There are three… count them… THREE ladies at the school where I teach who are with-child.  What an amazing and exciting thing it is to be expecting a new life to enter the outside world!  While I will never have children of “my own,” and at the expense of possibly damaging my reputation 😜, I must admit that I am a very good aunt, great-aunt, and honorary aunt.  With 4 nieces, 2 great-nephews, and 38 honorary nieces & nephews (offspring of my friends), I have had decades of experience with the littles.  I am also blessed with great physical strength, am notoriously over-protective, and never play favorites.  So take in all of that information, and it shouldn’t be surprising that whenever someone around me is pregnant, that lady automatically gains a body-guard, watch-dog, and obnoxious little sister (regardless of her age) whether she likes it or not.

The TV series Family Matters ran from 1989 until 1998.  It has one of the best-known and well-loved characters of the time:  Steve Urkel.  The character of Steve was intended to be a one-time guest, but he was so popular with the audience, that the writers made him a regular character on the series.  If you aren’t familiar with the show… A.  Go watch it! and B.  just to explain a bit, the character of Steve Urkel is a stereotypical “nerd” guy, and a daily intrusion on his neighbors… whether they like it or not.

Steve Urkel is the next-door neighbor of the Winslow family.  Though he always means well, Steve is socially awkward and rather clumsy, so he often causes a great deal of trouble for the Winslow family rather than providing the assistance he intended.  Steve is also very intelligent, and later in the series, he creates a machine to suppress his nerd-side and enhance his cool-side.  The result of Steve entering this machine is the exit of his alter-ego, Stefan Urquelle.  Steve goes back and forth between his regular form and his Stefan form over several episodes, and eventually Stefan proposes to his/Steve’s love interest from the series, Laura Winslow.  Laura accepts the proposal, but later on chooses the original Steve over Stefan.

Steve compared himself to others, and what he thought his beloved Laura would want, and then he changed himself to be such.  Sure it was good for a while, but he found out that he, in his natural form (nerdy, awkward, pest of a personality and all), was truly loved and desired more than the changed version of himself.  Isn’t that like us, though?  As humans, we often compare ourselves to others and either find ourselves lacking, or feel as if we are better than those around us; rather than focusing on all the good we and others have to offer just by being our own unique selves.  In Galatians 5:26, the apostle Paul says, “Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”  Everyone is special and wonderful, and everyone has something great to offer the world.  Just because something is different, doesn’t mean that it isn’t good or worthy.  It’s funny that as I pondered this blog entry, my sister spoke on this exact topic at church yesterday.  Perhaps it’s something we all need to be reminded of in our daily living. 

God created each of us perfect and unique in His image (Psalm 139:13-14, Genesis 1:27).  Our personalities are not a surprise to our Creator.  Can we get a bit off and need someone to lovingly guide us to the right path?  Yes.  That is the story of my life!  But quirks and oddities are just part of what makes us who we are.  You will never please everyone, and there is no need to change who you are in order to try to satisfy everyone you meet.  Just as Steve Urkel discovered, you’ll find that those who are meant to walk with you through life will love you just as you are, and will always prefer the real you over a fabricated you.

Don’t waste your life comparing what used to be to what is current.  Don’t waste your life comparing yourself to someone else, and don’t take it to heart if someone else does the comparing of you.  Jaleel White, the actor who played Steve Urkel, does not define himself by that character.  Sure, he is the source of much nostalgia for 90s kids, and in interviews he has said that he has no issues with people recognizing him as such.  He embraces that part of his life, but he has also grown and continued on in life.  He has a 10-year-old child of his own now, and children of the 2000s and 2010s have very different interests in entertainment than the sitcoms of their parents and grandparents.  What is the point in comparing then to now?  Why limit this man to a character he played in his youth?  He doesn’t take to heart what other people want to see in him.  The important thing is to be confident in who you are and in Who’s you are.  See yourself and others the way Jesus does.  He sees you and those around you as someone so special He was willing to give His life to save.  

I don’t know anyone more awkward than I am.  Thankfully, the Lord has provided me with great family and friends who lovingly explain when my words and/or actions are not socially acceptable, and provide alternatives should the situation present itself again in the future.  Do I always learn my lesson?  Nope.  I can be pretty dense when it comes to those things.  However, those who know me best and love me most know that no matter what, I always mean well and always have the purest of intentions… similar to Steve Urkel and the Winslow’s.  I may annoy those poor pregnant women with my frequent check-ins and spazzing out over their carrying anything heavier than a coffee mug, but hopefully the fact that I care about their well-being, and that of the precious cargo they carry, outweighs how much of a pest I am.  😉 Thankfully, they are all absolutely wonderful and very good sports, just like the ever-patient Winslow family. 😊

Steve Urkel has the brain, and I have the brawn… and we’re both fiercely loyal and protective in our own ways.  Despite our awkwardness, we are loved for who we are.  Do you, like me, have a bit of Steve Urkel in you?  Are you like the Winslow family and have a Steve Urkel in your life?  Read Colossians 3:13-17.  Do you make allowance for the faults of others?  Do you have people in your life who make allowance for yours?  Or do you find comparisons from yourself and others consuming your life?  Take some time today to make a point of looking at yourself through the eyes of the Lord.  Be excited about what you have to offer the world rather than feeling superior or inferior to others.  Do the same for those around you and look at them the way God does.  Build up and encourage those around you rather than being envious or prideful.  So what if you’re a bit weird and awkward or have talents, interests, or whatever that are vastly different from what others expect of you?  Those quirks and oddities make you the wonderful, remarkable YOU!  A special YOU that God has created for a grand purpose in this life!  A purpose that has been in the work since long before your mother had to be mindful about how much weight she carries, what she should and should not eat and drink, and the possibility of over-protective people in her life constantly checking in.  😆  That purpose, my dears, is something to celebrate!