On the path of becoming a Child

Everyday we are all temped, you just have to be strong enough to say no. Many can not and others give you the strength to say no. No matter how many times we say no though, the enemy just keeps attacking. We have to find the one thing that keeps us strong to say no. The one thing that keeps me going is my faith in Christ. I find it easier to keep going if I know what I'm doing is right and when I help out at church, I find things that tell me I know what I chose was right. Below is many things that made my day better and the one thing that shocked me the most.

         Tonight at church, I was a small group leader for kindergarten to second grade. After we were done with the bible story we split into our groups. For this lesson the kids had to draw a picture of a way they can make peace this week and how it could become part of their daily lives.After that we played a game of running to get one word from their memory verse and seeing who could put it together faster. No one got a toy or anything it was just for fun,then came more drawing, this time it was about something they did this past week that wasn't peaceful and how they were going to fix it.My favorite part came next, praying, but not for ourselves but for their partner. Well, I had eight kids, three girls and five boys. Out of those kids, I had two sets that were brother and sister. When we first sat down to draw our first picture, this little boy who was going into the first grade started talking to me. He told the whole group about his twin brother who died when they were just really little and how he was sick. He stopped coloring for a moment took a deep breath and said," I miss Freddie, yea I miss him." In the purest, loving way of a child with a broken heart. I almost started crying because the look of sorrow on his face and the pain in his voice just made my heart ache with grief. Another little boy said that his mom was carrying a baby in her tummy when the baby died and everyone asked if it was because the baby was sick and he said yes.Afterward, everyone smiled and it was time for our game. As I look at what was said between this group of children, where most of them don't know each other, I have to smile and know that this is what I live for. To learn how to became a child once more, to learn to love everyone, even if I don't know them and be able to tell anything to a complete stranger. We should all learn to become children like as Jesus said,"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3  I now know what he means. That our love and thoughts have to be pure like a child's. That we must be able to share grief and understanding with everyone. And that we can forgive and forget as a child does. And also as a child learn whats right and what is wrong, and follow the right no matter who gets mad or who tells you wrong is okay.
      As the service went on, the other brother and sister set that was there I find different. I don't know another way of wording it. The little boy has autism, and it wasn't at all that bad but for our prayer, where they prayed for their partner, I paired boy with boy and girl with girl. If you remember I had more boys than girls, so I paired the boy with autism with his sister. When I first told them this, she asked one question that I couldn't believe," Why do I have to be with the manic?!?" I looked at her and replied in a calm voice, "He's your brother, and its never nice or okay to call someone a manic." She said sorry and that was the end of it.This is where temptation of hate and/or anger comes in and it is also where you say no. I disliked the fact she said that but I didn't even think about getting anger, I just wanted her to understand that it was wrong. Could I have told her something else, of course but this was the first thing that came to mind and it worked. That's all I care about, is that I could react in a Christian way and show her how to be.
     After church I called my Aunt Donna for a ride to my Grandma's, where we were having a birthday party for my Aunt Marla who was visiting from Texas. I waited 35 minutes with Bill and Karen and some boys from church before they came.During that time I realized how much my church family is just my family. How they know me better than my family ever will and how I know I can tell almost anyone anything about myself and I know they will never judge me.As I spent more time with my biological family, I realized that I don't want to become anyone of them. I love my family and their friends but they have become their actions and their actions are not made to improve the kingdom of God. I see now that the older you become and the longer you live with out Christ, the tighter grip the enemy has on you and the worse you are as a person. Since I am a teenager, I still hear the way other teens talk and I know that it is horrible but as I walked by a few groups of my family I saw that the way a teen talks is one tenth of the way they talked. It hurt to know that my church family was the only family I have to look up to. That I will never know my family for what God wants them to be. Through out the whole party, my Aunt Marla kept calling me over to where she was and every time the conversation they were having was one I wasn't going to be a part of because I was not going to let my mind be filled with things that would let temptation win and  he would have is I ever listened. The one time I did get caught in one of their conversations it was about something that I REALLY,REALLY truly honestly didn't want to be there for so I simple said this," Okay!Teenager here! I hear enough of this at school, I will not hear it anymore!" As everyone busted up laughing from the beers they had already , I walked away wondering how they got so far down the road of the world.I stayed inside taking pictures of people who were not as bad as the who's out side but still testing my faith. I got through the night having no idea why they let their mind rot in the gutter for so long and yet leave it there still. I don't know why when I ask a simple question it was turned into a disgusting joke or why they will never understand that I walk the path of God.I may never know these answers but I don't care. I was able to make it all night  with out falling into temptation.
       The most shocking news for my day. As I got home, I went to Facebook and it said I had seven updates. I had no idea why I checked it earlier and didn't post anything to have people comment on it. I read the third one down and it said Andrea posted something on your wall. Andrea is my youth minister's wife, but she's just as much as my youth minister as he is. As I clicked on it I had no idea why she would be commenting on my wall, I didn't think I needed to watch their kids today. Never had to before and she tells me most things in person or a message.When I first saw her post, I had NO clue what I commented on her blog or which one. My reply, " No problem :DDDD" Still have no clue what I wrote but it was the truth it always is. I went to her page and right there on her status is the link to this blog.I stopped breath and was in complete Ah. I never thought anyone would read it, let alone put it as there status.It made my day seem so much better though,because even though I had to fight temptation, in the end someone else saw why I was doing it...
Blessings be to you and may you see God everywhere you look~CarissaGrace

Ps- I will fix all misspelled words and grammer mistakes as soon as I can but I'm tired and need some sleep it four in the morning. <(^,^)>