Keeping Up With the Jones

Have you ever met those people that put you to shame in every area of your life? You know the ones that can accomplish something in 20 minutes that would take anyone else several hours even days to finish. Sometimes I would like to be able to say at the end of the day that I...

...solved world hunger

...ran 18 miles in four minutes without breaking a sweat

...climbed Mount Everest

...wrote and published 4 books before eating my Wheaties

...swam the English Channel

...learned to speak Hungarian

...built a rocket that could fly to Neptune

...touched the North Pole

...memorized Sonatina in F Movement II on my tuba

...was unanimously voted president

...parted the Red Sea with my walking stick

...grew world renown lemons from seed to fruit in 2 hours

...fixed the Rubik Cube

...memorized the Old Testament

...cooked a Carmel souffle in my microwave

...chugged a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper in 3 minutes

...got up at four o' clock in the morning to feed my prize-winning chinchillas

...painted an exact replica of the Mona Lisa

...got a perfect score on the SAT

...built a life-sized medieval catapult for my history project

Fortunately, we are told in the Bible no to compare ourselves and our accomplishments to others. If we want to be content, we must come to realize that God created everyone for different purposes and with different gifts.

We must choose to use our gifts to honor and glorify the Lord, and even though we may never invent a new kind of awesome hand lotion or fly to Neptune, we must choose to only be concerned with how we appear to God. And we already know that He loves us.

Romans 12: 6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

The 18th Candle

As many of you know, thanks to spadoodles, Sunday is my 18th birthday.

If you asked me right now if I think being 18 will be cool, sweet, jazzy and altogether a blast, I wouldn't have an answer for you. You see, at this point, I have mixed emotions about the whole "becoming an adult" thing. I can't wait to be old enough to drive everyone I want, old enough to vote, old enough to fall in love, old enough to get married, old enough to have children and raise them according to God's will, old enough to actually grow old, and eventually die completely sure of where I will go. On the other hand, though, the whole "mature adult" thing kind of freaks me out. Turning 18 signifies the change from a dependent kid to a mostly independent individual.

The responsibilities seem overwhelming all of the sudden. My tasks seem endless, and school feels like it will never end. I feel so inexperienced in the ways of adulthood. When I was a senior in high school, I felt fairly knowledgeable about many things. I guess you could say that I had a big head. (I wish that you wouldn't.) Being a high school senior made me feel important as most everyone was carefully observing my every move. But now I know that I was just fooled like all the other seniors into thinking that we had made it to the top of the "knowledge ladder," and could just take in the view.

I just recently realized (like since I started college) how little I know about adult life and everything that is enjoyed or endured by the normal adult. Take marriage as an example. I can't get married right now, and if I did, I wouldn't know the first thing about it. Or we could talk about jobs. Besides working as an intern for my church, I have never had a "real" job in my life. Or we could even talk about managing a household, having children, raising children, enduring the stresses of normal life and providing for someone else's needs. I have some head knowledge yes, but my experience in the real world is very limited. VERY limited.

Part of this shock comes from being carefully sheltered from materials and images that would have scarred my mind at a young age. My parents both realized that protection would not be necessary forever, only until I was capable and mature enough to make wise choices on my own. Over the last few years they have allowed bits and pieces of nonkid-friendly material to reach me. Their godly wisdom was displayed by the careful thought that went into the exposure. Recognizing I would eventually need to understand complex and worldly issues, they have gradually been "working" me into the world when they saw the desired amount of maturity. Meaning I still don't know all that much. ;)

Growing up requires a lot of responsibility and maturity. As I am slowly shoved into the adult world, I am just going to have to learn how everything is done, and believe me, I will be doing a lot of praying along the way. I realize mistakes are inevitable because of my human nature, but by asking my Heavenly Father for wisdom, I will be able to trust that He will lead me and show me the right thing to do.

James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

Wasn't That Nice of You!

The polls are closed, and the results are in. Thank you everyone for putting in your two cents. I can't say that I'm thrilled about the prospect of receiving a vaccum, but hey, I can't complain. Vaccums have many uses like cleaning up spilt milk, picking up all the dry pine needles after you have finally taken the christmas tree down (that's a good tale!) and if your vaccum has a reverse switch, making it snow.

I have been trying to decide what brand I wanted, and I have decided upon the eight-pound Hoover Vac. While being lightweight, it has the sucking power of a tornado, and I am told that it is extremely hard to clog.

This whole poll reminded me of an article I read recently that one of my friends wrote. He made the point that around 75% of young adults don't take the time to vote, and therefore, we loose the impact of our "fourth branch."

These fun little polls are helping us practice voting even though no research is needed to vote in the polls on our site. Be aware of what is going on in your nation and look for ways to make a difference.