SAFEGUARD YOUR MIND

I just got back from my circuit assembly, and it was fabulous as always.  I'd actually already been to it in English here, but wanted to hear it in Spanish too.  We went to Ticuantepe to our Assembly Hall there like always.  I wanted to share some of my favorite points, but if you haven't had your assembly yet, and don't want to ruin it, don't keep reading.

*SPOILER ALERT*

One of my favorite points was brought out at the Pioneer Meeting the Friday before the assembly.  They read to us Heb 6:10 pointing out that Jehovah never forgets our service and love for Him.  Sometimes we feel that our service could never be enough in comparison with everything Jehovah's done for us; and it's not!  But that doesn't mean he looks down on our service.  They used the illustration of a child giving a gift to her mother.  When Mom opens the box and sees a Cheerios necklace, she's probably not turning cartwheels.  But when she reads the note how her daughter spent all her savings for the materials and made it to show how much she loves her Mom....well, not Mom sees the necklace in a whole new light.  Jehovah understands our motives and circumstances, and that's how he can add value to our service to Him.  Beautiful, right?

I've also been struggling here to find a good illustration to use about why we shouldn't be afraid to dedicate our lives to Jehovah.  In the US, I always used the illustration about getting your license at age 16--we might be afraid of accidents or traffic, but that doesn't stop us from taking the plunge.  Well, that illustration doesn't work here because very few people have autos.  So at the assembly, I finally heard my Nica illustration for this.  They said it would be like a child explaining to his mother that he knows school is good for him and the teachers are nice and all, but he doesn't want to go because he's afraid of not passing at the end of the year.  Mom would NEVER accept that excuse.  So why would we expect Jehovah to?

The last point was another great Nica illustration.  Here, it's common for street vendors to walk around with heavy baskets or canastas on their head.  Sometimes, the canasta weighs as much as the person and they have to ask for help to lift it on their head, but they're walking around hands-free!  How do they keep things balanced?  They roll up a little towel and set it on top of their head with the canasta on top of that.  The Bible is our towel helping us balance the heavy load of life.  

I can't wait to use these new illustrations in service!