,” I’ve been dying my hair for quite awhile. I love pickup trucks so much so that I asked Dad for one when I was 17. He bought me a Ford Ranger — not exactly what I was thinking. I should have specified “big” truck, but the Ranger was a good truck. I’d learn everything about cars (which I promptly forgot when I had a kid) just so I could impress the guys.

You know, come to think of it — I have tendencies towards male-dominated fields. Like web developers and geeks? Are mostly men. I know there are other women out there who know their stuff. It just seems like it’s more men. Motorcycle riding is the same way — mostly men. However, I’m trying my best to overcome these tomboyish ways with makeup and dresses — well, no dresses on the bikes, but when I get off the bike, I can dress up

The only label that you can really stick on me that is 100% accurate is sinner. I am so far from being perfect. I mess up all the time. Many, many days I feel hundreds of miles away from God. So call me what you will, whatever you need to do to describe me. I know the only accurate label is sinner — and I’ll even add forgiven to that because I know I am a forgiven sinner.

So what kind of labels do you have?