Rewarding Hard Work

I have been teaching four of my younger siblings for two years now. I will admit that teaching my siblings is harder than teaching someone else's child. The natural tendency to get impatient often arises when I'm teaching them.

After two years of teaching them I finally figured out how to get them to practice regularly. You would think that I would have already discovered that, but alas I had not.

I told them that starting in June we would begin a rewards system. Each of them will get their own calendar for the month. They have to practice ten minutes a day, four days a week. At the end of the month they bring me their calendar and if it meets the requirements that I set, then they get a prize.

Each child I explained that to, their eyes lit up when I got to the end of my explanation.

I remember when my older sister's best friend, Elizabeth was teaching me. She did something similar, and it made me want to practice even more because I knew I was going to get a prize for it.

When lessons were over and I was fixing dinner I got to thinking about my whole rewards system. I realized that God does the same thing with us in His own way.

(Don't you just love it when you have an epiphany?)

In Psalm 37:3-5 it says, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass."

In every one of those verses there is a reward for doing something for the Lord. Trust in the Lord, and do good and you shall be fed. Delight in Him and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way unto Him, trust in Him, and He shall make your desires happen!

There are many other references in Scripture that illustrate this. God made us and He knows how we work. He offers rewards to His children when they obey Him.

He rewards us with eternal life if we will only repent of our sins and ask Him into our hearts.

This principle of rewarding works for personal goals as well. I find that when I have a daunting task, such as cleaning my disaster of a room, I don't have the motivation to do so. But if I set a reward for myself when the job is finished I have a lot more energy. Usually.

Maybe there is something that you need to get done that isn't happening because of a lack of motivation? Try setting a good reward at the end of the task.

God uses it so it has to work. :)

Crossing Over the Threshold

I've been absent for an entire month. At least in my posting. I apologize, but life has been crazy here lately, and the lack of Internet has prevented me from updating my posts.

   If you read my post, Don't Worry About It, then you will remember me mentioning that I would be taking the  GED test. Which I take next week.

Before I did so I had to finish quite a few math lessons. I wanted to finish them, but at the same time I was hesitant to do so. I couldn't figure out why.
Why would I be so hesitant to finish school and move on into adulthood? Isn't that what most kids dream to achieve? To make it to adulthood (finally)?

After giving it some serious thought I discovered the reasoning behind my hesitation.

By finishing school I was, in my mind, closing the door to my childhood completely. That's a rather sad thought, in my opinion.

I'm reminded of the verse in 1 Corinthians 13, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." 

Putting away childish things. OK, I don't believe that necessarily means packing away the baby dolls, Lincoln Logs, train tracks, and forsaking all fort building in the woods.
I believe that's part of it, but I think it is more of putting away childish thinking, behavior, and immaturity.
I have, I think, put all of those away. (Haha)

I am hesitant to leave my childhood because that's all I have ever known. Stepping into adulthood scares me. I have no idea what lies ahead. I don't know what roads I will take. All I can do is simply trust that the Lord will guide me in this new way of life.

So as I step over the threshold of adulthood, I will take my Savior's hand and trust Him to lead me wherever He wills.

Breakthrough!

No, it's nothing major in science like how to live on Mars or anything. Nor is it how to lose fifty pounds in one week. Nothing like that.

But don't get discouraged! Please, keep reading...

Since December 5th I've been having problems with being able to eat food and not feel sick. We had no idea what the problem was for over three months. When a new doctor put me on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet I began to feel a whole lot better. In the past two weeks I've started to add a little bit of dairy back into my diet. It didn't do anything to me so I kept eating it.

But I did not want to try the gluten yet.

Yesterday while out and about with my family we had bean burritos from Taco Bell. I didn't even think about the tortilla shell being gluten...I was simply too hungry. So I ate it. I started to feel sick maybe thirty minutes after I had eaten it.

This morning when I got up, it was about 3:30, I realized just how sick I felt. All of the pain and queasy feelings that I had endured for over three months were plaguing my body something awful. I almost could not get out of bed I was in so much pain. That's when I figured out that gluten is my enemy.

Now what is gluten?

The word 'gluten' comes from the Latin word, "glue."
Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat, and related grains, including barley and rye. Gluten is what makes your dough stretchy.

Almost all of my family has a gluten allergy. Right down to three-year-old Michael. I didn't think I had it. I refused to think I was allergic to gluten. Come on! Who wants to give up tasty donuts, or delicious homemade bread, or toast (I love toast!), or cake, or...yeah. The list could go on. I didn't want to give any of it up. I didn't want to admit that I had problems with it.


And isn't that so true with some of the things in life? We don't want to give something up, so God takes us through a situation so that we will? We could have simply given it up early on and spared ourselves, and other people, so many problems and heartache, and whatnot. We would much rather hang on to our junk than give it up and let God give us something better.

If we could simply learn to let go and let God. It's not easy though. We are like children who don't want to go to Disneyland because we are having too much fun making mud pies in the back yard.
 Look what God offers in exchange for our junk though! Blessings, and so much more...



I could have easily averted so many of the problems I went through if I had listen to the advice of some friends of ours. They suggested that I go off gluten and see what happened. Stubborn me told them that toast was the only thing that didn't make me hurt...Ha! Ha! Oh, if only I had realized.

But aside from that, God did teach me a boatload of things while I was 'down'. I wouldn't trade my exhausting three months of hardship for anything because of the valuable lessons I learned.

Isn't Romans 8:28 so true?
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to the them who are the called according to His purpose." 

God takes our mistakes and turns them into blessings for us. He is amazing and more.

This morning, I told my mother that gluten would never again enter my mouth. I will live without all of those tasty treats mentioned above. I do not want to feel sick anymore. I am tired of feeling lazy and useless.
So! I will live gluten-free and be extremely happy with it. :)

Two questions for you, dear reader, before you click off:

1. Could you possibly have an intolerance to gluten and don't even realize it?

2. Is there something in your life that you need to let go of?

Don't Worry About It...

photo credit: Morguefile

"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" ~Matthew 6:34

Worry. Anxiousness. Fretting. Panic. Fear.

We all have those feelings. We all wonder what will happen today, or what will happen tomorrow. Will we get sick and die in the blink of an eye? We can't stop whatever's coming. So we panic.  

Why? 

We are human. And we listen to the thoughts of fear and doubt that Satan presents to us. It is so very easy to believe the lies of the Devil. He is very crafty and masks his lies with a sliver of truth. 

We must remember that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, and of power, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
By realizing this we can combat the lies with truth. The only way to fight the devil, besides resisting, is to fire Scripture back at him. It's truth and he knows it. 

I would like to share a little testimony of mine centering in on this area. 

As most of you probably know, I am graduating this spring. The question that weighs heavily on a high school senior's mind is, "What am I going to do after I graduate?" 
Every one stresses and frets about this. I had several ideas floating around in my head last year. Maybe I would take the SAT just in case I had the opportunity to go to college to study music. Maybe I would just write novels and teach piano. I really didn't have any sense of direction. I felt like a lost kid in an unknown building looking for someone to point me in the right direction to the exit. 

Most logical thing for me to do was to seek God's will and pray about it. So I spent another year in school preparing to take the SAT and praying for God to show me what I was supposed to do. 
As the time neared for me to take the SAT test I got to talking to my mom about when I would actually take it. She gave me a few reasons why it wasn't really necessary for me to take the SAT test. She thought I should take the GED test. I really didn't care which one I took, I just needed to know which test I was taking. I was prepared for both so it didn't really matter. We decided on the GED for a couple of different reasons. 

What really blew me away was when my mom told me that a couple of families were already asking when I was going to start teaching piano. I had no idea people were asking. 
I've always wanted to teach piano and I've been teaching four of my siblings for a year and a half now. 
Another door opened for a tutoring job. 

As I thought about both of these 'job' opportunities, if you will, I was amazed at how the Lord was working it all out. 
Here I was just moseying through my senior year not really worried about what I would do after I graduated; doesn't mean I didn't think about it often,
I did. And when I did I would panic. But the Lord really dropped it all in my lap. There was no need for me to worry at all. The Lord knew what was going to happen. He knows what is going to happen for the rest of my life. My life is in good hands. 

And the same goes for you. You don't need to worry about what is around the next corner. It's enough that God knows. Whatever is ahead, He will take care of it. Don't let the weight of fear and worry pull you down. Give that burden to God. He is more than capable of handling all of your problems. 

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

He even promises that He will take your burdens and give you rest. Give Him your burden and take His yoke upon you. He says that it is easy and light. 

Give your life to God, and rest easy in His wisdom

What Can You Do?

Three months have passed since I first became sick. That's quite a bit of time if you stop to think about it. Or when you spend most of that time lying in bed. You would think that by now I would be used to feeling awful and having an abnormal life/schedule. This is not true. I'm learning to accept it all, but there are times when I just wish it was all gone. I get downhearted a few times a week and those are the hardest days. But those are also my best days. I lean on the Lord a lot more in those dark times. That's what makes it all worth it somehow.

The other day I was laying on my bed just thinking, as I have been wont to do here lately, when a thought suddenly struck me.
There have been many other people who were sick all of their lives, yet they pushed past it all and did something noteworthy.

William Wilberforce had Colitis all of his life. He devoted his life to abolishing slavery in England. He achieved that goal!

Beethoven was deaf most of his life, yet he still wrote classical pieces; today they are still among people's favorites.

Fanny Crosby was blind from infancy and she wrote over 9,000 hymns during the course of her life.

These three were the people who came to my mind. I was blown away when I spent a little time mulling over it.
Even though I'm laid up in bed most of the day I can still work on different things, which I do. But what can I do for the Lord while undergoing this whole sickness? Is there something specific He wants me to do?

Are you undergoing a rough spot in  your life? Is there something preventing you from living your life normally? What can you do for the Lord during this time in your life?

Where'd She Go?!

Yes, so I have been absent for two weeks. Where did I go and what have I been up to?

I normally don't post stuff like this. Usually it's stuff worthy of you reading. But oh well.

I have been finishing up my school work like any normal senior in high school. I'm really looking forward to being finished with school. Yes, I love learning, but I'm ready for this season of my life to be over. It's time to move on! :)

An update on my health issues:
I saw a new doctor on Monday and he does indeed believe that it's my gallbladder. (the tests I had showed that there was nothing wrong) He put me on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, basically a torturous diet in my opinion! lol. I'm on it for about three weeks before I go back to the doctor and we assess whether or not it has worked. Also I'm taking a few supplements, and drinking ginger tea.
I'm still in quite a bit of pain, but I'm accepting it as daily life. :) Life lessons are never learned the easy way.

I passed the second World piano competition audition! I was so excited about that. I play at the University of Cincinnati Ohio the fourth week of July. I'm looking forward to that. :)

I will be starting an Etsy shop soon. Be on the lookout for that announcement!

This past weekend my family traveled three hours north and spent the weekend at the Barnard's house. That was a blast! :) Can't wait to see them again.

Ummm...nothing else really exciting. I try to stay out of trouble as much as I can. :P

I certainly hope and pray that all of you who are reading this are having great lives right now. That sounds really cliche too...and maybe a bit cheesy...
Remember: no matter what trial you are going through God will get you through it. Just look up to Him. He is always there and will never leave you nor forsake you. :)

Chazak Amats!
Haley

Another Choice

Hello!
I would like to thank each and every one of you for the awesome criticism that you have provided me with. And the back up. :) I am an aspiring writer and I'm grateful for the criticism you have graciously given me. All of it will help me grow as a writer. Thank you!

Yes, I admit, my story is shallow, and is full of mistakes. I'm not perfect. I'm human, so naturally I'm going to make mistakes.
I didn't do all of the extensive research that I know I should have done when I wrote this short story, but I had a few hours until I was supposed to present it to my family. The idea popped into my head and I didn't think twice about writing it.
I wasn't planning on sharing my story with anyone, but my family suggested that I share it on my blog to coincide with Roe Vs. Wade. So I did.

The reason I failed to respond to your comments is because you guys seriously are intimidating. But thank you all the same for the life lessons that you have unknowingly provided me with. :)

The reason I pulled the post, The Choice, is I realized the story is poorly done and I would like to do it over again. I will do my extensive research and post the story when it is polished and refined. :)

God bless each and every one of you! May you have a blessed day. :)


  For my real online friends who love me in spite of my mistakes...here is a video that I came across yesterday. I thought you might find it quite humorous. :)

This was a very timely video that Ophelia just posted yesterday.