Are You a Lifeguard or a Pool Monitor?

   Imagine you see a pool where children are splashing, playing, and having fun. You smell sunscreen and chlorine. There is laughter all around. You lie down and just as you begin to relax you hear screams and splashing. You get up quickly and look at the pool. There is a child splashing in the deep end. The child is screaming when it comes up out of the water. And, when the child goes under the water, you see bubbles. You realize the child is drowning.

   Frantically you look around and locate the lifeguard. You run over to the lifeguard and ask the lifeguard why he isn’t helping the child. The lifeguard looks down at you and says “oh, I’m not a lifeguard I am just a pool monitor. I’m supposed to let a person who is drowning know that he or she is drowning.” The lifeguard looks down at the child and says “hey, you are drowning.”

   Your mouth drops and you cannot believe what you are hearing. You grab the life saver from the pool monitor and throw it to the child. You are hoping that she would have the sense to grab it and save her life.This situation is a metaphor. Obviously if you see someone drowning you are going to try and do whatever you can to save that person. But, if you see someone who does not know Christ and is going down the wrong path are you going to be willing to say to them “you are not saved?” That’s all well and good if you are willing to do that but you need to take another step too.

   The pool monitor just sat there and told the girl she was drowning but that was not enough. Christians can walk around looking at the world and say “you are not saved.” But, if we do not tell them how to be saved are we actually saving them? Are we following the great commission?

   In the story you throw the life saver to the child. Thus, you are telling the child how to save herself. At that point you hope that the child will grab onto the only thing that can save her. When witnessing to the lost we can tell them how to save themselves but then we just need to hop that they will choose to accept that salvation. That’s not where our job stops though.

   Let’s say that child decided to grab onto the life saver. Would you just walk away from that child after she grabbed that? No, you would make sure she was okay. You would find her parents and make sure they understood what happened. As Christians, after someone accepts Christ, we need to come alongside that person and help her in her walk with God. This may mean we stay in contact, make sure she is alright, answer questions, and help her find someone who she can trust to help her in her walk with God.

   Our job does not end when that person accepts Christ; in fact that is only the beginning. If we are willing to help that person accept Christ we should be willing to help that person in her walk with Christ too.

   So are you willing to save the lost? After those people accept Christ are you willing to come alongside them and help them in their walk with Christ?

   Romans 10:9, Mark 16:15-16, Hebrews 10:24-25

When Insecurities Come Up...

   I am a person who enjoys joking around and picking on my friends. It is one way that I show my love and show I care about people. I also enjoy picking on my sister’s friends. 
   One day we were at my sister’s soccer game. We were waiting for the game to start. My sister was with her friends and I was with the coaches. I knew that one of my sister’s friends did not like it when I stared at her. I started staring to see how long it would take her to notice that I was staring at her. My sister’s friend finally noticed.
   My sister’s  friend looked at me then looked away. I chuckled and my sister’s friend decided to whisper something to my sister. Now, I know teenage girls because I was one at some point in my life. And I knew this girl didn’t actually say anything to my sister. She was just pretending that she did say something so that I would freak out or stop looking at her.
I looked over at my sister and I said, “she didn’t actually say anything, did she?” My sister laughed and so did her friend. Then my sister confirmed that her friend did not actually say anything. 
   This whole situation got me thinking, “why exactly did my sister’s friend pretend to say something?” She did it because she wanted me to stop looking at her. But, she also did it because she was insecure. She was insecure because I was looking at her and she thought that I was making judgements about her. That’s how girls are. They/We assume that we are not good enough and every one is judging us.
   Then, if we feel insecure, we want to take the insecurity, or attention, off of us. My sister’s  friend did this by pretending to whisper about me. I knew this was all a game because we have played it before. But, there was a time in my life where I would have thought about what my sister’s friend said about me. I would have let that insecurity fester until all I thought about was what my sister’s friend said.
   But, I did not do that because I have changed.  I know that it does not matter what others think about me because I have God with me. All that matters is that I know my identity is in God. If I have peace in him then no matter what people say about me, think about me, or do to me doesn’t matter. I have confidence in myself through God. 
   No matter what age you are you will face people who do not like you, have opinions about you, and will do mean things to you. But, if you have faith and trust in God then it doesn’t matter what they say or do. The things of this world are temporary. We can choose to forgive those who hurt us because we have been forgiven much.
   So, do you care too much about what others think about you? Do you know your identity is in Christ? Will you choose to trust in God and forgive others?
   John 1:12 and 2 Timothy 12:7 

The Best of Both Worlds: God's Plan For Me

   I’ve written a lot about God’s plans in the past (link to blog here). However, it isn’t always easy to trust in his plan. It is especially difficult to trust when you are in a time of change, but I can attest that he always has a plan for you.

   I have been in a time of change since February. That is when I completed my student teaching. Since that time, I have been substituting in various districts and applying to different schools for a teaching position. Meanwhile, I was also offered a position as the goalie coach for the Girl’s Soccer Program at Donegal High school, which was a volunteer position.

   This summer I have been waiting and praying for a teaching position. But, while I was waiting and praying, another opportunity popped up. I was offered the Junior Varsity coaching position for Women’s Soccer at Donegal High School. It was hard for me to decide what to do because I was looking for a full-time teaching position and I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle both.

   I prayed a lot about what I should do and this last week I talked with the coach again. He said that he is willing to work with me. I decided to take the position on Tuesday and the coach announced that I was the JV coach Thursday.

   I came home Thursday evening and I had a call from Mount Calvary Christian School. They had decided to offer me a part-time, 3 days a week, Kindergarten position. This position worked out really well with my coaching job because I will not be as busy as if I would have a full-time teaching position. Also, this school is really close to home and Donegal.

   I officially accepted the Mount Calvary position today. God really does have a plan for everyone’s life. He knows how important teaching, coaching/playing soccer, and helping others are to me. What is amazing is that a lot of the different parts of my life is coming together, so I really get the best of both worlds (soccer and teaching). I trust that this is his plan for me. And, I hope you believe/know that he also has a plan for you.

   So, will you trust that God has a plan for you? Will you follow his plan for you when it becomes clear that you are meant to follow it?

   Proverbs 19:21, Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:6-7

   P.S. I believe that this is God’s plan for me, but I still think that this will be a challenging year because of how busy I may be. If you could all be praying that I am able to work my hardest in all I do, encourage others to be their best, and get the rest I need in order to do all of that.

Sharing Our Stories

   I love stories. I like to listen to just about any kind of story. Ever since I was a kid I realized that stories help me discover things about the world and people. I especially enjoy hearing other people’s stories. It doesn’t matter if the story is something funny or if it is their testimony. Those stories help me see who those people are and how they got there. On top of that it tells me how people have grown.

   Testimonies are an amazing thing. They are also very special and important. I was once told by someone that I don’t need to tell my story. And, they are right. It is my choice whether or not I tell my story. But, I felt like that person was only saying that because she/he did not want to be real. This person did not want others to see his/her underbelly, his/her downfalls, or his/her shortcomings. This person was afraid of showing others how she/he became who she/he was.

   In general I have found that people are afraid of showing who they are/telling their stories. They do not want others to see how bad they used to be. But, the stories that I have found the greatest hope in are the stories where people reach an ultimate low just to be lifted up in redemption through Christ. Those are the stories that tend to penetrate peoples’ hearts. Those stories help others see that no one is too far gone to be redeemed through Christ.

   On top of that, Christians need to realize that our stories are not ours. They are partially ours. But, our stories are actually God’s story through us. Thus in a way, our stories are not our own to tell. That is why we should not be afraid to show others the real us. In a world full of people who wear masks and have walls up Christians are called to be different. We are called to be real and show the love of Christ. One way we can do that is to share our stories in order to relate better to others and show Christ’s love in our lives.

   So, are you willing to share your story of God’s work through you? If you are not, what can you do in order to start sharing your story?

   2 Corinthians 12:9, Matthew 5:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17

A Pep Talk During War

   We are at war. You may be thinking, “there is not any war in my country.” Or, you may be thinking I am talking about a physical war. I am not. We are all at war whether we know it or not.

In Avengers: Age of Ultron there is a scene where Hawkeye is giving a pep talk to Scarlet Witch (link to clip or watch below). Hawkeye tells Scarlet Witch she has a choice. She can choose to go out and fight against Ultron or she can stay in the house and be safe.

   We do not have a choice, we are at war. We just need to choose which side we are on and whether or not we join that side fully. We can join God’s side by accepting Christ. If we aren’t on God’s side we are on the Devil’s side. There is no in between in this war. Because, when we die we either go to heaven or hell. If you do not believe in Christ you are going to hell no matter how many good works you have done.

   If you are a follower of Christ then you need to follow the Great Commission and do your best to follow Christ’s example. That means following God’s commandments, loving God, loving others, and having a relationship with God. That is how we fight our war against Satan. But, that’s not always easy. Sometimes we need a pep talk.

   There are times we need a "Hawkeye," or a friend, to come alongside us and say wake up in one way or another. That doesn’t mean when we are giving someone a pep talk that we say “get your head out of the clouds” in a mean way. We need to gage what type of pep talk a person needs. Sometimes we need a kick in the butt. Other times we need someone to talk things through with us. But, no matter what pep talk is delivered, it is vital that we keep one another accountable.

   We are called to walk alongside each other that way we can all survive this crazy battle called our lives. We can rest easy knowing that our battle has already been won, if we are on God’s side. Then we also know that ultimately the war has already been won because of Christ’s sacrifice.

   So, whose side of the war are you on? Do you believe that Christ has already won the war for you and have confidence in that? Are you willing to give others pep talks if they need it?

   John 16:33, Mark 12:31, Galatians 6:1-5

The Ten Commandments of Independence

   I’ve talked about how America was created to be a Nation Under God in the past. It seems we have moved away from that. As Christians we are called to follow God no matter what happens. But, that is difficult to do when Christians don’t have free speech but everyone else does, when we are yelled at because we are intolerant, when we are yelled at for being hypocritical, and when evil is running rampant in our country.

   It seems that people have moved away from God. They have no morals, or if they do have morals they have nothing to base their morals off of. Christians do have morals because their authority is God and the Bible. While we are no longer under Old Testament Law, we are still called to follow the Ten Commandments. It seems like the world has come up with its own Ten Commandments. I have a list here of what it seems like the world’s laws are.

   As you can see, most of the world’s laws boil down to do whatever is best for you. America has always been a very individualistic society. But, it is becoming more and more of every man for himself. You may be saying that “that is not true for some people.” And, you are right. There are a few “good” people out there who do try to follow the law.

   But, looking back at American history we can see this country has gone through a lot of ups and downs. When we followed God things started to look up. Revivals started to happen. And, we became a united country again. But, when we fell away and followed our own desires we started to fall. This is a broken world but a revival can happen again.

   America declared its independence on July 4, 1776 from Great Britain. We may have independence from Britain, but we are still under another evil master. We may think we are independent and that we can do things on our own, but we can’t. Whether we know it or not we have to choose between 2 masters. One is Satan. He is the master who says we can do whatever we want but has us in slavery. The other master is God. He wants to have a relationship with us. He loves us and wants to save us from ourselves and evil. All we need to do is choose to follow him rather than Satan.

   So, are you following God’s commandments or the World’s? Are you going to choose to have a relationship with God rather than following your own desires?

   John 14:15, Luke 10:27, James 4:7

Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum: Lessons from Camp YoliJwa

All this week I was on vacation at Camp YoliJwa. While there we swam, played games like 9 square, and taught a class of 1st-4th graders.
All week we talked about how we are made in the image of God. We did this by talking about how we need to know who we are in God, we need to grow in him, come alongside others, serve others, and go spread the good news. 
Since out main theme was made, we taught the children a song called Different Drum by Blanca (Link to video here). In the song it talks about how "we're not a copy of the status quo, we're cut from the cloth of the original... all you need to try to be is who you're made to be." This is what we focused on this week. We discussed how we think that our identity is who we are/what we do. But if our identity is what we do, then our identity is always changing. We need to be ourselves because that's who God made us to be. And, the identity that stays constant is that we are children of God.  
Another part of the song says "we're gonna march to the beat of a different drum." This lyric reminds us that we are set apart. We do not walk in the ways of the world. Since we are children of God we need to remember that and walk in his ways. That way people will realize that we are different and realize that they too are children of God.
So, do you know that you are "not a copy of the status quo?" Do you believe that you are a child of God? Will you "march to the beat of a different drum?"

John 1:12, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 2:10