James 1:2-3: A Small Part of My Faith Story
Hey guys! Choosing what to write for my first post was kind of difficult, so I decided it would be a good idea to share a little bit about my favorite verses, and why they are so important to me. Since I have been following Christ practically my whole life, my faith story is obviously very long. That's why I am starting with only a fraction of it. I am sure that throughout the course of me posting on this blog I will share a lot more of it with you, but for now I will keep it short.
My favorite verse is James 1:2-4, which says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." This verse first became important to me the summer before my freshman year of high school. I was home schooled sixth through eighth grade, and was going back to public school again. I was fairly shy, and super nervous about going back. I was actually pretty mad at my parents for making me go to public school again. I worried that I wouldn't make friends, or that the workload would be too overwhelming for me. In the midst of all this worrying, these verses randomly popped into my head. God was showing me that everything would be okay, and that this was going to be a chance to grow in both my faith and confidence. For the first few weeks of school I wrote "James 1:2-4" on my arm as a constant reminder that even if I struggled, it was something to be joyful about. The first few weeks were hard. The homework was difficult, and I sat by myself for a while at lunch. However, I got through it, and now I couldn't be happier that I went back to public school. It just took getting through the hard times with joy to see the good side of the situation.
Fast forward to this past school year, my junior year. Although I still loved these verses, they were not as applicable or important to me as they had been freshman year. However, I was still excited when I found out that we would be doing a Bible study on James in my youth group's high school leadership team. It was cool to read another person's perspective on the verses, and study the rest of the book as well. Later on, I became even more excited (and extremely nervous) when I was asked to speak on James 1 at youth group. Not only was I teaching on the verses that had meant so much to me, but they also applied to me in that moment. Public speaking has always been a struggle for me, so I had to put my full trust in God and find joy in that moment to get through it.
Now, jump ahead even further. Just over a week ago, I was sitting in a church classroom on a missions trip teaching, once again, on James 1 to a group of kids from Detroit. If these verses had not been important to me freshman year, we hadn't done a study on James for youth group, or I wouldn't have spoken on James 1 for youth group, I am not sure I would have been as prepared as I was to speak on it to those kids. Sure, I would have been excited and tried hard to share what God wanted me to. But I know God was using those times to help me fully prepare to share in the best way I could.
I learned from these experiences that God may use something you are going through now to help someone else learn in the future. Even though it was hard for me to find joy in a time that was difficult for me, I look back and know that not only was God using that verse to prepare me for this past year, but He was also using that time to improve my confidence and boldness. I needed to get to a point where I would be willing to go when he called me to speak publicly, or teach a group of kids from a completely different city, and I wouldn't change any of it for the world!
My favorite verse is James 1:2-4, which says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." This verse first became important to me the summer before my freshman year of high school. I was home schooled sixth through eighth grade, and was going back to public school again. I was fairly shy, and super nervous about going back. I was actually pretty mad at my parents for making me go to public school again. I worried that I wouldn't make friends, or that the workload would be too overwhelming for me. In the midst of all this worrying, these verses randomly popped into my head. God was showing me that everything would be okay, and that this was going to be a chance to grow in both my faith and confidence. For the first few weeks of school I wrote "James 1:2-4" on my arm as a constant reminder that even if I struggled, it was something to be joyful about. The first few weeks were hard. The homework was difficult, and I sat by myself for a while at lunch. However, I got through it, and now I couldn't be happier that I went back to public school. It just took getting through the hard times with joy to see the good side of the situation.
Fast forward to this past school year, my junior year. Although I still loved these verses, they were not as applicable or important to me as they had been freshman year. However, I was still excited when I found out that we would be doing a Bible study on James in my youth group's high school leadership team. It was cool to read another person's perspective on the verses, and study the rest of the book as well. Later on, I became even more excited (and extremely nervous) when I was asked to speak on James 1 at youth group. Not only was I teaching on the verses that had meant so much to me, but they also applied to me in that moment. Public speaking has always been a struggle for me, so I had to put my full trust in God and find joy in that moment to get through it.
Now, jump ahead even further. Just over a week ago, I was sitting in a church classroom on a missions trip teaching, once again, on James 1 to a group of kids from Detroit. If these verses had not been important to me freshman year, we hadn't done a study on James for youth group, or I wouldn't have spoken on James 1 for youth group, I am not sure I would have been as prepared as I was to speak on it to those kids. Sure, I would have been excited and tried hard to share what God wanted me to. But I know God was using those times to help me fully prepare to share in the best way I could.
I learned from these experiences that God may use something you are going through now to help someone else learn in the future. Even though it was hard for me to find joy in a time that was difficult for me, I look back and know that not only was God using that verse to prepare me for this past year, but He was also using that time to improve my confidence and boldness. I needed to get to a point where I would be willing to go when he called me to speak publicly, or teach a group of kids from a completely different city, and I wouldn't change any of it for the world!
This makes me smile SO much! Love you lots and we're SO proud of you and the lovely young lady you are.
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