Going out on a limb...

Today was an amazing day. After work in beautiful FoHo, I studied for a bit then left to attend college group (Nikos).  Last week, Meagan and Nessa took me to Nikos and I really enjoyed it. To be honest, I am picky about where I attend church. I know what God desires from a church and I definitely stick to that. At Nikos the pastor preaches from the bible, verse by verse, and so it is easy to see the word how God has wanted us to. Anywho, tonight was a great night and God spoke to me very clearly. So, I would like to share :)

Throughout my life, I have gone through many phases. I used to be a very shy person, then I became a very outgoing person back to being shy and now I would say I am outgoing. But I am not going to lie, I find it difficult to openly interact with people that I do not know. When I tell my close friends that I can be shy they laugh at me and say, "yeah right!" Well tonight, God spoke to me and showed me that I need to stop holding back.

I find myself always being in situations where I feel content. I surround myself by people and places that make me feel comfortable. It is kind of rare for me to do something out of the norm. Tonight, I saw so many past opportunities that flashed in my head of times where I should have stepped out of the box.  I know that God is with me and will guide me but yet I still hold back at times. For instance, there has been times where I find people who are not really that close to me, broken down inside. Whether those people show it throught their actions or words, I can just see it. I have thought to myself countless of times if I should ask him/her if I can pray for them. But of course, there is that fear that comes along that says, "eh. Don't bother." I know that the fear is not of God. I will not experience another one of those moments again.

If we hold back in life, we can miss many oportunities that are placed in our path. That is one of the things that I was reminded of tonight.  Who knows the impact that I can have on somebody's life through God if I never try.  I have actually experienced what it feels like to make a difference, even if it was for a short amount of time. A couple years ago when I went to Haiti, there was this little boy that caught my eye. The kids at the orphanage we went to were somtimes skeptical and would just stay in the corner. Of course, this boy was one of those kids and something about him told me to try to talk to him. I am guessing the boy was around two or three years of age. I spent a lot of time trying to talk to him and have him warm up to me but, he continued to look down as if he was shy and as if I were some random stranger (which I was). I finally was able to find out his name from a worker at the orphanage.

One day when we were out in the play yard with all the kids, I saw the little boy wandering around with his head down. A lot of the kids where playing together, laughing, jumping and doing stuff that kids do but, he was not. I called his name, "Watson! Watson!" The next thing you know he looked over shocked, as he was curious to who could be calling his name; he smiled huge, and ran over to me with his arms wide open. I grabbed him and he sat on my lap as all the kids played around us. The smile that he showed was a smile that I can hardly describe.  It was as if he knew that someone cared about him, someone wanted him. It is one of the most cherished memories I have of Haiti that I will hold onto the rest of my life.

The reason why I share that story is because I feel like that is the impact that we can all have in others lives. Sometimes people just want someone to care and listen to them.  It gets easy to get caught up in our own life and worries, forgetting about those around us. I know that for myself, I want to show God's love and mercy throughout my life. I want to show people that we do not have to go through this life alone.  But in order to do this, I cannot be timid and I need to stand strong in my faith.  I hope that maybe this can help any of you who have struggled with any kind of fear.  Just know, that the one attempt you make to reach out, can change somebody's life forever.