First Things First: How to Shave Properly - Written January 18th 2011

Good morning fellow youthgroupers!!

You may be surprised to see me posting this early - heck, I'm surprised too!! - because I don't have the most amazingtrack record when it comes to doing things on time, or even prioritizing my life. And that's bad.

You see, as my title says, doing First Things First is going to help you. Not only with your personal hygiene, but with all aspects of you life.

Time management was never something that I was overly fond of, or good at. I hate the feeling of having to wait, or of being all dressed up and having no where to go (for at least 20 minutes). SO, I USUALLY leave things for the very last minute - resulting in me usually being just a little bit (or sometimes a lot) late.

So, let's take a look at how to shave properly:

1) you run the warm water, then get yourself all nice and soggy.

2) you apply the shaving cream.

3) you use your razor and shave away!!!

This is how things are supposed to be, right? That's the way things are supposed to go, because it works.

But what if you were to, say, switch it up? What if you were like "pfft, forget this, I'm a freaking rebel. You can't tell me what to do with my life! WATCH ME SUCCEED!!!!!"

So you go:

1) razor it up!!!

2)add the shaving cream after (it would burn because of the CUTS)

3) Run the warm water and wash away the nasty, probably bloody shaving cream.

Sounds appealing, right?

Wrong. It doesn't. You're gross.

It just doesn't work! No matter what type of skin you have, no matter how good your razor is, it will just not work. It's gonna come out with bad results, and it's going to sting.

Can you see the analogy here??

You see, life is like that. Sort of. You need to decide what's most important. You need to prioritize. You need to figure out what works and go with it.

Ok, moving on.

First things first.

Give it up to God. I know, especially in my case, that's WAY easier said than done.

I'm a person who likes to be in control. I'm the one who coordinates and makes things happen.

Give it up to God? No, I don't think so. God's got more important things to do than listen to me. I'll get faster results if I just do this myself.

Again, WRONG.

As many of you know, I'm moving up to Canada at the beginning of February, but as of less than a week ago, I didn't even know that.

You see, I was just being me, and I was trying to be in control. And it sucked.

I was looking for a job, but I didn't know how to make a resume, and I didn't know how to search for job listings online, and I didn't know where I was going to live, and I didn't know how I was going to be able to get into school. I was a mess.

But FINALLY, one night, I was like "wait... I'm doing this wrong."

So that night, after everyone had gone to bed and I had the living room to myself, I started reading the Bible. I was like "God, if you've got something to say to me, now would be a really fantastic time to tell me." I was open, and I was listening.

But nothing came.

"God, I'm doing this right!! I'm sitting here, my Bible is open to a really awesome verse (it's Matthew 6:33, Father! It's your favorite!*) and I'm sitting here waiting for you to make things all shiny and sparkly! I WANT THE FANFARE!"

And still, nothing came.

And again, I realized that I was doing it all wrong.

So I got down off the comfy couch (where I was getting sleepy) and I got down to the floor and on my knees (which was cold, so I was no longer sleepy) and I prayed.

I prayed for Him to just take control. I was completely sincere, I was broken, and I was freaking out. I was so sure that my whole life was just going to be a mess, and there was really nothing I could do.

I don't know how long I spent praying, but it felt like a really long, amazing time.

Then I went to bed, wondering if anything was actually going to happen.

You see, I was expecting something... anything. I was expecting to feel something break, or make the sound that a rubber band makes when it snaps. I was expecting to feel something, like those walls that I had built come crashing down.

But I really didn't feel anything.

In the morning, things felt the same. I got up, ate breakfast, and went on the computer to start my day.

But something was different.

My Mom had been pretty quiet, and finally she looked up at me and said "Brewsters."

I looked up at her, about ready to say that it was barely 9:00 am, it was too early for her to be thinking about that. But she looked at my Dad and said "John, our clients own Brewsters in Edmonton. I bet they'd give Kenzie an interview!"

And that's how it started.

Within an hour, my life was all figured out. I had an amazing job that I didn't even need to interview for (!!) in a restaurant, and my Aunt had offered for me to live with them. I was so amazed! Words can honestly not even express how elated and blessed I felt. God had come through and provided for me in a HUGE way, and when I was least expecting it.

Which bring me back to my original point.

First Things First!!

I had been fighting for SO long, and I was SO full of myself, I had been pretty much blocking Jesus from being able to take over.

The the moment I let go, He came in and took over.

Now, I'm not saying that everyone is going to have the EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE that I had. Sometimes, what you want and what He has planned for you don't jive.

But let me tell you, you need to give it up! His will is always WAY cooler than ours.

So, in conclusion, my darling friends, I leave you with this verse, Matthew 6:33 : Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Have a great day, guys!!

*He did not actually tell me this. I'm just assuming. But I'm pretty sure that if he HAD to choose a top 10 list, this would rank in the top 5.