Caution: Construction in Progress

Recently, I have asked God to strip me of my entire being and to replace it only with what pleases Him. I asked Him humbly to take away my pride, my selfishness, my lack of self-motivation, my laziness, my tendency to judge and criticize, and my stubborness (not the good kind). I asked Him to forgive me. This week has been spiritual boot camp packed into the normalcy of everyday life, which is when spirituality is hardest to think about. Nothing truly spectacular happened, but I am more at peace than ever before.

I was grounded. Yes, I'm under 18 for still another month, and this is the first in a long time because I disrespected my parents and stayed past curfew multiple times. You know, looking back, it wasn't that big of a deal, but God wanted it. I know it. I lost my phone on a camping and rafting trip right after I was grounded (I was allowed to go to that because it was already planned and payed for). I knew this was God's way of showing me His approval of what had been set (this was after I searched through my luggage and purse and pillow and wet and dirty clothes and pockets and still couldn't find it). So I accepted it and waited to see what He'd do now that He had me to Himself. Well, He set to work. Through different things, He's been sifting through my crap and sanding my rough edges and cutting me down to make me a masterpiece. His masterpiece. Of course, He's still working. A lot. And He's got quite a bit more, but I love just letting Him settle everything and not worrying. Anything that happens I am so sure is in His plan.

Mom found my phone in my dirty laundry. I smiled when she told me. I had told my parents I wasn't at all worried about it, and that I wouldn't be at all surprised if it showed up right when my grounding ended. Personally, I think God made it show up because Daddy was more worried than me because Dad actually paid for my few hundred dollars sweet sixteen present.

Anyway, this was sort of a jumbled, I-can't-explain-it-but-I-have-to-tell-everyone thing, but thank you for getting through it if you did. The fact that it's 1 in the morning probably doesn't help my babbling either...

God bless you all! I hope this is encouraging to you, jumbled though it is :)

Funny

My dog Patch, or my mom's dog, is about nine years old or something like that. He is a shih-tzu and is very territorial about two things--Mom and his bear that Mom bought when she bought him. This particular bear would "growl" when shaken, and Patch loved tossing it around and licking it and basically treating it like a puppy. Well, I'm glad that he was not a father of puppies, because he would tear the stuffing out of that bear, and Mom had to perform multiple "surgeries" on it till it was done for. Completely torn apart. So Mom would search the store when she shop the pet stores for any toy that growled. Finally, she found a bull. Patch did not adopt it at first, but it is now his adopted baby.

Anyway, that was a really long rabbit trail that was supposed to be a short pre-blog entry. Anyway, I just remembered and laughed at something I remember happening about a month ago and decided it was a good thing to write down. Mom and I were having a really deep God conversation that I really needed to hear at that time, both of us probably needed it. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was important enough that I wanted quiet. Patch started shaking his new bull and it was as loud as anything. I remember praying frustratedly to God, "Could you please make that thing be quiet?" Then all I heard was the thumping of bull on the floor, Patch furiously trying to shake sound into it, but failing. Eventually, he resorted to licking his sick bull that had become suddenly mute. I was in awed laughter and told Mom what had just happened, and we talked about God being in everyday life, even caring about the little things.

After we had finished our conversation and we had separated ways for a little bit, I came back. Patch was still shaking his bull. Mom laughed and said something to the effect of, "Brooke, now I'm going to have to find another growling toy. You broke it! Pray that God will fix it again." She laughed. Sure enough, a few seconds or minutes later, that bull started growling again.

I wrote this because that one thing was a reminder to me that we should let God in as an everyday part of our lives, and He will do amazing, even if small, wonders during your day. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray without ceasing." Talking to God as a friend and companion, who is capable of stopping bullets better than Neo and loving better than Jack from the Titanic who let Kate Winslet have the stupid door, is a way to work toward achieving this divine goal.