I wanna be like Mike

You remember that commercial? When every kid...and their dad wanted to be like Michael Jordan? All I remember is the jingle. I think a kid was singing;
Like Mike, I wanna be like Mike, I wanna be I wanna be I wanna be like Mike...

That is always going through my head and was last night right before I went to bed. It got my brain going, and I'll give you a little taste of "Emily's Brain!" It tends to keep me up for a good 20-30 minutes chattering away.

I started singing this in my head, then it got me thinking about the Duggar Family. You know, the 19 Kids and Counting family. And I think, 'I love that family. I wish I were more like the Duggars.'

And then I list all the reasons I love that family.
They are:
Gracious, kind, generous, loving, forgiving, obedient, gentle, giving, faithful and by what I see, the list goes on and on.

So next I think, I enjoy them so much, even though they can be a little awkward or uncomfortable sometimes, (can't we all!!?) but what are they doing? Being more like Christ! So my brain jumps to; I want to be more like Christ. Then FINALLY, it stays there and fixates on ways I can be more like Christ. Because THAT'S what I need to be thinking and doing. Not be or want to be like someone who, in essence is just like me! I want to be like someone who was perfect the entire time He walked this earth.

How can I do that?! Live my faith. Be an example of Christ. Simple as that, yet something that is hard to do at times.

I would get challenged all the time at work. When I was around inmates that I absolutely loathed (which I admit, was every single one of them), or being around other C/O's that did things that I wasn't a fan of, or put me in bad situations. I wouldn't always make the right choices, and I don't mean right choices in their eyes, but in God's eyes...I would make the right choices in their eyes a lot of times. But there were those moments, when I would stand apart and they would notice. My co-workers knew and would say that I was different. 'Don't do things around her...you don't know how she is.' Quite a few didn't like me because they thought I acted better than them, or whatever other reasons they had.

One C/O knew I wouldn't go out with him because he wasn't a believer (because I told him so), so he said what he thought were the magic words to me. 'I want to learn about the Bible.' Well, I'm not going to deny someone the opportunity to hear the gospel so I agreed to meet and then I had a trustworthy friend, male mind you, call me up and share some "TOP SECRET" information about this guy and the things he was saying and betting on about me. Needless to say, his true intentions were revealed and we never met.

There was even this one time with an i/m (inmate), I'll never forget, I was escorting him to his cell and right before he went in, he turned to me and said; 'You're the Christian C/O aren't you?' I was so taken aback...I didn't share anything with them. So I asked what made him ask that, and he said 'Another i/m told me.'
I just nodded my head, closed the door and walked away amazed that even when I think Christ isn't visible in me, He is! I'm an example, even the smallest one.

It might put us more on display and have people just sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for us to slip up so they can point out how we failed, but we have a duty, a commitment an understanding that we are Christ's representatives here on earth and He calls us to act it out! My goal is to act it out more.


* Random Tip: When cooking a meal and you're waiting for something to boil or bake, use that time to clean up your prep dishes. Cleaning up as you go makes the dishes in the end a lot less and not so overwhelming. Pin It Now!