Let Your Light Shine: The World Needs the Real You!

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Let Your Light Shine

Who better knows how to ‘let your light shine’ than a child? I learn amazing things every day from my children.

Good Friends

Last night, some friends came over.  They have a five-year-old boy named Jordan, who is sweet and tender-hearted, and definitely all boy–kind of like my Ezra (he’s two). And they have a two-year-old girl, also sweet and strong. Our kids have had a lot of occasion to be around each other lately, and so over the last many weeks, my daughter, Yona, has taken to Jordan. She has just a few friends that she plays really well with, and this little boy has become one of her favorite playmates. 

When our friends first came over, the kids headed back to the playroom and started exploring. My girl stood close to me, looked up at me and whispered, “I want to play with someone. I want to play with Jordan.” 

“You can play with him–he’s right here. Now, I have to go into the kitchen.” I left them to their play. 

She Was Beaming

A few minutes later, Jordan and Ezra had brought some cars and trucks and a car transporter out to the living room, and were situated on the edge of our big white area rug. Yona had disappeared, and when she returned, she was wearing the prettiest thing she could find in her closet–her ballet recital outfit. She was beaming as she entered the room. She walked gingerly to the middle of the rug and turned to face the boys. She looked so sweet, and especially shimmery, because of the iridescent sequence covering her outfit. Her little shoulders shown bare. Her tiny fingertips took hold of the sheer, chiffon layer of her skirt as she waited for them to notice her, Jordan in particular. I could tell because her eyes were toward him, mostly, and she smiled patiently and hopefully.

Vulnerable

My antenna went up and I drew in my breath. I grew acutely aware of the moment. I slowly took the closest armchair I could find. It felt utterly vulnerable. To be honest, it felt way too vulnerable. Looking back, the feeling I had might have been something akin to talking someone down from a ledge.

“Wow baby, you look pretty!” I said, in my best attempt at alerting her audience to her presence.  Jordan looked up and, only slightly distracted from his play exclaimed, “Oh, wow!” and went back to his trucks. 

No Control

“Do you want to do your recital dance?” I knew she did, because she had often asked me to play the song so she could dance, just for the family at home, or at times for others who would come to the house. She smiled and nodded. I quickly searched the song and played it, announcing to the boys that Yona was going to dance for them.  I secretly prayed that they would stay and watch, but I sensed they weren’t likely to stay put much longer. This was one of those moments where you know just how little control you really have.  In my spirit I knew that what I really needed to do, was to let go.  I would just have to sit here and watch this thing play out. 

When Jordan heard the music (Jesus Loves Me), he looked up again and said, “Oh yeah! I like this one!” And as my sweet girl began to dance, my heart welled up with love and delight, and I just waited and watched her dance. She was just lovely.

Pretty near the beginning though, the boys had already turned and rolled their trucks back down the hallway and  into the bedroom. I watched her watching them as they went, all the time still dancing. I watched her smile fade, and I watched her eyes move slowly from the corner around which they had disappeared, back to mine. I kept my eyes on her and I kept smiling. I wasn’t sure what was going on in her heart, and I had no idea what to say or do. 

We Danced

“Mommy still wants to see you dance,” I assured her. She kept dancing, and near the end, at the part where she is supposed to have a partner, I stepped in “want me to dance with you?” 

She nodded. Her smile returned, and we held hands and danced together in a circle until the final pose.  

Afterwards, I certainly didn’t want to overlook her heart, or any pain she might have felt in this situation, but I also didn’t want to assume that she had felt rejection because of it. So I just gave her a great big hug and told her how beautiful her dance was, trying to gauge her emotion in those few moments. She seemed ok, so I told her to go and change so she could play outside, which she did. The kids played hard for hours before it was time to say “Goodbye.” 

Later, when we were getting ready for bed, I asked her if it had made her feel bad when the boys didn’t stay and watch her dance. She said “no.” And we left it at that. 

We Were Created for Love

This morning I have felt such a strong sense that this is a meaningful picture for me. Putting on my best dress, “putting myself out there” so to speak, is so, so vulnerable and often feels like the worst thing I could do. Because in the deep places within me, there are still traces of that message I got as a little girl: Don’t put yourself out there. You will be rejected. You will get hurt. Its safer to hide. Its better to be safe than sorry. 

But fear of man and fear of rejection are not Love. And we are created for Love. We were made to shine like stars in the universe. My little girl was brave and strong and beautiful. There was nothing wrong with what she did. She had clothed herself in beauty, in the best way her four-year-old heart could imagine. And she was radiant.

I want to be like her. I want to let myself be radiant. I want to shine like a twinkling star. 

More Learning

That reminds me of another time I learned something profound from this girl. Yona was maybe two years old. Our pastor often asked the kids if anyone had something to share before they were dismissed to go to children’s church. Sometimes a young person would come up and share a Scripture verse, or a picture they had drawn, or they might pray. Yona was sitting on my lap, and unprompted by me, she raised her hand. I was wondering what she was going to do, not sure if she even understood what she was agreeing to. When our pastor held the mic to her, she sang in a clear, confident two-year-old voice: 

Twinkle twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky

Twinkle twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

It was not religious, or spiritual. It was simple truth coming to us from a two-year-old: 

Stop overthinking it, and just go for it. Let your light shine like a star. Don’t let it phase you if nobody gets it.  Just be yourself anyway; do your thing; put yourself out there. Whatever you do, don’t hide, because You Were Made to SHINE.