This is another embarrassing post. Hopefully one day I'll be able to start peaking about how wonderful I am, but for now, it's just a lot of confessions and mistakes.
So here's another one.
I'm working from home right now, staring at a laptop in my parent's dining room.
It's thrilling.
Downstairs, there's another group, also "working." That would be my brother Jordan's band, and true to teenage form, they are LOUD, and even when they finally turn off the amps and stop banging on the drums, they come up to the kitchen (next to the dining room), and turn on the blender, using up all of the frozen fruit that I eat for lunch and the protein powder I drink for breakfast.
I walked in to see what was happening, and that's when I saw it: THEY WERE DRINKING MY FAVORITE WATERS THAT YOU CAN'T BUY AROUND HERE AND I HAD PURCHASED IN TEXAS.
I was livid. Who do these boys think they are, to just come in here and be loud and eat all my food? How dare they??
Forgotten was my mother's request from the previous day:
"Natalie, there are so many boys who come through this house- THIS is my mission field. Will you join me in praying for them?"
"Of course!" I answered quickly, innocently batting my eyes and promising I would be nothing but, well, missionary-like towards this ragtag band of teenage boys who curse and drink and smoke.
And here I was, 24 hours later, storming out of the house practically in tears over something as trivial as a water bottle.
Did I learn nothing this year? Nothing about entitlement, nothing about trusting the Lord to provide, nothing about how at the end of the day, it's not about the stuff, it's about the people?
How could I fail this first test?
There will be many more times when these boys step on my toes, when they mess up my space or bother me beyond the usual brotherly spats.
It's my job- my joy and my calling- to continue to love them despite these trivial imperfections.
Easy? No.
With man, this would be impossible. But nothing is impossible with God.
Please join me in praying for these lost boys, these wonderful brothers and their silly friends, who steal my frozen fruit and don't really care how loud they are. Pray that their eyes would be opened to all of the wonderful things the Lord has done for them, and pray that they would begin to use their musical gifts to glorify His name.
So here's another one.
I'm working from home right now, staring at a laptop in my parent's dining room.
It's thrilling.
Downstairs, there's another group, also "working." That would be my brother Jordan's band, and true to teenage form, they are LOUD, and even when they finally turn off the amps and stop banging on the drums, they come up to the kitchen (next to the dining room), and turn on the blender, using up all of the frozen fruit that I eat for lunch and the protein powder I drink for breakfast.
I walked in to see what was happening, and that's when I saw it: THEY WERE DRINKING MY FAVORITE WATERS THAT YOU CAN'T BUY AROUND HERE AND I HAD PURCHASED IN TEXAS.
I was livid. Who do these boys think they are, to just come in here and be loud and eat all my food? How dare they??
Forgotten was my mother's request from the previous day:
"Natalie, there are so many boys who come through this house- THIS is my mission field. Will you join me in praying for them?"
"Of course!" I answered quickly, innocently batting my eyes and promising I would be nothing but, well, missionary-like towards this ragtag band of teenage boys who curse and drink and smoke.
And here I was, 24 hours later, storming out of the house practically in tears over something as trivial as a water bottle.
Did I learn nothing this year? Nothing about entitlement, nothing about trusting the Lord to provide, nothing about how at the end of the day, it's not about the stuff, it's about the people?
How could I fail this first test?
There will be many more times when these boys step on my toes, when they mess up my space or bother me beyond the usual brotherly spats.
It's my job- my joy and my calling- to continue to love them despite these trivial imperfections.
Easy? No.
With man, this would be impossible. But nothing is impossible with God.
Please join me in praying for these lost boys, these wonderful brothers and their silly friends, who steal my frozen fruit and don't really care how loud they are. Pray that their eyes would be opened to all of the wonderful things the Lord has done for them, and pray that they would begin to use their musical gifts to glorify His name.
