Lord prepare me to serve you.  Strengthen my heart so that I may be brave enough to speak up for you.  Help me to take an active part in raising my standards so that I may be a better representative of you and so that I can proclaim you with my words and actions.

Zits

Lesson 1:

1. Humility
1. It's hard to be proud of your looks when you have zits all over you face.

Lesson 2:

2.     Self Confidence

a.      I learned to be confident in the fact that I was beautiful in God’s eyes.

Lesson 3:

3.     Patience and Trust

a.      I will wait for the Lord to do as He wills.

b.     I believe that if the Lord wants me to get married in the future He will make my skin clear or make my husband love me despite them.
c.      Maybe the reason teenagers have zits is that God wants them to wait till they are older to be in any kind of relationship.

Lesson 4:

4.     Commitment

a.      After going to the dermatologist, I got a lot of different skin creams to put on at 3 different times a day and pills to take 2 times a day.  They made my skin burn like crazy and peel constantly.  On top of that it made my skin look red and blotchy and it made my face burn more when I put cover-up on.
b.     It made me think of the commitment we make when we decide to convert and become Christians.  Although it may not be this gruesome it definitely won’t always be easy, but if we really want to make our goal we have to stick through it.

Lesson 5:

5.     My own lack of Control

a.     After a few days of using the lotions my skin burned so bad I couldn’t concentrate on anything else and I missed my old zit-cover skin and I realized that God doesn’t need my help in getting rid of my zits and He knows my desires and, if it serves His purpose, He will clear them. If it is not His will that my face is clear then I sincerely pray that I will have zits for the rest of my life.

Lesson 6:

6.     Gratitude

a.       I don’t know why God chose to teach me so much through my zits but I am thankful.

Made this in art class. This was taken before it was finished. Now it has branches in the background and its leaves are colored in. It's hanging on my grandma's wall.

Onion

I was in the kitchen cutting onion one day when my dad walks in.  He goes to me and tries to show me a "better way" to cut it.  Regardless of my limited experience in the kitchen the fact that he, a guy, was telling me, a girl, how to do something as simple as cutting a stinkin' onion really ticked me off.  I stood in bitter silence while he finished cutting the onion the "right way" until he stepped back, looked at me, and told me that the first argument he and mom ever had was over cutting onion. This made me laugh.  My deepest sympathies to you mom.

Choosing to Love

      We are told as Christians that we should love our enemies and our brother/sisters.  I never really gave this much thought until recently.
      After I got my license I got quite a few babysitting jobs.  There were 2 babysitting jobs that were pretty regular.  One was for a single mother and her 5 year old daughter.  The other was for my cousin and her 3 daughters.  It was easy, even natural, to love these three girls.  They are all cute and sweet.  Plus their parents believe in the same wonderful God I do.  The fact that I am related to them only made me more comfortable in their presence.  Loving them made babysitting an enjoyable process.  I would look forward to spending time with them and was better able to care for their needs, for I served with eagerness and would punished them only with the desire that they would become better people when they were older (not that I ever had to go beyond a serious tone to get them to listen). 
       For the other family it was a different story.  It wasn't that the single mom's daughter was any less sweet, or that the mother was any less appreciative or had any less love for her daughter, but she was not family and she did not live a Christian life which made me feel more distant from her.  But God loves her and her daughter as much as He loves me.  Yet it was harder to get up to babysit for her and I would drag my feet on the way to the car.  I complained and, although not out loud, whined to God about helping me get through another day of babysitting.  I forced myself to treat the girl like I treated my cousin's kids but it didn't come naturally at first.  After a while it became too hard not to fall in love with this charming little girl and hard working (if not a little lost) mother.  After that I was better able to serve the Lord with this family.  I was more willing to talk about God and, when I prayed, it wasn't for me, but for the salvation of this family and their wellbeing.
      The Lord taught me that although you can perform the same action (like taking care of a child); it will all amount to nothing if not done with a servant's heart.

Intro

I started this blog so that I could write down my thoughts and things God has taught me.  Mostly so I won't forget what I have learned.  I pray that God will be glorified through it.