Nationals

This past week my lil Sis and I had the amazing oppertunity to go compete at the National NCFCA tournament. It was such an amazing experience and getting fourteenth place in our duo was pretty exciting, not to mention a total, complete God thing. We did our duo on a book written by Gene Edwards called, "The Day I Was Crucified."  Here's a link to it (thanks to Magali!) since a lot of you have been asking about it. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycE0Gg575B8&feature=plcp

A prison.
That's all it really was, wasn't it? Not a literal prison, but it was a prison nonetheless. A prison that I, in fact, wore.
A mask.
A mask I had created to protect me from nosy questions and prying eyes. A mask to hide my insecurities and fears. My past. My hurt. But the problem with wearing a mask is this. Overtime, the mask is no longer simply a part of us. No, instead it becomes who we are, our identity. It is much harder to take a mask off than to put it on.
And I learned this: the mask I once wore to protect me now only served to suffocate me. Little by little, it sucked the life out of me.
"Help! I need help. I'm stuck in a prison and I can't get out!!"

Lately I've been reading the book Truefaced, which is what inspired me to write the story above (which is also the same idea I'm going to use for my original next year.) Truefaced basically deals with learning to trust God and others with who we genuinely are instead of wearing masks. And, yes, even though masks-like a prison- might keep us "safe", they don't allow us to truly live. John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came so that we could have life and have it to the fullest. Most abundantly. I love that. I want to learn how to live life without a mask. To live on "real street", as I call it. And most importantly, to live out who God ways I am. My identity and confidence should be found in who God says I am, and nothing less. I encourage you guys to do the same! Live out who Christ says you are-without the mask.