Chipmunk Cheeks :)

If you don't know from my whiny tweets or texts to you, this is what my cheeks have looked like for the past 5 days:

CUTE..right? NO. I got my wisdom teeth removed on Friday, and it was a lot less fun than I had hoped it would be. I may or may not have been in as much pain as this poor baby is in this picture. It was not a pleasant experience.  I even had to call out of work Monday and Tuesday because it hurt so bad!  I was not expecting that. 

There were some perks to the surgery.  My mom made me yummy meals and got my drinks for me. Allie came over to visit, and we just sat and watched the opening ceremonies. I was able to catch up on some homework.  Yep, that's about it... Other than that, it was quite painful. But do you want to know what bothered me the most? What made me the most irritable? What made me want to cry? 

MY CHEEKS.

How vain! I know that it's normal for cheeks to puff up after surgery during swelling, but for some reason I imagined that the swelling just wasn't going away - that the chubby chipmunk cheeks would stay to haunt me for the rest of my life. Then, I realized how much worth I was putting into my looks. This is, of course, a natural tendency, especially for girls. However, I had been putting my relationship with Christ on hold, and I started to realize that I slowly began to identify and define myself by my outward appearance, and not by the new woman that Jesus calls me to be. CONVICTION. 

1 Samuel 16:7 - But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Proverbs 31:30 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Galatians 2:20a

I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live but Christ lives IN ME.

I constantly need to remind myself that MYSELF, MY outward beauty, MY style, MY fashion, MY anything does not define me. 

Jesus does. 

41. Allie giving me a new journal!! 

42. Skyping with Linds today

43. Olympic sports are so fun :)

44. Painkillers!!!

45. My wonderful mother.

46. My boss who understands when I actually really need the day(s) off for rest

47. Resting in Jesus' grace...because that is enough.

100%

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. 

I always have. I mean... who doesn't?  You see the advertisements on ESPN, and you just want to get up from the couch and start training. The motivational clips, even for the silliest things (like...Wendy's?), make you want to do something important - to give your all to something. These athletes train all day, everyday FOR YEARS. They eat right ALL THE TIME. They sacrifice their time, indulgences, and sometimes even friendships in order to pursue a dream they most likely have had since childhood. There is something about this that inspires, that causes us to believe in something bigger.

Is that "something bigger," a race? A competition? A game? A gold medal? Certainly not.

Of course, I am not saying that the athletes who participate in the Olympic Games aren't admirable. I'm not saying that they're pursuits are vain. The Olympic athletes manifest for us the idea of 100%. They illustrate what it means to sacrifice for something more. They give their all in order to achieve the highest honor - the gold medal.

When Jesus called his disciples, Mark records that "immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him" (Mark 1:20).  James and John did not even question Jesus. They simply followed Him, giving up everything they had: family, security, occupations.  

Recently, my family notified me that we are moving across the country - to Wyoming. It's a crazy and weird transition, and I keep finding myself lost, caught up in figuring out where I'm going to live, where I want to be, who I want to be with, etc.  I feel like everything I've known for the majority of my life is being taken from me. While it's definitely not that drastic, and at times I can be a drama queen, it is somewhat true. But I was thinking: What if Jesus took away my family, my friends, my school, my house, my job, my hope in finding a husband? Would I be willing to give all of that up to be with Him where He wants me? 

I frequently say to Jesus, "I want to give you my all," but I haven't ever really been able to put that prayer into practice because I've never really had to sacrifice anything. Now I have been given the opportunity to do just that - trust in Him 100%. 

The Olympic Games are awesome. But Jesus is more awesome. I want to give Him my all. ALL my desires - I want them to be His. 100%.