As promised…a real post!

A friend of mine urged me to compile a list of some of things that I have learned in my 18 years of life. Now this list is NOT complete; the complete list would take about 18 years to read…you know what they say about learning something new every day…I have learned so much throughout my life thanks to God, my parents, friends and many other influential characters.

Here are some of the more humorous highlights:

1. White shirts and colorful condiments are very attracted to one another.
2. 15 SPF isn’t nearly enough.
3. Trying to dance is dangerous …you might seriously injure yourself.
4. If you carry around hand sanitizer, you will be a hero.
5. Peanut Butter M&M’s taste good…mosquito repellant does not.
6. If you are put on hold by a technical support agent from some non-English speaking area of the Far East, remember, she can still hear everything you say…she might even come back on the line and ask if you’re a professional singer.
7. If you are watching a suspenseful movie, the phone will ring during the climax.
8. Walking into Jack in the Box and asking for a cup of ice water might be much harder than originally expected.
9. The green stuff that comes with sushi is SPICY and should not be consumed in large quantities.
10. Some people have no sense of humor.

Matthew 6:27 - Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

The answer to this question is simple: Nobody. Yet we so often go through life carrying the burdens of worry, anxiety and fear.

I have been convicted of this over the past couple weeks.

Last week, we came home from a trip to find that our house had been flooded. Apparently a pipe had broken in an upstairs bathroom causing water to not only pour into the bedroom but to soak through the floor into the family room below.

Because of the flood, our whole house has been turned upside-down, and up until tonight, we had been staying in a hotel.

To add to the stress of all the work being done in the house and the general disruption of the daily routine, this coming Friday and Saturday, I will be taking the biggest test of my whole life, one that will, hopefully, certify me as a paralegal.

Studying the massive amount of information that will be tested and receiving failing grades on practice tests had caused me to become quite overwhelmed with feelings of despair and discouragement. But then I was reminded of Philippians 4:6 which tells us to be “anxious for nothing.” Through meditation on this verse, and much prayer, I have given the burden of anxiety to God and am now trusting Him completely, willing to thank Him for whatever score I receive on the test. With this in mind, please pray for me!

So next time you’re tempted to worry, remember that God commands us not to and that worry won’t accomplish anything!

Another event of last week was that I had the privilege of leading a Children’s program at a missionary organization’s staff retreat. I had taught at the same event last year and was excited to be invited back. I had a great time teaching this group of enthusiastic kids.

Some pictures:

I reread my last post and realized that I left out the MOST important thing that ALWAYS happens in a superhero movie. It fits in between numbers 5 and 6:

5.5. Villain imperils superhero’s significant other…

Anyway, over Memorial Day weekend, a friend and I were asked to teach the children at a church’s annual retreat at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. We had fun cruising around the campus on our scooters during our spare time. It was really a great experience and I think we were able to make a huge impact on the kids.

For example, the first night I asked the kids if they knew how they could get to heaven. They had no idea. So, realizing that I should never assume that church kids know the Gospel, I was able to adapt my Bible lessons to incorporate the salvation story into each one. By the end of the week these kids knew the Gospel inside and out and were equipped and excited to tell others. That was really awesome to see.

We also taught them the Ten Commandments, 5 Bible verses, and a few songs which the parents absolutely ate up at the parent presentation.

It was an amazing weekend and I walked away learning two important lessons:

Face to Face

A few days ago, we had our sliding glass door replaced. Several years ago, resulting from a home school science experiment, the airspace between the layers of the dual-paned glass had formed blotchy white crystals. This caused the door to look murky and cloudy and made looking outside a difficult task. When it was finally replaced, I joked that I would probably end up walking right through it…it was so clear. Isn’t this just like our lives? Our “experiments” with what the world has to offer cause our view of God to become murky and cloudy and we lose focus of what our lives are really all about. It will be a glorious day when we no longer have to look through our “cloudy glass doors” to see what God has prepared for us.

Just a thought…  

1 Corinthians 13:12 - For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face…