Blog Challenge - Day 3

Day 3-Your first love

I've been a bad blogger. Please forgive me.

This weekend was insanely busy to say the least.

So when I did find myself at home with free time, my desires unfortunately were not to write but rather to sleep! :)

So Day 3 of the blog challenge (Saturday) is going to be fulfilled today.

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But first a little snippet of my weekend.

I had Friday off but it was day filled with all sorts of errands to get things ready for Saturday.

Saturday was such a fun day that I wish we could relive it a couple more times.

Just to fill you in quickly, my boyfriend is the Director of Operations for a program called Teen Challenge. Teen Challenge is a Christian drug rehabilitation program for young boys. This enables them to not just rid of bad addictions but to also allow them to rid of bad habits in their life and to disciple them in a personal walk with the Lord.

So on Saturday, one of the students graduated from the program and later that evening, two of the boys graduated from High School. It was an exciting day to see these kids change their life for the better and be a part of their growth and commending them. I took a lot of pictures but these are only a few...

This would be my handsome boyfriend speaking. :)

And the other is of Andrew and I after the graduation.

Unfortunately I am unable to post pictures of the students but just trust me - it was a fabulous day! :)

So then on Sunday I went with Andrew and his boys to visit another church where they were able to give their testimonies and share their heart on where they came from, the place God has brought them to, and how they are continually evolving and growing in the Lord. And so this weekend for me was my heart being encouraged by 11 teenage boys who have surrendered their life to the Lord.

1 Timothy 4: 12

"Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity."

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This weekend transformed my perspective on life. Just when you think your problems are the biggest and your pain is the strongest, God reveals to you another soul who is hurting just as much as yourself if not more. Then the thoughts of frustration, anger, bitterness, & hurt subside as you can focus all your attention on another - that is when you can really be healed. It's not all about me!

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Now on to fulfilling my blog challenge.

So Day 3 (Saturday) was supposed to be all about my first love.

I'm going to take this all the way back to Elementary school.

Thank you Samuel P. Langley for ESOL and the curly slide on the playground. Elementary school is an awkward time in life when it comes to relationship interactions. I knew at this point that I was supposed to like boys and that I did but I guess I tested the waters a little more come 5th grade. We had a program in our school at the time called "ESOL" or "English for Speakers of Other Languages". We took in students who were not fluent in English and taught them. We of course got one of the new ESOL students in my class (whose name remains anonymous). For code we'll call him "Guillermo" because he was spanish. :) haha! Okay so long story short, I was intrigued by this kid and probably more for the sheer fact that he couldn't speak my language. I guess I thought I was going to teach him? hahaah...who knew?! The extent of our relationship consisted of a few smiles across the classroom and an escapade event of being chased down the curly slide one day. Or did I chase him? hahaha....I forget. That was obviously not love but when the blog challenge said "first love", I couldn't help but retreat back to that day in 92 when I had that encounter on the curly slide at Samuel P. Langley Elementary. We are the Jaguars! :)