Who am I?

My sister is back from her tour of Europe and Russia! She got home last Thursday from L.A. As much as I really really really miss my sister, I realize that I have to share the bathroom. I was so used to waking up in the morning with the bathroom door open to me rather it be shut for 30 more minutes. I was so used to the convenience of going number-two without someone banging on the door to hurry up. It's difficult to complete my business when someone's pressuring me, ya know?

Anyway, I haven't been wearing my contacts lately so I decided to wear them for church last Sunday. I put both of them on and looked at the mirror. I couldn't see myself clearly. I blinked twice, but I still couldn't see! I thought I had something in my eye; nope they were clean. I thought it was the contacts; nope no debris. I then thought that since that I hadn't worn them in a while and they were in the case for about a week that they were bad even though they were in solution. I decided to wear my glasses to church.

I get a call during praise rehearsal from Royce. She asks me, "Are you wearing my contacts?" I told her no, but then I got the lightning rod struck me: the contacts I put on this morning were ROYCE'S CONTACTS! She has a lower grade than me so it makes sense why I couldn't see. I apologized and we decided to get different colored contact lens cases.

This incident related to the sermon that morning about the blind man that was healed by Jesus (John 9). There were two points that really spoke out to me that relate with vision. The first was about obedience. Jesus put some of His spit mixed with mud and put it on the blind man's eyes. Then He told him to go wash it out. The blind man could have wiped away the spit/mud-mix and said, "WTH! This isn't food!" (being born blind, this blind man was dependent on others to provide for him), but instead the blind man believed that he could be healed by Jesus if he obeyed His command by washing off the spit/mud-mix from his eyes. Point 1: We cannot know God's vision if we do not obey through faith.

The second point describes the spit/mud-mix. There is no indication or rationale for why Jesus decided to use this as the remedy to heal this blind man. Jesus healed other blind men without using this treatment. Yet with this odd mixture, Jesus healed this blind man. Point 2: We cannot know God's vision if we don't get a little dirty.

How it relates to me:
I know that God's vision for me is to serve in the United States Army as an Nurse Corps Officer. He has made that clear to me when He gave me that nursing scholarship four years ago. However, it was not clear to me until near the end of my senior year of high school. After various letters came in the mail and doors closing, I turned to God for guidance. Through prayer and patiently waiting on God, He led me to the interview that would lay out the next four years. But I did not see God's vision for me at first. I had to go through various application processes, write letters, standardized tests, etc. God did not give this to me on a silver plater. I had to get dirty in order to see what God has in store for me.

Now that I have completed nursing school, obtaining my license is the only thing I need to start my career. Studying for this exam has been a very trying time in my life. But God's vision is clear to me. I need to be strong. I need to persevere. I need to focus. I need to obey through faith.