The last few days have been crazy... to begin with our Internet connection had work had a problem and hence could not surf the net for almost a week. And then I was down with Flu and that sucked more. But in the midst of all this, i came across this very beautiful note my friend Tracy pereira wrote on her Facebook profile which really blessed me, so I thought about blogging it here.
Tracy, this is 100% un-adulterated content... just the way it is... ;)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Somethin to think about :)
Friday, July 3, 2009 at 5:07pm
Someone sent me a FB quiz this past week about "what bible character would you be " and it was funny coz the same week, a kid at school asked me the same question...." if you could be most like one of the characters in the bible Ms. Tracy, whom would you wanna be like...and why. Jesus is not allowed as your answer coz everyone should be like him and I know you will say that"...
KIDS and their questions! You can never escape them. Yeah and he was right coz I was gonna say that ;-) KIDS! :D I thought that was pretty interesting and I've never given it much thought before...Anyway, I was dumbfounded and didn't really have an instant answer and neither did i wanna answer that question without giving it some thought......coz I wanted to know too, "What bible character I would wanna be most like and why". So I told the little kid that I would get back to him soon. "Once you give your answer, you can't change it, it will be forever and ever..for a million zillion years" he said, before he went out of the classroom. I laughed and nodded my head :-)
Forever and ever..for a million zillion years! Wow now that was huge! What character would I wanna be like forever and ever?! I came home that evening and for some reason I couldn't concentrate on anything. I kept making lesson plans for class the next day, watching tv, munching on snacks, talking to friends, doing my thing...but my thoughts kept drifting back and forth to this one question.
That night, I lay down on my bed and started thinking about all the great characters in the bible I could think of and read or learned about.....umm...maybe I wanna be like David, a man after God's own heart...why did God call him a man after his own heart I thought....he was a sinner, he was not perfect....but yeah because he would do anything for God and god knew that(Acts 13:22). Would I wanna be like David forever and ever? Yeah sure, why not.....but something was missing for me personally.....Let's think about the next character, I thought.....umm..Maybe I wanna be like Esther...it's one of my fav books in the Bible. She was a strong, confident woman of God who stood up for her people and found favor with the king. She was beautiful too! Would I wanna be like Esther forever and ever ...a million zillion years....yeah of course! umm....no...wait a minute Esther is awesome, I thought, but maybe I wanna be like Paul.....whoa PAUL! He was the man! He was a rebel and then he wrote most of the books in the new testament! Kinda cool ...I loved the passion he had for God and His word and I love how he says in Romans that his ambition is to preach the good news where the name of Christ has never been heard rather than where a church has already been started by someone else(Romans 15:20). It's one of my fav verses in Romans. And plus I've been to Ephesus and stood and prayed and worshipped God at the very place he once preached to the Ephesians....Cool...so maybe it's Paul I would choose....hmm...forever and ever...yeah why not?for a million zillion years....yeah totally! But still let me think of more.....umm..Maybe Moses....I would love to have parted the Red sea ;-)...Maybe Abraham.....I SO envy that man...he was God's friend and the father of faith! Wow! Maybe like Steven, or hey even Ruth, or another fav book of mine DANIEL....or maybe like Peter....Gosh so many choices....I kept thinking for so long....So many characters stood out and there are so many reasons why I would wanna be like all of them and I didn't know which one to choose......After what seemed like hours of thinking....lol....One character kinda stood out to me somehow more than the rest! A kinda quiet character who said nothing, preached nothing, didn't perform any miracles......Now I'm not saying that character is better than the rest or anything......It was just a personal opinion.....and somehow when I thought about if i would wanna be like that everyday for the rest of my life ......my answer was Yeah...just like that...i would wanna be just like that......forever and ever?? Yeah I would wanna be like that forever and ever...for a million zillion years? Heck yeah! I couldn't even think of any other character after that...I knew this is my answer....I was SO excited to have finally found my answer...YAY.....i went off to sleep that night and was so happy i thought about that question.....cool stuff.
So the next morning as soon as that kid walked in through that door, he comes up to me and says "So did you think about your answer Miss Tracy? Now remember you can't change it forever and ever even in a million zillion years ...so think properly okay?" I laughed. "So who is it then? Lemme guess it's Eve because she was so beautiful and she was the first woman and she had really long hair and she loved apples" I laughed at his innocence...."No? Oh man! Wait wait...last try..."It's Mary because she was his mother and she would give him timeout when he was naughty and even played with him when he was a baby and he would fall asleep on her shoulders...that's what all moms do" I loved his perspective on Mary :-) hehe. Giving Jesus timeout when he was small! So cute!I never thought of that! hehe...
"Okay okay, I give up , who is it?", he said. I said I will tell him at the end of the class and he can guess some more coz i knew how bummed he was feeling that he couldn't guess it right :-) He agreed.
So at the end of class, the kids lined up at the door and started walking out.....He stood last in line so we could talk.....He stopped next to me and I looked at him and said " A donkey".....he didn't laugh ....He was confused but was waiting for me to continue......"i would wanna be like that donkey that carried Jesus.....here's why....coz just like that donkey...whose very purpose was to carry Jesus...I wanna be just like that... coz my purpose...whatever I do, or say, or sing, or talk, or learn, or teach you guys at school, or write , my gifts, my talents, my skills, whatever I have and whatever I am.....more than anything else, i want it to carry Jesus...to bring him glory...to love him and honor him with a life that pleases him and brings him glory...that's my purpose...i don't care if the world notices what i do or not....it doesn't matter to me...it's not about me.....it's all about Him....and yeah i would wanna be that donkey forever and ever....for a million zillion years...a zillion times over even"
He just kept looking into my eyes for 30 seconds or so.....I just smiled but didn't say a word...i kinda call it the 'God moment" . I love 'God moments" :-)He took his coloring page and left without saying a word too. I turned around and sat down on my chair, in that huge empty room ...and had tears in my eyes coz I thought...Yeah...Lord,I so wanna be like that donkey...everyday ...every minute, every second of my life....I realize that even more...whatever I do, i wanna do for you....i just wanna make sure that whatever i do, it carries You.....You get ALL the credit, ALL the glory....I'm just a donkey whose purpose is to carry you, my Christ....
I thanked God for asking me that question through that kid.....and hoped my answer reached him too. I was about to get up when i heard someone running down the hallway towards my class.....and so turned my chair toward the door....It was this same kid!
"Miss Tracy", he said.....Can I be that donkey too, or only one donkey is allowed?" he said, still panting coz he ran all the way from the other building to my classroom to ask me this. I smiled and said "Sure, you can be that donkey too. And there is room for many more...millions and zillions".....He was happy! "YES!!Even I can be that donkey! that is So coolllll " ,he shouted totally excited ,as he ran back through the hallway to catch up with the other kids........