Water thru the nose is a lesson? Oh yes!

You know me - I try to find a lesson in anything...  & with flu bugs going around - the Neti-pot has been sitting right on my bathroom counter, I could just see so many things that spoke to me... yes - a Neti-pot - the contraption that puts water through your nose.

I pulled out the neti-pot & not one of the kids knew what it was... I was sorta surprised, but that made it even more fun!  So I ask for a volunteer & everyone is afraid!  One brave soul finally came up... Here I am explaining what he's about to do... yeah, he's nervous!

Our youth minister came up & he brought his own Neti-pot... & he demonstrates how it works...

Then he walks this young man through it - giving him one on one directions & support

He even puts his hand on his back & tells him what to do so he doesnt choke, walks him through step by step...

So many lessons in this example...

First - I really hit on the salt water!  The way that salt gets in there & cleanses out your nasal cavity... when we take God into our life - dont we get "cleansed"?  So many examples of washing away our sins in the Bible!  So many great scriptures of God scrubing us clean of guilt ...

And what really hit me too - is that Jeremy, our youth minister - he showed the example of how it was going to be... it didnt take the nerves away... Eli was still nervous because he never did it before - but he saw that Jeremy survived!  His words were "I knew if I choked - he could do CPR or go get my mom"... Eli felt the support there!  The safety of the situation...

I loved the fact that Jeremy stood there & walked him through every step... "tilt your head".... "breath through your nose"....guided him...

But you know what - Jeremy couldnt FEEL what Eli was going through - Eli had to do that himself.  But Jeremy could be with him because he knew HOW it felt... & Jeremy couldnt take away the "weirdness" of water running through his nose - but he knew what it felt like himself & could relate...

And ultimately, Eli lived through it, he could do it himself now & then he could walk someone through the same process...

What an example to me... can you see it? It was screaming to me! 

We are on these walks with Christ - & people can come along side us & encourage us & walk us through - but its still OUR decision to take a step & go through with the relationship with God... & because people come along side us - it doesnt make the walk totally rainbows & butterflies... we'll still have painful situations, but they can relate & they can put their hands on our backs & walk us through.  And we can go through processes that cleanse us & those aren't always pretty situations & they can be uncomfortable... but in the end, we see we survive...

& then we can help the next person...

All through a Neti-pot....