New Year

As I sit here waiting to bring in the New Year I find myself wondering what this New Year will hold. If you are like me  you  usually try to write up a list of resolutions and things you need to fix and make better but  I am not doing that this year! As I get older I realize that there is only so much that we really have control over. I am not trying to sound melancholy but that is usually how life works. 2015 has been an amazing year full of challenges and blessings but I am looking forward to the New Year and what that brings. The fact is God knows what this New Year will bring and if we put our faith and trust in him, he will bring us through it! So even though this is the shortest blog I have ever written, I just want to encourage people to keep God #1. Keeping God first in our actions and decisions is not always easy to do but I promise it is totally worth it!

 

BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD

I AM BEAUTIFUL AND PRECIOUS IN GOD'S SIGHT...

MORE IMPORTANTLY... SO ARE YOU!

If I made you believe that I don't care about  what people think and say about me, I certainly gave 

you the  wrong impression. I am one of those people who constantly worry about how I come across 

to people and what they think of me, or at least that's  the way I used to be until recently...

 Recently I started to consider all of the people God used throughout scripture to accomplish his 

purpose and will. He picked some pretty unlikely candidates for his will. Who knew that the little 

farm boy David would end up becoming a mighty King of Israel? Who knew that God would use 

the prostitute Rehab to protect the Israelite spies who were sent out to scout the Promise Land? 

Neither of these people would have been able to accomplish God's will if they were totally self 

focused and worried about what others thought. There was also John the Baptist the crazy wild

man in the wilderness who baptized people unto repentance. With his diet of locusts and his camel

belt and scraggly hair, I am sure he was quite the catch for women.,, Think about it

So what does this mean? Simply that being self-focused and self-absorbed may hinder us from doing 

God's will. 

The Psalmist talks about humans  being "fearfully and wonderfully made." I think its funny how

I can have a rotten attitude because of a bad hair day or because I gained a few extra pounds over

the Christmas Holidays. Plenty of women are physically deformed or crippled and yet they are

beautiful at heart. This makes me think that my priorities have been wrong and that the image sold

by the world is a load of garbage. Maybe that's because it was... Here's what the bible says, 

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."  1 Peter 3:3-4

What I  recently learned is that  God's will and purpose for me is greater than 
anyone else's. I had to make a choice.  Is it worth more getting approval from
man or God?  I am not going to lie... I still  struggle with this in my life but I have made a decision that I am more interested in being beautiful For God than anyone else and that my personality and character should be pleasing to him above anyone else! "If God is for me, who can be against me?"  

Guess what? If you are walking in God's will and doing right in his sight and pursuing his definition of beauty you are more beautiful than you realize! 

Bryan College

         I ADMIT IT, I probably don't  blog as much as I should. So to change this up a little ( at least for me), I am going to do submit this  1:00 in the morning blog which will probably be loaded with awful grammar and no punctuation. In the words of Joe Biden, "Its all a bunch of stuff."

 Moving on...

       Two weeks ago I arrived at Bryan College. I was so excited because I knew that it would be such a life changing experience for me. Life changing it was! First of all let's start with the biggest adjustment I had to face, CAFETERIA FOOD!!! If you have a mom like mine  who is the next best thing to a Sicilian chef, you can understand! Needless to say, I have broken the freshman trend by loosing weight instead of gaining it. Adjusting to this kind of food culture  was really hard... until... I DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS ICE CREAM!!!!  Any way, now that we have taken care of the major adjustment, let's look at the minor adjustments. 

  In all seriousness, these have been a really great two weeks. I am taking great classes and meeting wonderful people. There is nothing like meeting people who love the LORD and enjoy talking about him. Lunchtimes and Dinnertimes have actually been some of my favorite times here at Bryan. You can sit with people you have never laid eyes on before and have a really great chat about absolutely anything! I admit I still sound like I am on my high school  debate team whenever I talk, but I really am learning a lot about the LORD and just fellowshipping with other believers. The other great thing about Bryan is the campus size which is navigable. I don't feel  lost when I walk out of my dorm ! I have also stepped out of my comfort zone and found  a new hobby CALLED.... PING PONG  A few years ago I would have ran away if you asked me to play, but now I find it to be something I really enjoy! I guess sometimes people really just have to be willing to try new things. 

Dorm life has  taken some getting used to. Our AC kept me up the first two nights and I thought that I would go mad! But I have grown quite used to the AC and actually think I will miss it when the cold weather comes. Doing laundry and keeping a clean room has been a good thing to learn and will help me be able to establish some healthy habits. Thankfully I have been blessed with a lovely roommate and some pretty epic suitemates. 

I have not experienced everything yet but it is a  start right? 

Lest I bore you with tales of college days ( To be continued...) I will end NOW 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Working with Autistic Children

                                                 EVERY DANDELION COUNTS

"But the Beast was a good person...the Prince looked on the outside the way the Beast was on the inside. Sometimes people couldn't see the inside of the person unless they like the outside of a person. Because they hadn't learned to hear the music yet." UNLOCKED QUOTE

Most of you know that for the past two years I have worked with autistic children at the 

local elementary school. Its hard to believe that in less than four weeks I will be saying goodbye 

to these children and the wonderful team of people I have worked alongside of. 

Believe it or not it all started four summers back. 

I will never forget going to the library and getting Karen Kingsbury's book UNLOCKED. I had a 

friend who read it and so I decided  I would give it ago. 

Once I started the book I couldn't stop! It was about a boy named Holden Harris who had autism

and was mistreated by those around him because of it. He finally meets up with this girl Valerie

who wants to love and help him despite what others think of her.

As soon as I finished reading UNLOCKED I felt this strong urge to go out and help children with 

autism. I didn't know how this would happen or if it would happen but it was this invisible tug at

the strings of my heart. I even considered doing music videos and dedicating them to children with

disabilities. I told God this desire and waited to see what he would do. 

Four years later....

I was 19 ( almost 20) and looking for a job. I tried to get a job at Macy's but that fell through. Some

friends of ours at a summer youth came where I was volunteering ( teaching US History) told me 

that there was a teaching position at a christian school that I should apply for.  I applied but was 

turned down since I had no experience.

Not long after that my mom saw a job opening at our school district for an instructional aide position.

She told me that I should apply and see what happens. My hopes were dashed at this point and it was

like WHATEVER. But I did.... In the interview, the lady that was leading it suddenly asked  me my

opinion on autism and if I would be willing to work with autistic children, before I could think of

what I was saying I had answered  YES.

Needless to say....

I got the position and God answered my prayer.

For the past two years I have worked, served, loved, and learned about autistic children. I have 

learned how to use a pecs book, how to teach reading, language, math, and even some personal

developmental skills. I will be the first to admit that my little dream was much different and fantastic

to the realities I have faced on the job. But the rewards have been  greater than I could ever have 

imagined. 

On one of my field trips to a day camp I saw one of our little boy playing with Dandelions. The joy 

one dandelion gave him was like the joy a pile of gold would give you or me. That's when it

really hit me that everyone deserves love and acceptance in life! Everyone counts, everyone

matters and GOD LOVES US ALL.  I am forever changed by what I learned and 

I love my job and the adventures I have had these last two years.....

Who knows what the future holds, its been an amazing ride so far....

So I just want to say that God does really answer prayers and if you do desire to stand out and

make a difference, he will listen to you! He listened to me, I just had to be patient. I promise

he will listen to you too. 

And now I wish to privately acknowledge my six gems below by mentioning their initials.

M.D.B.J. W. A 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." ROMANS 8:28