I'm REALLY not ashamed!

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."  Romans 1:16

I teach 9th grade girls at our church, I have blogged about them some.  They are cute, they are fun, they are real.  The thing I like most about them is their love for the Lord.  The verse above is their memory verse this week.  The first part is self explanitory; the second part they wanted to know more.  I needed to dig deeper, glad I did, b/c they are not afraid to ask questions! (that is another reason I love them!) The commentary I studied explained it as though the Jew could be your Christian friend and the Gentile your non-Christian friend. So, I told the girls that not only do they need to be reaching out to non-believers, but they also need to be an encouragement to their Christian friends as well. They should not be ashamed of what they know!

This is so easy to teach and say, but then I had to ask myself. "What are you afraid of?" I still can not answer that.  I pray that the Lord leads me in words and actions everyday. Am I in tune with God's plan and purpose?  That is something I need to be more aware of, not only during my quiet time, but throughout the entire day. (even if I have 2 little distractions!..ha!) 

Spice is not a camera lover.  This has been going on for quite a while now.  I have to be sneaky to take pictures of her or either bribe her.  She is ashamed. Why? I can't answer that.  I have tried and tried to figure it out.  I don't think she is REALLY ashamed of the camera, I think she just likes to test me.  While playing outside the other day I captured a few shots of her in a "peek-a-boo, I'm going to take a picture of you" kind of game. She gave in a few times putting her shame to the side, having fun and letting go. 

When I looked at these pictures I thought of this verse and God, and how He must get so frustrated with us for being ashamed even if we REALLY are not.  We just have to let go.  We just have to know that it is ok.  We can't test Him.  We have to see that He wants us to share Him with everyone, even if we are a little camera shy.