I lay it all before you....

My palms are sweaty... My fingers are shaking. A rock is rolling around in my stomach, making me aware that something is not normal. My eyes open and I'm staring at a classroom filled students. Every one of these students are staring at me. Some look slightly interested, some eyes are filled with indifference. I realize that I am about to give my first speech to the people seated before me. I'm in COM161 (Introduction to Public Speaking) and I am nervous. I say a quick prayer and start, remembering that my first goal in this speech, according to the rubric, is to gain the audiances attention. The first thing that comes to mind is how awkward it is to carry the visual aids, necessary for this speech, around campus and into all my classes. So that's what I start with.

"Can I just say that carrying this huge, clear plastic tub is really awkward? And that I won't get to take it home until around 9 tonight?"

On to the introduction... my voice is shaking.

"Obviously, I am presenting a speech today. I will be presenting three items, and the container in which I have carried them, to you today. These three items represent my Past, my Present and my Future speech."

I feel like I need a drumroll now....

"My first item is a journal. I am an intense journaler and I spend about an hour a day writing things down in this book. I chose this item because it represents the person that I used to be. If you look in all my journals you will see times where I have been hurt, let, and more. There are stories of pain and of where there have been many broken promises. There are signs that tell, in this book, how dissatisfied I have previously been with me life."

I set the book down. I'm still nervous, but my favorite part is next... so I begin to calm down again.

"This purse here represents my present. As you can see, it says 'Lover of my soul'. Pretend that it says 'Jesus' before that... it used to be on there but fell off last week. Anyways, let me explain. When you love someone, it completely changes your life. I'm sure that many of you here are in relationships right now. So you know what I mean. When you are in love with someone you put a lot of effort into the relationship. You spend time with that person. You go to them for advice. They are constantly influencing you... in every area of life. When you go through life with them, step by step you are together. You are no longer completely independent... you go through each step together. This is how I feel my relationship with Jesus is. He really is the lover of my soul, and He is constantly involved with and directing my life."

Wow. That felt good. My classmates are looking more interested... and I just really love saying that Jesus is the lover of my soul.

"This whisk represents the fact that I want to be a stay-at-home wife/mom. Since I was 12 I have wanted to stay at home... be a house wife and homeschool my kids. I love wearing aprons and cooking and cleaning... and the main reason I think I want to be a stay-at-home-wife/mom is because that is what my mom was. And I loved it."

"Lastly, this huge plastic box really represents what God has done (and is doing) in my life. This is the biggest container that I could find in my house, and I need the biggest container I can find to hold all the good things that God has poured in my life. He is constantly and consistantly blessing me. He blesses me financially, materially, spiritually, emotionally... however you can recieve a blessing, I get it. And I know it's due to the fact that I have made Him my number one priority in life, love Him, and live my life for Him."

And that's it. I gave my very first speech to my public speaking class.
I started out being more nervous then I thought I would be... but then as I began to speak of how Jesus has revolutionized my life... I became more calm and focused.
Thank you, Jesus.
You are amazing.