Not About Me

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday-I forgot about it until last night at 11, and by then I was really tired and knew I couldn't write anything that made sense-I know I'm only 23, but for those who know me can vouch when I say, I don't make a lot of sense late at night (11 is late for me) especially when I'm tired.

However, better late than never=) My kids are doing better-they still have their ups and downs, but they are fun to teach. I got to talk to one of my kids about salvation, and he accepted the Lord a couple weeks ago during chapel. It's so exciting and a relief to know that your students have accepted Christ as their Savior!! Also, yesterday, one of my students asked me for if he could play tag while waiting for his mom (but it's against the rules of the school), so I said no, but thanks for asking in English; I'm so proud. His response was: so, does that mean I can do it? I couldn't help but laugh a little because he was so cute with his reasoning if he asks something in English, I will be more likely to say yes...you have to love my kids!

Last Saturday I played my flute in a wedding. It was my first time ever playing for a wedding. Dr. Guzman asked me the Wednesday before, and at first, I though he was joking, but he wasn't, and since I can't say no, I played (I didn't even know the bride) It went pretty well, and it was cool to see a wedding in a different country-it was a lot different from ours in America...from lassos to gold coins to the never-ending bouquet toss (which I got a free mini wedding veil)...it was fun and interesting!

Today, I went to the juvenile detention home, where I gave my testimony-yes, in Spanish-and yes, I was asked to- and yes I was so nervous...now it may seem weird to some of y'all to think that I had no problem speaking to 50-70 girls every Tuesday when I was a Liberty no to mention the fact that I've given my testimony several times in my life...so what's the big deal? But all of that was in English; it's really nerve-wracking to give my testimony in Spanish. Though, thanks to Mrs. Guzman, it was understandable because she read over it and corrected my many errors. So hopefully the Lord used it to encourage some of the teens there-and they were really nice and patient with my accented Spanish=)

Between the wedding and the testimony and reading Acts 20:24, 26-27, the Holy Spirit convicted me again. I was so nervous playing my flute for the wedding and giving my testimony...to be honest, I wanted to back out of both of them. My testimony was two-fold, I was allowing Satan to put doubts in sharing my testimony by thinking, "I haven't faced anything like these guys in the detention home have by the grace of God; how could my testimony help at all?" as well as the fact that I was nervous speaking Spanish in front of like 20 people, just like I was nervous playing my flute. Then when I read Acts 20:24, 26-27, Paul didn't count his life as dear to him but was willing to do whatever for the furtherance of the Gospel and to help others in their faith-he took advantage of every opportunity, so that when he left Ephesus heading to Jerusalem, knowing he was going to die, he confidently said that he was innocent of any man's blood because he boldly shared the Word with everyone. And here I was being Moses making excuse after excuse why I couldn't do it, when the Holy Spirit told me, "Rhonda, since when is this about you? Since when do you belittle your testimony? Your testimony isn't even about you but about the grace you've received and how God has worked in your life. Playing your flute isn't about impressing people but about bringing glory to God Almighty. All of it is about God, so you need to be a willing vessel and stop thinking it's about you." And you know, that's exactly what I was doing...I was underestimating the power of the Holy Spirit and not being willing to be available to the opportunities God gave me...because I put the focus on me and not on whom it should be on...God-may God always be my focus and may I always remember it's not about me at all but about Him and His glory!

Because of Christ,
Rhonda