Two Life Lessons Learned in the First Week of Deputation

It’s only our second day of our first missions conference on deputation, but I’ve already been reminded of two valuable lessons. For those of you that don’t enjoy reading lengthy posts, I’ll sum this up succinctly:

• Don’t put eye shadow on in dimmed lighting. You’ll end up looking like a 4 year old that stole a 7th grader’s makeup kit.
• Be strong and very courageous! (Okay, so maybe I stole that phrase from a Bible verse…)

Now for the long version:

Lesson 1: Disclaimer-this lesson has absolutely no spiritual or value. This evening, I was getting ready for church. Ethan was asleep in my bedroom of the RV. Space and mirrors is a bit limited in the RV, so I was forced to quietly get ready in the bedroom. I didn’t want to turn on a light and wake the sleeping bear, so I decided to put my makeup on by natural (and dimming sunlight). Bad idea. I thought that my eye shadow wasn’t getting on the brush, so I reapplied it several times.
Fast-forward a couple of hours. We went to supper with the church family. After supper, I went to the restroom to wash my hands. As I glanced at the mirror, I was aghast to realize that somehow, somewhere, I had unknowingly been punched in the face by a gold-shimmer monster…but only on one eye. I looked similar to the villain off of Batman with only half a face.
How I had wandered around church (and my husband) without someone asking me if I’d fallen into a giant vat of eye shadow, I’ll never know.
Moral of the story: turn the light on whether it wakes the sleeping monster or not.

Lesson 2: After we arrived at the church, we parked our RV and took Ethan outside. He had been cooped up all day and was ready to explore. When we stepped outside, we were greeted by the (very near in vicinity) barking of two dogs, a German shepherd and a border collie (I think). Ethan was terrified! He wouldn’t leave Chris’ arms for anything at first. But, after being outside for a bit, he gained some confidence and got down. Eventually, he gained so much boldness that he would walk right up to the fence where the dogs sat barking (I’m sure these dogs are friendly at heart, but they give a great appearance of being vicious guard dogs).

After being here for two days, Ethan has decided that the dogs are nothing to be afraid of…as long as either Chris or myself are present. With only a glance behind him to make sure one of us is there, he’ll charge right up to the fence and even growl at the dogs. Even one of the dogs could rip him apart with no trouble, but he has no fear as long as he knows someone “has his back.”

I was reminded how God has called me as a Christian to “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be though dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Just as Ethan has absolutely no fear with us nearby, I can (and should) have the same confidence in God. I might not have quite the boldness to growl at every “dog” in my life as Ethan does, but it’s still a good reminder!