Brenda’s Blog – April 23, 2024
“What is your most embarrassing experience?” The ice breaker at a Sunday School party produced groans. No one carries these anecdotes around, prepared for a quick telling. However, in the spirit of the game I dug deep. Not because I have so few, but quite the opposite… Which one to share?
I settled on a phone call in the early 2000s. “Brenda Smith? I am a sculptor commissioned to do a bust of your father and the photos I have just don’t give me another direction for the nose. I am told your nose is just like your father’s. Would you consider coming to my studio and sitting for me while I work on this part of his face?”
Never did I imagine “sitting for a rendering of my nose” as a line in my resume.
I visited several times, sat very still, and left feeling I had made a great contribution.
The bust sits in a ministry’s headquarters named for him… with my nose!
In Amy Grant’s early career she recorded a song with the title “My Father’s Eyes.” It referenced her desire to have her heavenly father’s eyes. To see the needs of others with compassion, to see the world with eyes of hope and God’s love.
Certainly, I, too, want to reflect my heavenly father’s eyes, but I also want to reflect the character of my parents. I count it joy when someone says, “You look like your Mom.” I hear those words desiring that more than a physical similarity is noticed. Showing her gentle spirit, her unfailing love, and her generosity would be a high privilege.
What have you received from your parents that speaks of legacy, heritage, and continuity? What traits remind others of your parentage?
In what ways have you started looking more like your heavenly father? When others see Jesus through us that is great joy! Shine for Him!