Scared of my own shadow....that pretty clearly defines my level of self esteem through out my adolescent and teenage years. I always had friends at school but never spent any time with anyone outside of school or church. I was the oldest of 3 children...which became 5 children when I was 15 years of age. I sometimes would take a zero in something I had to get in front of the class to complete.
An amazing God... I serve. In spite of tremedous fear I had of being in front of people form the age of 15-18 the Lord saw fit to make me the president of our church youth group...a group of about 35 or so.
The fear didn't go away....God just gave me strength in the face of it. How could you enjoy so much what you feared so much? That is exactly what God did for me.
Other great opportunities God gave me to build my confidence were in the area of custom farming. At age 14 I began spending my summers with an uncle who loved me, worked the heck out of me and gave me responsibilities that few today would ever get the opportunity to experience today.
The business my uncle owned, in custom combining, took us all over the southern end of Chester county, some Lancaster county and even into Maryland. Do you think a 14 year old boy was scared....and excited all at the same time as I drove a tractor pulling 2 grain wagons and a grain blower....what a trian down the road...through rural towns...even through the "big town" of Oxford PA.
And you think that was big stuff?....well the next 3 years I graduated to actually operating one of the self-propeled combines. Could you imagine the look on a farmers face as a combine pulled into his farm to harvest his grain...operated by a teenager?
Some weren't very trusting. They came into field often to look under the straw. Do you know what they were looking for? Well it wasn't worms or rocks....it was grain...because the grain was supposed to be in the bin not on the ground. What an awesome responsibility for a 15 year old boy.
The trust my uncle put in me for those years built me up in ways that now as I grow older I just now begin to understand.
Again!......the Awesomeness of my God!
Oh by the way.....the last year I operated combine...my Uncle assigned me the # 2 combine in his fleet of 6. You should have seen the faces of operators much older and with greater experience than me.
I have ever brought little to the table...and God...He has given much
God bless,
www.chethiatt.com/yourhealth
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