Caught Up or . . . Grounded?

So there’s been plenty of buzz lately about teen idol and role model Miley Cyrus and her photo shoot with Vanity Fair. It has turned into quite the hot topic with plenty of controversy.

We can almost remember a time when a photo shoot like this of a fifteen-year-old wouldn’t have even been a consideration. They simply wouldn’t have done it. But in today’s world of relativism and sliding morals, the lines jump all over the place like an old vein dodging a needle.

I don’t know. Maybe Miley and her parents didn’t imagine the photographer—though known for racey—would go the direction she did. Maybe Miley fully trusted the adults around her and the encouragement that this would be a classy and fun shoot rather than what it became. And then looking back, with media response and pressure, there are now all kinds of regrets.

It’s easy to get caught up in the moment. Too easy.

On a less celebrity scale—but equally as important—that can happen in our everyday, more ordinary lives. We’re in a conversation and find ourselves trashing a friend who a moment before we’d never betray. We are out in a group and one thing leads to another, and before we know it we’ve compromised a standard we thought we’d never violate. Or pressures and pain that run deep resurface and derail our resolve; we step right into a choice we never imagined we’d make.

Memories of instances when I did that still make me shiver with regret. I’ve experienced fewer and fewer slips, and therefore regrets, as God has grounded me deeper in my relationship with Him. I think of Psalm 1. It’s a grounding Psalm. It gives me a vision of what I want to avoid and where I want to keep heading. It offers words to help me formulate my prayer and plea for a solid resolve rooted in the only One who can keep me grounded.

If you haven’t read Psalm 1 recently, read the whole thing again . . . slowly. Then if you want, create your own personalized version of your grounding Psalm.

When we’re prepared and rooted deeply by the “streams of water,” we won’t so easily get caught up in the moment.

Praying for you!

Jan

Jan’s recent books, Scars That Wound, Scars That Heal—A Journey Out of Self-Injury, and Seduced by Sex, Saved by Love—A Journey Out of False Intimacy talk about how God can help us avoid getting caught up in the moment, particularly with two vital issues and pressures: self-injury and sex.

http://www.jankern.com/

Looking stupid

Camy here, talking about something I do way too often.

I’m just not graceful, both physically and verbally. I trip a lot over my feet, and my mouth will usually say something my brain never thought.

I just joined my first Mystery shawl Knit-along. Basically, the designer running the knit-along doles out the pattern for the shawl we’re knitting, a little each week, and we knit with everybody else and discover the beauty of the knitted piece as we go along.

Since I’ve never done this before, I immediately go on a PUBLIC FORUM BOARD and ask, So what kind of yarn should I use?

The next day, I’m approved for the knit-along and I start reading posts. Now, it’s been open for applications for a while, so they’re talking about stuff from earlier questions and I’m a bit lost.

Then suddenly there’s a post about how there’s a new file uploaded in the file section. I go to the file section, and there’s actually five files in the file section. One file’s in German, so I don’t bother opening it.

I open the other four. Three of them are related to knitting a test swatch. I have to knit a test swatch? That’s good to know. I should work on that asap. Like, before we have to start knitting the actual shawl so I know what needle size I should use.

The fourth is an informational .pdf. Which includes what yarn I should use. And color. And how many yards I’ll need. And how large my test swatch should turn out.

So now, I have just announced to a PUBLIC FORUM BOARD that I am too stupid to READ INSTRUCTIONS.

Now, I could turn this into a really wise devotional-type blog post and relate my embarrassment to how much God loves me and made me the way I am.

However, I will only say that I’m really glad God likes me no matter how stupid I look to other people, and I wish I could just burn the entire incident out of my brain with a red hot poker. (Theoretically, I could, but that would be just gross.)

Rejoice! You’re you. I’m me. God’s with us. That’s all that matters, right?

Camy Tang lives in San Jose, California. She previously worked in biology research, and she is a staff worker for her church youth group. She runs the Story Sensei critique service, and her new Asian chick lit novel, Only Uni, just released this month. Join her newsletter YahooGroup for monthly Christian fiction giveaways!

Beauty from ... what a mess!

I have a new book coming out in July for teen girls. Thinking about it both excites me and terrifies me at the same time.

The title is: My Life, Unscripted. In it I've share more about my messed up teen years than I ever thought I would. In fact stories I SWORE to never tell a soul will soon be in print! Like the time I was on a date with my boyfriend and found myself kissing his best friend. Or the time I got in a fist fight after a football game ... did I mention I was still wearing my cheerleading uniform? Or when I was 17 and told my boyfriend in the McDonald's parking lot that I was pregnant.

It's stories like these that I wish were fiction and NOT the truth!

Yet, years ago, after I dedicated my life to Christ I prayed He would redeem those years and bring some good out of them. This book is that redemption in print!

It's a dream come true. It's my way of allowing God to take the mess and make something beautiful out of it.

So what do you dream about? Check out this quote I found:

"God never simply buries our dead and broken dreams because He'd be burying our hearts along with our dreams. One of two positive things will happen. Either the dream will become fertilizer for something even better, or the Lord will give me the gumption and oomph to bring my dream to fruition. I can't lose either way!" ~Noni Joy Tari

To put in bluntly, the MESS from my teen years became fertilizer for something better. Believe me, it took a lot of gumption and guts to bring this dream to fruition, but if it can help one teen to choose a better path for her life it's ALL worth it!

Now, what about you? What mess have you lived through that you hope one day can help someone else? Tell me about it ...

Tricia