Who am I, really?

Las Vegas 4
Originally uploaded by BeanTipton.

The age-old question has been haunting me - who is Marla? Who is she? Let me tell you a bit about who I am and what I'm all about.

First, and most importantly, I am a Christian. So many people immediately put a stigma on people who claim to be Christian. Somehow that translates into "Tries to be Perfect, but is really a hypocrite." Let me dispel a little myth for you: Christians are not perfect and everyone can be a hypocrite. The point of being a Christian is to walk a life like Christ did. If you know Christ, you would know this is impossible, because He lived a perfect, sinless life. Yet, all mortal people were born into sin, because we live in a world that is the result of sin. We will be taunted and tempted by sin for our entire lives. So, it's a constant battle to walk like Him and aim to be like Him. We fall, just like everyone else in the world. That will not stop me from trying.

Second, I am a wife. Justin and I both put Christ first in our marriage and by doing that, our lives have been blessed immeasurably. I can easily say that our bond would never be as strong as it is if we didn't have Jesus.

All of the rest of my life falls into order under these two statements. Luke, my stepson, would fall directly under Justin. It's too bad that he lives in South Carolina, because when the three of us are together, we make such a great little family.

What would people classify me as? I would say most people might classify me by my shopping addiction, perhaps my sense of style. Some people might classify me as Type A personality - easily stressed, extremely control-oriented, super-clean-freak and highly organized. Certain people would say I'm a little shy, while other would say I'm quite loud.

I would say that if this how people generally classify me, then my entire life has been lived wrong. I am in the process of sharing my faith more and loving people with all of my heart. It's going to take some time to get people to know who I am, exactly, but I think if you sit down with me over a latte or something, it would be easy to see what's inside.

I love God. I love people. I love art and design. I love to help people and to serve them. I am generally optimistic, but not always realistic. I can't stand phonies, pretenders, obnoxious people who confuse their persnickety behavior with general conceit and know-it-all behavior. I am not highly political, but I have extreme compassion for what's going on overseas. At this point, I think my blog has turned into something no one wants to read, but let me end this by saying that I hope you have a better idea of what I'm all about.