I have to say at this moment that I am extremely exuberant about life. I love college, though not everything about it. I adore my English class, I can't wait for my next Graphic Design class, and I'm excited when I'll be able to meet my real teacher for botany - not the substitute. I love the weekend; I'm so excited to be able to sleep in a little bit. (Now I can say I actually sleep in on Sundays, hooray!) I'm EXCITED! I guess that's normal though...
No, we don't go to the Baptist church. Or the Assembly of God either. MY family goes to church at 7:40 AM. Beat that. ;-)
Last week I had a wonderful opportunity to enter a contest. More specifically, Brio Magazine's 'Design-a-Shirt' contest. First prize is huge, your tee-shirt gets manufactured if you win it. The second and third prizes are gift certificates for Christian clothing companies, which is pretty cool too.
I started thinking about a design immediately after I saw that there was going to be a contest. That was over a month ago. Three days before the contest deadline, I changed my design entirely and was up working late nights on it.
My first and foremost goal in designing and doing any of my art is to glorify God with it; to somehow capture an aspect of God and show it in my artwork. I thought about it and realized that this has a significant part to play in my reaction to winning or losing.
The contest rules say that you will be notified by September 30th if you win. What would be my reaction, if the thirtieth passes by with no phone call or much-wanted-email? And yet again, if I won, what would then be my reaction? What would I do, what would I think, what would I say, if I won second or third instead of first? After all, first sounds very appealing, I want my tee-shirt design manufactured very much.
I've been thinking a lot about this, as it's quite important to me. I really want to win first prize. It would mean a lot to have my design manufactured. Yet as I've been counting down the days until the thirtieth, I've realized that my reaction to whatever happens is vital in glorifying God. Regardless of whether my reactions are exposed on the outside or hidden in my heart, I must glorify God! It is all pointless if I don't glorify Him.
So in this small part of life, I have a choice to make, a chance to grow. I never thought that God would use this contest to show me what's inside myself, yet He has done it.
Whether I win or lose the contest is not the point. Whether I glorify God or not has everything to do with the point.
On my way back from my vacation in Oregon yesterday, I realized how incredibly happy and glad I am that life is not about me.
I can make a fool of myself accidentally and still be content, because it's not about me.
I can be glad even when I'm being tested, because God's grace covers me and - gosh - it's not about me!
This makes me so happy. I understand this in a new way, even though my actions may not reveal it yet, I understand it deep inside. Thank God that life is not about me. That it's just totally about Him.
And because of that, I don't have to live for anyone but Him. That doesn't mean that I act irrationally unsociable and rude to my fellow human beings. It just means that God is first, the most important, and I need not worry one ounce about what anyone but Him thinks of me, because my life is under His grace.
Galatians 1:10 - Am I trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I still trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
