Treasures (Guest Post - Emily)

Dear Blog Readers,

Though many of you may only know me as the psycho girl who writes random bedtime stories, I am actually stuck with a brief flash of insight every once and a while. And today, I feel like it’s rather profound.

When I was a little girl, my dad would always find so much joy in my hair. He loved to see it long and I’m pretty sure he shed a tear or two when I got it cut (he still has the 7 or so inches of 5-year-old me’s hair). Though it’s darkened a bit over the years, it is still a great source of love for me and my dad.
Basically, I have fabulous hair.

No, wait! Hear me out.

It’s a dirty, slightly-strawberry blond and it’s thick, soft, luscious, and grows quickly to boot. I know that you’re still trying to click the little red  X and stop listening to this psycho chat about her hair. But I have a point. Although I have this beautiful hair, it isn’t mine. It’s God’s. I’m His little girl, just like I’m still my daddy’s little girl. And while my daddy loves my hair and delights so much in seeing it long spilling down my back, God knows, and I know, that there’s even something better I can do with my hair than let my daddy pet it.

There are so many other little girls out there with daddies who love them like my daddy loves me but not all of them have hair like mine, or, get this, hair at all. So I want to grow out my hair and cut it off and donate it so that another little girl out there can have pretty hair like mine (and so that another daddy out there can delight in his baby girl all the more).

Now, I’m not trying to convince you all that you should grow out your hair and donate it. That’s not my point at all.

Here’s my point.

Don’t miss it now!

What I’m trying to do is use what I have to… Add a smile to the world. I’m trying to take my God-given gifts and use them for a slightly more noble cause than playing up my own assets. While cutting off my hair isn’t exactly a soul earned for Him or a Bible donated or a tithe paid, I feel like it is being one step (out of infinity, I might add) closer to glorifying God with all that I am and all that I do. It’s a gift to a person who lacks what God has given me in spades.

Here’s where I was going with this.

It’s a positive action done in a world of negativity. And that right there is living for Him. And now that I’ve made the descision not only to grow my hair out , but to donate it, I can’t WAIT to see those scissors! I can’t wait to send another ponytail out into the world of wig-makers who make so many more smiles than wigs. I’m looking at this as an opportunity to serve and God is taking this opportunity to touch my heart and ‘serve’ me.

At Cedarville, I’m finding out that living your life for God doesn’t mean you study nursing and then go out to be a missionary nurse or studying Bible to be a pastor or playing the piano beautifully for Church services. It’s more about living out each day, in every way, for a pure purpose. This could look like picking up that random piece of trash you see laying around, dressing modestly, holding the door for someone, smiling at everyone you meet, censoring what kinds of music you listen to. It’s kinda all in the way you live that sometimes touches people the most.

Michael Franzese came to Cedarville and talked about how he first noticed the woman who is now his wife. He told us that she stuck out to them because she didn’t go out and party it up with the rest of the dancers or things like that. He was attracted to this girl because she lived her life differently from the rest.

So. That ties back in with what I was talking about – the whole “it’s kinda all in the way you live that sometimes touches a person.” So whatever you do, piano, art, chemistry, business, athletic training, food service, marketing… Do it all in a way that will please Him. Take the talents and gives He has given you and sail them out into the big, scary world to be a beacon of pure, white, radiant light.

I mention the boats because I once read a quote by William Shedd: “A ship is safest in its harbor, but that's not what ships are made for.” So set your ship out and sail boldly; knowing that all the time God is there to guide it safely wherever its destination may be.

-Emily