Virtuous Reality Blog

How's it going? I was just sitting here thinking about this blog and what to say and wondering how many of you would actually read it and respond. Then I thought that maybe instead of hitting you with something soul deep and so very convicting, I should maybe introduce myself first since I'm new here and just taking over the big blog.

But then I thought of how boring and really self-involved it would be to talk all about myself...God's working me away from the selfish, self-involved thing...so maybe instead of talking about me, I'll just introduce you to The Snowbeast. Before I go there (because "there" can be pretty scary) I will tell you that my name is Jamie and I truly love talking Jesus with anyone who will - so please talk back if you can.

On to The Beast. Her name is The Snowbeast ("The" always accompanies Snowbeast, she is never just Snowbeast) and she's roughly 6 years old. One rainy day (I don't actually know that it was a rainy day but it sets the mood you see) she and two siblings were shoved into a plastic bag at the tender age of 2 weeks and heartlessly thrown into a dumpster. At just the right moment a young woman was walking by and heard the sad cries of babies-in-dumpster and rescued them (yay for young women who rescue babies!)

Not long after said babies were rescued, I happened to be wandering through the church lobby and saw a tiny little white something being bottle fed by Mother of Rescue Girl. As I approached; it's little, fuzzy, matted, eyes-barely-open face, turned in my direction and let out the loudest little noise she could. And I knew in that moment it was meant to be...or that I just really wanted to bottle feed the kind-of-ugly baby.

Six years later she is asleep in the loft and I just finished sweeping roughly one million fur tumbleweeds out the front door. She has earned her name so don't let her pretty picture fool you into thinking she's a sweetheart...she's not...except to me and maybe one other person who also bottle fed her when she was young. God has used her on more than one occassion to show me how ugly I can be toward others and how He continues to love me unfailingly even on those days.

Meet The Snowbeast

I just heard a story about a 16 year old girl who sponsors 14 compassion kids. 14. Not one or two, but 14. 14 kids at $32 a month is... $448 a month. She works extra in the summers, "60 or 70 hours a week" she said and keeps a job during the school year so she can afford it. So let me get this straight...here's a teenager who cares so much about kids around the world who are hungry, naked, uneducated and don't know Jesus, that she's willing to sacrifice not just her hard earned money, but her time and energy as well. That makes me want to high-five her like she's never been high-fived before!!

Then I started thinking about this guy Zach Hunter.
Have you heard this story? He's 16 and was interviewed on ABC because he's trying to end slavery around the world. Here's the ABC story if you want to read it and a YouTube link:
ABC News story
YouTube video

I love hearing stories like this!! Partly because it kicks me in the pants and makes me do stuff and partly because I see something happening in this younger generation. What I'm hearing is that a lot of you are tired of playing the church game and want to actually DO something with the life you've been given. Which sounds a lot more like Jesus than just collecting more information and rules to live by but never applying any of them.

So now I'm wondering...who's out there? Who are you and what are you doing with the life you've been given? Is there anyone out there with a story to share that would encourage the rest of us and maybe help us do something ourselves instead of just thinking about it? And before anyone starts to respond that you can't be someone who makes a difference, remember what Jesus said:

"Apart from Me you can do nothing" but "I can do all thing through Him who strengthens me."
John 15:5b & Philippians 4:13