Lights, Camera... Awkward.

It's a rainy Sunday, but I hope you're finding sunshine in other places today! Like faith, music or laughter ;) speaking of which... on to the next one, shall we?

So after I recovered from my boogery episode, it was quite some time before I had another incredibly embarrassing encounter. Actually I can't recall one from the rest of that year or even the next year, which means I either did a pretty good job avoiding similar situations, or I can't just can't remember it... in other words blocked it out of my memory. Probably that one.

Anyway, the next happening I can recall was two years later. I was in middle school at this point, which consists of the four most awkward years of your life (true for most people, however my life gets more awkward as I get older). My mom had taken my younger sister and I to a children's museum on this particular day, and we had a blast. There was a plethora of activities kids my age would find engaging, so my sister and I had a pretty good time. I just ALMOST made it through the day without embarrassing myself. Almost.

But before I get there, we need a little background. My favorite part of the museum was definitely the room with the mock news broadcasting station. You sat in a chair behind a desk, at which there were papers about the weather and such. As you pretended to be a news anchor, you could look at yourself in a little television screen in front of you. So naturally, always being on to love the camera, I ate this right up. I sat in the chair, telling my invisible audience what to expect in the forecast over the next few days. However, after a few minutes I cared less about the news and more about the fact that I could see myself in a television.

So I made things a little more interesting. I decided I was going to pretend to be the worst news anchor the world has ever seen. I made the ugliest faces possible, sticking my tongue out, pretending to pick my nose... you get the picture. I left my seat and got right up into the camera so it could get an inside look at my eyes, my nostrils, my mouth, and the rest of my purposefully unattractive face. It was a great way to entertain my 10-year-old self. After ten minutes or so, my sister and I decided it was time to move on. So we went from room to room, enjoying the rest of our day partaking in the various activities the museum had to offer.

Just before we were about to leave, my mom decided to take a look in the gift shop, which was located in the front lobby. As we were looking at all of the souvenirs, t-shirts, and stuffed animals, I heard someone laughing. I turned around to see a woman pointing up at a monitor attached to the wall in the corner of the room. On the monitor was a little boy doing the news. I thought to myself, "Oh how funny! They have a live view of the news room!"

Oh sweet mother of God. They have a live view of the news room.

Which means that as I was making a complete and utter fool of myself, I actually did have an audience in the gift shop of the museum. These people saw up my nostrils. They saw me pretending to pick them. They saw the inside of my mouth. My ugliest faces. And to think the only people who could see me were my sister and Mom. WHAT WAS THIS SOME SORT OF CRUEL TRICK. A children's museum ruining the self-esteem of children scarring their memories of 5th grade forever! Go figure. I wanted to crawl in a hole. If I ever had a dream of being an anchorwoman it was shot right there. I have never been so happy to leave somewhere that's supposed to be fun. 

I guess we never really know if and when people are watching us. That's why it's so important to be a witness to what we believe in. Matthew 5:16 says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." We can glorify God in the simplest of ways, whether it's holding a door for someone with a friendly smile, doing the dishes for our roommates, or leaving a nice note for someone we care about. Even when we don't think people are watching, people notice when you do things differently. Our light can shine before others even when we don't think they're paying attention to our actions. Even when the camera is on you alone, consider who could be in the lobby.

I've noticed that the Youtube attachments for the song of the day have only been showing up on my computer and not my phone. I hope that I can fix this, and until then if you can't see the video I encourage you to look it up (otherwise you'll miss out on making your ears happy).

So here it is! I'm obsessed with this cover of "Red" by Tyler Ward (which in my opinion knocks the socks off the original). Perfect for a rainy day! Enjoy, wonderful people.