A Clean Cup

I honestly can't believe that I started to blog! I kinda thought that this would be a 'girl' thing and never a 'boy' thing. But one of my friends inspired me when I read his blog one day and could hardly control my laughter. It was also nice to know what was going on in his life. Miss that guy.

Why I blog: This is mostly going to be a means to recording my life with writing and pictures. This principle has become important to me and there are things that I don't want to forget.

Now for my first Blog: I've had a new beginning in my life that started with a new location. I'm in Chicago, IL, a place I never pictured myself (that is funny because my blogs will mainly be inspired by the pictures I will take while in Chicago.) I am excited at this new opportunity! I get to work at the Chicago O'Hare Marriott in the Housekeeping Department and learn new skills and make new friends! I have a lot of friends that look out for me! My boss is not only concerned with my performance at work but also gives me pointers on making my personal life better. We discuss more about financial aspects and how to become rich :) He said he'd show me how.

I do want to write about my last job and talk about a few things I've learned. I worked with Anasazi Foundation, an outdoor wilderness treatment program for teenagers and young adults. It changed my life and I found some true friends through the process. I learned how to make fire using the bow method and I learned how to navigate through the wilderness with a map and compass among many other skills. But everything I learned seemed to contain a metaphor that taught true principles about my relationship with the Creator and my family. There are 3 awakenings that I had that made a lasting impression on my heart (an awakening is a realization or reality check that we have that changes us for the better.) The first real awakening I had was inspired by my cup. We use our cup for cooking and bathing and warming up a drink or 2 before we go to bed. I always made sure that the inside of my cup was clean and never worried too much about the outside. I was cleaning my cup down at the creek and I realized that how my cup looked was how I perceived people. I see people from the outside (first impressions) without trying to look at the pureness of their hearts. For example, if I saw a person on the street that would be all that I saw of them, calling them lazy for not trying to work, or dirty for not taking a shower. But simply because they are a design of our Creator, there is something pure about them, and whether I see it or not is up to me. He loves them, so I should too. There are so many reasons why He loves them, that soul is his son or daughter. All I should look for is what is in their heart. I also learned that when the outside of your cup is clean, what is on the inside cooks faster. That taught me that it is important to take care of my physical body so my Spiritual body can develop better. Another awakening I had was when we were 'wandering' to final destination. I saw this creek that we were trying to get to so that it could lead us straight to where we wanted to go. Sometimes walking in a creek bed isn't the easiest thing to walk through because of the rocks that move underneath your feet and the water also places an obstacle to staying dry. I was frustrated with the lead TrailWalker because all I wanted to do was get to the creek and he wanted to stay to the side of it because he hates walking in creek beds. In my mind I didn't care because I just wanted to get the YoungWalkers to were we were going without getting lost. We got to the creek and started the journey. I realized then that our walk on this rocky creek bed could be like our commitment to the Creator. We refer to Christ as the living waters. We should stay true to him and be willing to go around any obstacle, whether it be deep waters, a boulder that we need to climb over, or the rocks that move from underneath our feet. No matter the obstacle am I willing to follow Him and stay close to the water that keeps us alive? We camp close to water, is my camp close to Christ? Do I allow Him to keep me alive? Am I willing to prove my commitment to Him? How far will I go, how long will I endure?