POst 3 of #CelebrateGoodness

in this technologically-advanced world and with these practical-minded people, it seems impossible to find Heaven on Earth... but i'd like to repeat, it seems impossible, but not necessarily impossible... ;)

in my elementary years, i was the shy kind of girl.. i wanted to be kind.. i don't want to be in trouble.. i was scared of getting into fights.. i was scared i might offend somebody... and deep inside i didn't notice that i had become so conscious of what people think of me.. to the point that one of my goals whenever i'm with others was that they should think good or highly of me.. i wanted to impress people... whenever somebody gets noticed more than i do, i get a little envious.. i compare myself, i evaluate myself..

and so i don't know why, but surprisingly, through the years, i was able to develop the gifts God has given me... a pretty qualified sinner like i am was allowed to shine by God? Why? i felt good.. i felt good about being appreciated by teachers and classmates for what i was good at... so i set a high standard for myself... because of this, there are times that i look down on others... yet inside was still this shy girl - conscious of other's opinions of me, afraid of offending people... i was so caught up pleasing people that i lost track of the real score...

But then came CYA.. i was still the usual me.. the same shy girl.. whenever i share my skills in there, i get appreciated.. i felt good.. but then again, what would you expect from a religious organization, right? But then there's more.. people in CYA are so proud of me that they're willing to let me get more noticed than them.. i was especially struck by the people who'd let me show off - these are people who are even more talented than i was!! These are people who are even older than me in CYA, people who are wiser and are more experienced in life than i - my leaders.. why would they do that? i really had not noticed it for a long time, but it kept ringing in my head.. "Why would they allow a newbie like me get more attention than them?" But then again, it was just through all these years that God has continually taught me: it is all about Him.. it is all about His glory not ours... not because He is a selfish God, but because that is the truth - it is His love that gave us life.. it is His love that allowed us to see beauty in His creations and beauty in ourselves... my brothers and sisters in CYA have allowed me to shine simply because Christ is in me... Christ is in all of us! Once we realize that, we will never be afraid of what other people may ever think of us.. We will not be afraid of committing grammatical errors on stage, because this is not about getting the highest grades or getting a huge audience impact - this is about relating to people in a way that you let Christ rock it! We need not be afraid that the other shines brighter than us, or worry that the other is more talented than us, because it is one and the same Lord that we give back all glory and honor..

So once more, i shake the glitters off my clothes and offer them all back to God! ;)

P.S. What's the secret? ... Christ is in you! (Colossians 1:27)