Am I a Good person, or a God person?

What a summer and it's ONLY just begun! whew! So much has happened in these last couple of weeks that has completely changed my mindset and made me aware of so much. Tears and smiles...endings and new beginnings! It's funny the way God works.
So, I've started the internship and ABSOLUTELY (clearly I have a thing with caps! ha!) love it! My kids are great...crazy and spoiled but overall great and so are my co-workers. Working in a non-christian environment especially with kids is alot more difficult than I expected. It's so weird not to be able to compare a life lesson to a biblical story or explain why we do things to please God and in respect for who he's made us. Because we're not allowed to "openly discuss religion" I've just reverted to leading by Example. This is something that as Christians we use almost as support for who we proclaim to be and the principles we believe in. We say that we're about pleasing God and in turn try to behave in a way that supports that, which makes perfect sense. But what do you do when you're in an environment where all you have is your every action to demonstrate your relationship with Christ. Should that Hinder you? It's weird because at my job, while we're not allowed to "express" our religion (or in my case relationship) with the kids, no one said that we can't discuss it amongst our co-workers. However, it's almost as if it feels like talking about religion is like against the law. It's like a rebellious undertone to an undeserved law. I find myself convincing myself that it's enough to be a "good" person. Don't curse, don't encourage crass jokes and never condone disobedience or disrespectful behavior...isn't that enough?
On Tuesday night I found out that a beloved Fencing Coach in our fencing Community, Emilio Ybarra, was murdered, and it broke my heart. He was one of the sweetest people you will ever meet, with always an encouraging word and a smile to compliment your day. No matter what the tournament, whether you were from his fencing club or a competitor he never hesitated to point out your strengths and weaknesses and suggest an improvement. While I'll never quite understand death, and it definitely made me really sad, I do understand that God is Author of all things, those we see and those we don't. What breaks my heart the most is that I can't tell you whether or not i will ever see Coach Ybarra ever again. I met Coach Ybarra when i was 15 years old and I have NO idea if he knew Jesus as his personal savior. We exchanged smiles and encouraging words and helpful advice but I never asked him if he knew my best friend Jesus. Being "good" isn't enough! It wasn't enough to save me or you....and it wasn't enough to know whether or not it saved coach. I pray with my whole heart that somewhere Coach Ybarra encountered God.
I'm not saying that leading by example isn't an extraordinary testimony. Sometimes it's appropriate. But you know those moments, when you feel the Holy Spirit Nudging you to share or someone is sharing with you about an EXACT situation that God just delivered you from, but you feel too self-conscious to share or are not "allowed to share". Those are the times when you REALLY have to pray for discernment and listen to that "nudge" the Holy Spirit. You never know when you could be the last person someone talks to before they stand before the father.
On Tuesday I made the promise that I would try my best to take EVERY opportunity possible to share Christ's love with people. First thing Wednesday one of the highschool interns came up to me and shared with me something she was going through. Despite any reservations I openly shared with her how a relationship with Jesus could radically change her life and save her forever. Despite every attempt to be Christ like and the ways in which I try to be a vessel for God, had it not been for Coach Ybarra's passing , I can honestly say that in that environment I don't believe I would have shared that with her.

Be careful how you distinguish yourself. Cease every opportunity to share Christ's love. Never hesitate to listen to that Holy Spirit intuition. This is just one of the ways I'm learning how to be a "God" person. It might be completely different for you. Trust the Holy Spirit and be active in your faith to increase the Kingdom of God. I will miss coach Ybarra's smile and He will never be forgotten. I thank God for him and pray that in his passing, many people will be drawn closer to
Christ and be active in their faith and walk as a "God-Person"! While I am so sad for our loss and still dealing with that, I am excited to see what God is going to do this summer and pray that HE uses me to continue to make people aware of His Love!

"Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?" James 2:19-120

R.I.P Coach Emilio Ybarra
Nov. 21, 1953- June 13th, 2011