Self-Esteem is from God

One thing that is really sad is how many people mistake self-esteem as being the same as pride. Pride says, "I can do anything with no help from anyone." However self-esteem says, "I can do a lot of things, but I can't do everything."

     When I was going through my deepest of depressions I kept wishing that I had never existed. I thought about walking away from Christianity because it seemed to me like misbehaving paid off. Then one day I got a pamphlet from Dr. Charles Stanley entitled "Win the Waiting Game."

According to the pamphlet and its writers it said, "Before Joseph could become second in command of all of Egypt, first he would have to be unfairly sold by his  own brothers into slavery and then later imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Before King David could become king of all Israel, first he would have to spend many years of his life running away from King Saul who was trying to kill him out of his jealousy." Dr. Charles Stanley and his group of writers taught me something, "The greater God allows you to suffer, (not causes), the greater a leader He has caused you to be once your suffering is finally over.

     Thanks to Pastor Jill Briscoe I was able to hear about God's amazing love for us through John 17:23. A friend of mine later gave me a book by Joel Osteen. At first I was afraid to read it because there are a lot of bad stereotypes about televised pastors. However, when I summoned up the courage to read it I was able to read about the amazing story of Joel Osteen's mother getting life threatening cancer, her having the courage to believe God would heal her, and God healed her and proved the doctors wrong. I can honestly say I regret not giving Joel more of a chance when I was younger.

There are so many reasons to have high self-esteem and thank God for it, but so many of us (myself included) care too much what our friends say and not what God says. Children of God know how to handle bad situations when their hearts are right with God. When Job lost all he had and his friends hurt his feelings more than they helped him he didn't just give up and say, "You're right." No, instead he said, "You know if any of you were in my shoes I would be speaking positively towards you and try to help you come out of your darkness. You however, smear me with lies. You are worthless physicians all of you." What voice are you listening to when your friends insult you for no reason their voice or the wisdom of God that says insults like that are words of worthless physicians? In the same way it is our job to encourage our friends when they face hardships not talk down to them.

          There are so many people who you think would have high self-esteem, but don't. There are billionaires that buy many things they don't need to try and fill a void that they experienced sometime in their childhood. They need to go to God and find peace in Him. That's what Job did and in today's standards it is very likely he would have been a billionaire if he were alive today. His richest were taken from him, but he found rest in God. Later for his faithfulness God gave him twice as much as he had before.

There is an old Sketcher's commercial where a young girl is dressed up in cool clothes and in the background the music is playing, "I've got swag baby, swag baby. I'm a daddy's girl." Indeed if only all people would go to God and then start singing this song when ever we got insulted, "Your insults can't bring me down. I've got swag baby, swag baby. I'm a child of the most High God." To think so many models secretly don't think their pretty enough. If only their attitudes were more centered on how God sees them than on how people see them then I believe when someone insults them and says, "You're not as pretty as you think you are," then they could remind them of the verse Psalm 139:14 and say you're right. I'm as beautiful as the Lord God says I am. Which means I'm a lot prettier than I give myself credit for.

     People who make it to the top don't always have the highest sense of self-esteem either. Many of them secretly fear that someone is going to take their place as the leader someday. If only we were more humble and think to ourselves when God wants me to rise to the top I will rise to the top and when God sends me my successors I will not let my fear of them taking my spot control me for I know when God calls someone to be a leader it is their time to shine not mine. However, while it is my time to shine I will honor God and make all my followers know that all good things come from God, to be thankful to Him in both good and bad times, and to teach them humility to honor God with the unique abilities He has given to them and above all praise God for His goodness.

What if Idea of the Week: Printing Ovens

What if there was an oven that used different colored flavored icing as a substitute for a print cartridge inside an oven and painted a picture of you and and your friends on things like cupcakes, cakes, and other desserts?

What if Idea of the Week: Depth Perception Glasses

Is it possible to make glasses with digital lenses that have a built-in camera on each side? The glasses would also have four buttons, two on each side of the handles of the glasses. If you could only see out of your left eye then you could push the first button on the left handle to get the camera on the right side of the glasses to zoom the images into the left digital lens in order to create depth perception even if you could only see out of one eye. If you can see out of your right eye then you would hit the first button on the right handle and you could get depth perception in the same way in reverse. The second buttons on the left and right handles zoom the cameras out so you can have 20/10 vision. The second button on the left handle controls the camera on the right side of the glasses and the second button on the right handle controls the camera on the left side of the glasses. Is it possible to make this product? If so I would like to call the product depth perception glasses. They can be worn like regular glasses or worn over regular glasses.

What If Idea of the Week: Water Airplane

I was just wondering is it possible to combine airplanes with water vaccuums that both absorb and spray out water and create a water airplane? If this could be done then is it also possible to make a large fleet of these water airplanes to fly out to heavily flooded areas, absorb large portions of water, then fly to places where there are wildfires and/or droughts, use the same water to put the wildfires out and/or end the droughts?

Tidal Aquaman

This is a fanfiction fictitious story about Aquaman. All rights of Aquaman belong to DC Comics and DC Comics Associates. This story is meant for free entertainment purposes only.

Episode 1: Not Just a Legend

Setting: At Johnson’s Oil Removers

Jack Johnson: Our profits have really been down these last few months. We need a strategy to get more people to buy our oil removers.

Tim Jones: What are you going to do boss dump oil in secret out in the ocean and then have us clean it? Ha! Ha!

Jack Johnson: That’s not a bad idea.

Tim Jones: Boss, I was just joking.

Jack Johnson: That’s okay. I still want you two to do it. Just make sure no one sees you.

Ted Jones: You can count on us boss.

Setting: At the Far Side of the Ocean

Ted Jones: Do you have the oil ready.

Tim Jones: Yes.

Sparky: (A seahorse sees their plan and warns Aquaman.) Tidal Aquaman, there are two guys on a boat with oil. I think they plan on dumping it in the ocean.

Tidal Aquaman: I’ll go talk to them. (Swims up to the surface.) Excuse me gentlemen, but what are you doing with that oil?

Ted Jones: We work for an oil cleaning company. We are studying this oil to see how we can better remove oil from sea when necessary.

Tidal Aquaman: I see. Well it’s probably not a good idea to dump the oil in the ocean.

Ted Jones: Yes, you are right. (They leave.)

Tidal Aquaman: Sparky, I don’t trust those two so I’m going to follow them.

Sparky: See you later.

Setting: At Johnson’s Oil Removers

Ted Jones: Boss we have a problem.

Jack Johnson: What is it?

Ted Jones: There was a man in an orange shirt and green pants that saw us.

Jack Johnson: An orange shirt and green pants? Does he think he’s Aquaman or something? Just make sure it doesn’t happen again. In the mean time I’m going to take the company jet and prepare bombs one hundred miles away from here. When the bombs are complete it will set off a chain reaction so strong that a tsunami will be formed. I’ll warn the people about the tsunami before it comes, but they won’t know that I was the one who caused it. This way the people will love me. Since there seems to be a wannabe Aquaman here I’ll just call myself Black Manta. You two know what to do. (Leaves.)

Tidal Aquaman: (Shows up one hour later and walks in through the door.) I want to talk to you two gentlemen if you have a moment.

Ted Jones: Ha! Ha! You walk in here with those silly clothes. You must really think you are Aquaman.

Tidal Aquaman: How did you know my name?

Ted Jones: Look, I’ve gotta comic book right here of Aquaman and according to this comic book he can’t breathe out of water for a long time.

Tidal Aquaman: (Falls to his knees.) You’re right. I can’t stay here like this.

Ted Jones: You’ve come here at the wrong time. By entering here you have risked learning things you don’t need to know and for that you will be beat up as a warning to stay away.

Tidal Aquaman: (Extends his right hand upward.) Just kidding. (Ted Jones is pushed backward to the wall and falls down.)

Tim Jones: How did you do that?

Tidal Aquaman: I can control any volume of water as long as I’m at a close enough range.

Ted Jones: But I’m not water.

Tidal Aquaman: But the human body is over seventy percent water so all I had to do was control the water inside your body.

Tim Jones: Yeah, well now you have to deal with me.

Tidal Aquaman: Oh please, I have two hands don’t I? (Extends left hand upward and forces Tim Jones to go backwards, hit the wall, and fall down.)

Tim Jones: Oh no, that sound! There must have been an earthquake nearby! A tsunami is approaching us! Is this the boss’s doing!?

Ted Jones: No, that won’t be for another couple of months.

Tidal Aquaman: I don’t know what you two are talking about, but I’ll stop the tsunami.

Ted Jones: Please, not even you could stop that.

Tidal Aquaman: There is a reason I’m called “Aquaman”. (Stands up. Points his right hand in an open position at the tsunami and reverses it back down and calms it.) I see your boss isn’t here so I’ll come back. I’d tell you two to tell him about me, but he probably wouldn’t believe you anyway. Later. (Leaves.)

Setting: At the Beach

Boy 1: (Reading an Aquaman comic book with another boy.) Are you really Aquaman?

Tidal Aquaman: I sure am son. (Dives into the ocean.)

HIDDEN IMAGINATION

Years ago a man by the name of Dr. Kyle Hopkins came up with ideas to control the weather when he was just thirty-two years old. Unfortunately, his ideas never came to reality. He later met a man by the name of Dr. Herbert Maxim that same year. Dr. Herbert Maxim was very interested in Dr. Hopkins’s ideas. He later built an android that could read people’s minds. Society as a whole saw the android that Dr. Maxim had created as a threat and by law Dr. Maxim was forced to turn his android off. Tragedy later struck when an F5 tornado came and killed Dr. Maxim, but his android would survive. Dr. Maxim and Dr. Hopkins were both forty-two years old when it happened. Ten years later the android found a way to turn itself back on. As fate would have it she would soon meet Dr. Hopkins’s ten year old son in the lunch room at the same school. By now Dr. Hopkins had given up on his weather ideas, but decided to let his son Curt try to one day be successful where he had failed. He gave his son the blueprints for his weather ideas. Now Curtis tries to find someone who can help him make his dad’s ideas into a reality.

     “Curt, you really should eat your lunch instead of wasting time looking at those blueprints,” said Barry.

“Leave me alone Barry. I’m trying to figure out how to use my dad’s ideas,” said Curt.

     “You really are gullible. There’s no way machines could ever control the weather you wacko.”

“You’ll see. Someday my dad will be right and you will be stunned.”

     “Ha, that will be the day.”

“Excuse me may I sit here?” asked Victoria.

     “Sure,” answered Curt.

“What was that kid bullying you about?” asked Victoria.

     “He was laughing at my dad’s ideas to control the weather,” answered Curt.

“Then you must be Dr. Hopkins’s son.”

     “Yeah, how did you know that?” asked Curt.

“My dad used to be good friends with him,” answered Victoria.

     “My name is Curt.”

“I’m Victoria.”

     “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too. May I please see those blueprints?” asked Victoria.

     “Sure,” answered Curt.

“Yes, I think I can make these ideas work.”

     “Do you really mean that?” asked Curt.

“Yes, come by my house after school and we’ll talk more about it then,” answered Victoria.

     The day went on and school was now over. Curt followed Victoria to her house.

“This looks like Dr. Maxim’s house,” said Curt.

     “That’s because it is,” said Victoria.

“What, but how? I thought that this place was destroyed by a tornado. How can it be standing like this?” asked Curt.

     “It was hit by a tornado, but I survived and when I awoke I repaired the damage,” answered Victoria.

“You must have had a lot of help to make the repair work look this good.”

     “No, actually I did it all by myself.”

“I can’t believe any human could do this by herself.”

     “That’s probably true, but I’m not a human. I’m an android.”

“Then you must be Dr. Maxim’s android that is said to be able to read minds.”

     “That’s right you’re looking at her.”

“How long did it take you to repair all the damage?” asked Curt.

     “One day,” answered Victoria.

“Huh, but this house took years to make.”

     “That may be, but since I knew how the original design worked it was easy to fix.”

“That’s amazing.”

     “I was given the name ‘Victoria’ because Dr. Maxim wanted to see victory through me.”

“Do you think you will be able to use my dad’s ideas?” asked Curt.

     “Yes, but I will need time. Meet me back here tomorrow at this time and let me keep the blueprints. If you give me that then I should be able to use your dad’s ideas,” answered Victoria.

“That’s great. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

     One day passed. Curt returned to Victoria’s house. Unfortunately, when he returned the weather was very violent.

“Curt, I’m glad you could make it back here. I have the television on the weather channel right now. The weather looks like it might make some tornadoes so what ever happens please stay here until I get back.”

     “Are you sure you want to leave? This weather looks extremely dangerous. Why don’t you just stay here?” asked Curt.

“Don’t worry about me. There is something I have to do,” answered Victoria.

     Victoria flew in the air and headed out to the open fields that were a few yards in front of her. While she was flying an F5 tornado formed right in front of her eyes. The tornado looked like it would be headed for her and then Curt next.

“You killed my dad, but you will not kill my friend.”

     She pointed her two fists at the tornado. On her right arm she had a red absorption vacuum to absorb hot air and on her left arm she had a blue absorption vacuum to absorb cold air. She fired two green energy beams that were each in the shape of a ping-pong ball. The energy beams hit the tornado and split the cold air and warm air from touching each other and the tornado ceased to exist. Then she used both vacuums to absorb both the cold and warm airs. She lowered the wind speeds from three hundred miles per hour all the way down to two miles per hour. The cold and warm airs were released from the backs of her vacuums. She sent the cold air to cool off warm areas and she sent the warm air to warm cold areas. She flew back to Curt who had seen the whole thing when it was over.

“That was amazing.”

     “Don’t look so surprised. After all, I did use your dad’s ideas.”

Victoria used her extraordinary good vision to see that a man in the woods who was yards away had dropped a lit cigar in the woods. She quickly flew to the man and rescued him. The fire was quickly becoming a wildfire.

     “I can’t believe what you have just done.”

“I know it was stupid,” said Randy.

     “So what’s your name?” asked Victoria.

“The name is Randy,” he answered.

     “Well Randy, you better hold on to my arm.”

Victoria used her extraordinary vision to watch the weather channel at her house. She saw that there was a state that had recently had a bad flood. She then used her built-in geographical world map to find the state. Once she had located it she put her hands on her head to send out an electronic signal that reached the antennae of the water jet planes that she had created. Once the water jet planes received the signal they sent out an electronic signal to Victoria’s house so that the doors would open. Then the water jet planes flew out to the state that had recently had a bad flood. The water jet planes descended water vacuums on to the water and absorbed most of the water. They then came back just a little above Victoria’s head. The water jet planes used the water vacuums to spray the water that they had just collected on the wildfire and put the wildfire out.

     “Don’t make me do this again Randy,” said Victoria.

Victoria flew back to her house and Randy went on his way. He called the weather station and they came to talk with Victoria within hours.

     “I’m Sally Bones reporting for Weather 450. I’m here with the hero Victoria who has recently done the impossible. She killed an F5 tornado and a wildfire in the same hour. That’s not all she has done. There was a lot of water left over in the water jet planes. The left over water was used to take care of another state’s drought. Please tell us about your accomplishments,” said Sally.

“I couldn’t have done it without my friend Curt. He gave me his dad’s weather blueprints and I was able to kill the tornado and the wildfire because of those ideas.”

     “Then we’ll let him talk,” said Sally.

“Victoria was the one who did it not me. I’m just glad to see that my dad’s ideas are finally getting the recognition that they deserve,” said Curtis with a nervous look on his face.

     “Victoria, please tell our viewers something encouraging,” said Sally.

“Remember, in this world the possibilities are just as limitless as the imagination.”