Christmas Time

Each year for Christmas, I have been able to venture to my parent's house and celebrate the Christmas Season with them. It has been wonderful knowing that I will be welcomed with open arms and a warm place to stay during the time I'm there. I'm able to bake with my mom and work alongside my dad. We have many memories together, so many in fact that I won't bore you with details.

One thing that is for certain, I have been busy with parties and events and meeting up with people. It always seems that my time down in California seems so long but so short at the same time. There are days when I don't think they are going to end and then there are days that go by too fast for me to think. However, this trip down, I was able to meet up and chat with a high school friend. We lost touch for a bit and hadn't even seen each other since high school but that didn't seem to affect us at all.

It is sometimes like that; (maybe thanks to facebook, it was a bit easier) two people/friends who haven't seen each other for awhile can spot each other a mile away and seems like years haven't passed at all. Sure we've changed, grown up, got college degrees and are out in the "adult" world but in the grand scheme of things we are still the same people now that we were back then.

It has been said "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our heart. And we are never, ever the same". This is true about this person, this person has impacted my life and I didn't know it until recently, and has left a big footprint that I will always remember their gentle spirit, their kindness and an all around good and solid person. I'm thankful that they are in my life.

Well to end this entry, I want everyone to remember this, "those who have impacted your life the most will always find a way to stay in your life forever".

What's Important in Life

I experienced something recently that put life into perspective for me (once again). I was involved in a car accident; luckily no one was hurt and everything is going as good as it can go right now. This made me think what is truly important in my life. Is it the things I have, is it the friends I have, is it the family I have or is it the life that I have been given? I know one thing, it's not the things that I have because those can be gone in an instant.

I remember calling my parents and telling them about what happened on Sunday. The first question out of their mouths was "Are you ok?" It was a simple yet powerful question that helped me put my life into perspective. Sure a car can be replaced but can someone's life be replaced? No it can't. A life is the most precious thing in the whole world. A life is a living and breathing entity. It is something that is so much more important than the things someone owns.

Life vs. Things

Life is a most precious gift

More precious than diamonds or pearls

Sometimes things take control of your life

and can alter the way you see life,

The life that was meant for living.

Until......

an unexpected turn, makes you think twice

suddenly your life takes on a more important meaning

your life doesn't mean what you possess outwardly

But what you possess internally and what you possess

that money can't buy: your life, your family, your friends.

It is those times that make you think twice and takes you back

to the important.

Life vs. Things

a most interesting topic

but for me,

Life has won in my book

Take a look and see what matters most, the things that are replaceable or the things that are irreplaceable... 

To Trust...To Please

Definitions:
to please- to give a person satisfaction in what you have done or accomplished
to trust- to rely upon, to put confidence in someone or something

Not your normal start to a blog post but this concept of pleasing someone and trusting someone or something came up this weekend at church. We are starting a new series at church going through our Cause and talking about what that means for our lives as Christians. I won't get into much of that in this post but will hopefully be able to distinguish between trusting and pleasing.

Of course noting the definitions above, one will know that these two words don't have the same definitions and mean completely different things depending on the situation or experience one may have. Pleasing someone isn't the same as trusting that same person. You can please someone but may not trust that person or vice versa.

Now to get a little deeper into this subject (and I do apologize to those who may not have a relationship with Jesus) about Pleasing God vs. Trusting God. Pleasing God is doing well, working towards a goal and not breaking any rules or laws that are put forth to "be a good Christian". Pleasing God is like earning favor with God; wanting to always be the best no matter what you need to get to that place.

Hmm, it seems to me that Pleasing God requires much time and energy on your part to "do good" and to "not get into trouble". That doesn't sounds like my idea of fun, it sounds boring, too hard and not allowing God to have control. Oh wait.... I can be guilty of that at times but that's not what I want my life to be about all the time. I want my life to be built around trust.

Trusting God is that simple.. Trust.......God. Sounds easy enough, where do I sign up. Oh wait. It's more than that? You mean I have to give all my life up to him? Wow, let me think about that. All through my life I thought I was in charge. I thought I was the one who needed to know what I was to do next. You mean you're telling me that's not the case? This was exactly my reaction when I first became a Christ Follower. You see, I had my life all planned out. I knew what I was going to be when I grew up, what type of car I was going to be driving and even what school I was going to be attending.

Once God took ahold of my life, things were never the same. I learned that trusting God was a lot more what I wanted to do because He along knows the best for my life.

This isn't about me but I wanted to show everyone why I chose to trust God and not merely pleasing God. You may have those moments where you fall back into Pleasing God and just barely able to stay above the water but then there are those moments of clarity where the Trusting God seems so much better and you are now floating on the water.

Trust vs. Please.. Sounds like an easy decision. what will you choose?

Unplugging

Sometimes in life you need to get away from the hustle and bustle of the "city life". I know for me, it's essential for my well being. I'm reflecting back to when I was in Elementary and Middle School (and even high school); those were the best days. I didn't have a cell phone until I got a car and even then, I didn't have a clue on what text messaging was or what a "pic message" was. Forget about the internet or smart phones; those didn't even exist.

What I'm saying is I grew up without all these electronic communication devices and I turned out normal. For me, unplugging is going back to my childhood/adolescent days. The days where playing outside was the "norm" and when video games/facebook weren't known about. I had the opportunity to be "unplugged" from technology this past weekend and I absolutely loved every moment of it. I enjoyed being able to go outside and read a book without the distraction of a cell phone or a computer giving me facebook updates every minute.

I enjoyed the simplistic view of life; where people hung outside and talked in chairs and the fun was watching people play in the pool or watch a game of frisbee golf. These are the moments when I can finally breath a sigh of relief and just enjoy "being" and not "doing".

I remember in one of my classes I took, the teacher said that we are human "beings" not human "doings". We have the tendency to do, do, do and not just "be". It's definitely hard when the world around you is going in fast forward and you are trying to keep up with it all. For me, I need to remind myself that I need to slow down and be in the place of "being". Sure things will still get done and emails will get responded to but in the "being" attitude not the "doing" attitude.

God himself wasn't one to work all the time. When He created, He didn't do it all on one day. He took his time and created over a period of days. In fact, once the work was all done, He rested. So if my thinking serves me correctly/logically, shouldn't we take time to rest just like the creator of the universe. I can guarantee that He did much more than we ever did. If He can rest, we can rest.

So what does the above have to do with unplugging? Alot. It's saying that we need to take time to just "be" take the time to enjoy life and not let it pass us by. We fill our days way too much with "things to do" and pretty soon a year has gone by and what was important has slowly been pushed to the back. Especially for families who have kids; it's when you look and find that the 5 year old with bouncing curls is now an 18 year old getting ready to graduate high school and you wonder where the time has gone.

I'm not saying unplug completely but try to just "be" more than just "do". I can guarantee that life won't pass you by as quickly and that you will remember more moments than if you did if you were just "doing".

Faith like an Acorn has

I know, the title of this post may have caught some off guard but I thought this was a good analogy for what Faith means to me. I actually read about this analogy in Elisabeth Elliot's book "Passion and Purity".

The analogy of an acorn states that the acorn doesn't have any control of it's own of: when, how or where it falls. The acorn can't control any of these factors in its short life. All the acorn knows is that it will grow into a beautiful oak tree that will produce more acorns. By no means am I a tree expert or the scientific reason on growing cycles but I do know why an acorn can't control it's movement. It's because God is in control of what the acorn does in its lifespan. God controls what and where and when the acorn falls.

The same goes for our life. For those of us who believe in god, we can't control what happens or when or where things happen in our life. All we can do is wait and trust God knowing that He has the best plan for our life. Yes, I know there are other ways that the whole "Trust in God" can be explained but the whole idea of an acorn resonated with me. You see in my life, I spend a whole lot of time waiting for things to happen. Whatever it is, I wait and when something does happen, I go and do that specific thing. This is not to say that I don't do anything in the meantime; I do prepare myself for what could possibly happen and trust God each step of the way.

It's funny to think that we don't have any control of what comes our way, only God knows what will be coming and only God knows what will happen. Our obedience to God in everything will help us diecover what God has planned for our life. We are to step out in faith each and eveyday, every moment and every minute. You see, an acorn may not look like it's doing much by just hanging there but it is in a constant growing process getting ready for its next step (falling back to earth and replanting itself again).

In my life, I have been waiting for God to know what is next in my life. I'm trusting Him that he knows what is best for me at the perfect time. This being said, God is having me go on this crazy adventure and I know it's right because every detail has fallen perfectly in place. This adventure will lead me out of my comfort zone but I know He'll be with me every step of the way. It's His way of saying that He is in control and He wants me in this certain field because He knows I can impact people for Him.

Please don't hesitate to contact me with what God is doing or showing you because of your trust or obedience in Him.

Advice for Graduates

There is a good reason they call these ceremonies "commencement exercises."  Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning.  ~Orrin Hatch

It has been 2 years since I last participated in any type of Graduation. I have in my life graduated three times (High School, College & Grad School). All three marked the end of one chapter in my life and the beginning of another.

Sure, each held meaning, I was done forever with high school, with college and with grad school. I was so excited about all three; it was the start of new beginnings. There are many who think that way, who will enjoy the next step in the educational ladder but there are also many who don't want to graduate or think it is the end for them to be "a kid" and the end of "no responsibility". I want to take some time to encourage both of these groups. No matter if you are graduating from High School or are graduating from an Advanced degree, it's something I want to share.

Graduation, as stated above is not the end but the beginning. It's the beginning of great things, the beginning of the rest of your life. It's the beginning of what you will be doing for the rest of your life. It's the beginning of learning about yourself and realizing who you are as a person. It's the beginning of the journey without your parents holding onto your hand. Scary thought isn't it? It was for me but after awhile, I realized that it's good to spread our own wings to learn how to fly on our own. Sure we return to the nest at points but we don't stay there.

For me, my mom and dad gave me wings and helped me learn to fly. They were able to let me go and let my fly on my own. It was a new beginning for me, new experiences and new places. Without this new beginning, I wouldn't be who I am today. I think it's true for all of us, without new beginnings, there wouldn't be times that we can look back upon and be able to change and learn from those experiences.

So with all that being said, I want to close with this: "Be who you are in the world, never change who you are and hold onto your integrity"

In Training

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us ~ Hebrews 12:1

I have been doing a lot of introspective thinking recently and wanted to share my findings. I am training for two things; I'm constantly training and improving my Christian Life as well as training to be a healthier individual.

As I have been doing both of these things, I have noticed many correlations. With both of these, I have noticed that when I don't do something to improve, I become complacent and am just "there". Going with the Christian Life, I know if I don't spend time with God and spend time in his Word, I am just "there". Going with the Physical Life, if I don't make an effort to get up and go workout and make healthy food choices, I become just another "statistic" that is lazy and unmotivated. For both of these, I don't want to be known as a complacent person who is lazy about their life both spiritually and physically.

I just started reading a book by Chris Powell (Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition) and have enjoyed his analogies thus far. One that sticks out is "An Athlete in Training". This signifies to me when I am working out or making decisions about what to eat, I am an athlete in training and should always think of myself as that. This also goes along with my Christian lifestyle. I am always in training and always "running" to reach the prize. If I stop running for any reason, it just delays my progress to be more like Jesus. It stops me in my tracks and I don't grow.

There are times in my life when the going gets tough and I want to stop and want to throw in the towel; but I know if I do that, I am only submitting to Satan. He is the one who is in the decision of making me stop. He wants me to give up because it's too hard. With me pushing through the hard times, I know I can destroy Satan's motives.

My dad went through rigorous training in the Marine's. During boot camp, he endured many challenges. His motto for anything hard was "Take one step at a time, put one foot in front of the other". In both of these areas, that is what I need to do to accomplish the goals I have for myself.

When one of these areas is affected, the other feels the pressure of it as well. Neither of these areas for me can stand alone. I can't have a weak spiritual life and a strong physical life or vice versa. It just doesn't work.

Jumping off a Ledge

Have any of you experienced jumping off a ledge or something that was higher than a step stool? How afraid were you? Did you take that jump or did you scurry away from the edge as fast as you could?

For me, I've experienced both sides. There have been many times in my life that I wasn't afraid at all in jumping off the ledge. I was attached to a harness and I knew I would be safe because there was something to catch me. It was a controlled "jump" a jump I knew I would reach the bottom or the end. A "known" result. At first I was scared but once I did it, I wanted to go over and over again. I knew what the outcome would be every single time.

The other side is "Don't jump", it's too scary, you don't know the end result, you don't have control. This has been in my life as well. These are the situations where I can't control the outcome and can't control what will happen at the end. These situations come more often for me now than those "controlled risk" situations. Ever since beginning my relationship with God, I've definitely experienced my share of these. One might think that these would come easier over time; for me I get the same feeling each and every time one of these decisions come along.

While driving in my car, I was thinking about this and why this happens; how I can make sense of this situation. I then came to a realization, it's because of the comfortableness of the situation. Once I "jump" I begin to feel comfortable again. I am in a place where I know what will go on. I'm at the point of my journey again when another "step off the ledge" is coming. I don't know when or where or how but I can sense its coming.

I always get nervous and non adequate and etc. Any excuse I come up with I get. It's funny for me to think about that because looking at my life, I have always "jumped" headfirst into something knowing that it's because of my faith in God that I do it. I do those things because I know God will always catch me. But the real question is "Why do I have this fear every single time?"

Maybe because it's NORMAL for people to have this. It's NORMAL that I get scared. I'm like every other person in regards to this. However, I also have someone in my life that helps me with this situation. God is always there, he'll never make me jump unless He knows the outcome. The only part I have to do is TRUST and jump.

Well that will come in another post about TRUST. Until then, I leave you with a challenge: to get to the edge of your own "ledge" and ask yourself "to jump or not to jump". THAT is the real question.

Ponderings on a Thursday Morning

This may not be the most eloquent post I have written and may not include a lot of in depth thinking but it's my thinking and what I felt when I read this morning in my personal Bible Study.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. (NIV)


Everyone knows this well known verse in the Bible. It's the beginning of the whole Bible. For me it explains how powerful God is and even an additional meaning of what the "light" is and what the "darkness" can symbolize. First off, it still amazes me that God spoke those words and it happened. There was nothing before this and nothing after will have that same impact as when God spoke the world into existence. It just came to be. Sure we can all have in depth discussions of scientific explanations of how it happened and why it happened but sometimes we just have to get away from the logical and into the miraculous. It's nothing short of amazing that this happened. God said something and it happened. Just. Like. That. No need for a reason why because it came to be, no explanation. It. Just. Is. Sounds amazing doesn't it?


It's something that we can't begin to explain how it happens. It's just like how a baby is formed in a mother's womb. Sure there is the scientific explanation of how it got to be a baby in the first place but what happens when the baby is growing is all of God's doing. He has the baby in his arms from the moment of conception to eternity. He's the ultimate creator and forms everything that is in us. In our physical bodies. I know that can't be fully explained. Another one of God's miraculous creations.


Ok, onto the "Let there be light". Sure I know (and everyone else knows) that this verse is explaining how "day" was formed. Because of "day" being formed, "darkness" came into existence as well. The statement seems simple and it is but for me, it has a deeper meaning.


In the Book of John, Jesus said "I am the Light of the World". This is one of his 7 "I am" statements and for me this was referenced in the beginning of Genesis. I know there is no proof (that I know of) that this was meant to be like it is but for me it has meaning. In verse 4 "God saw that the light was good"; I immediately think of Jesus being that light in which God was referring to. That same verse goes on to say "And he separated the light from the darkness"; for me this symbolizes that he separated Jesus from the sin of the world. The things that are not of God, the things that are from men. 


From my reading and thinking, from the beginning, God has separated the things of this world from the things of Jesus. From the very beginning, God was trying to protect us from things that would happen to us that would try to pull us from God. We all know what happens next. The story of Adam and Eve and the Fall of Mankind but because of that, we are able to experience the redemptive power of Christ and what he is able to do in our own life. This also is nothing short of amazing as well.


So why would an "All Powerful God" would want to save us and redeem us from our own self? Because he cares for us and has been with us from when we weren't even in the picture yet. That why. Truly amazing. Unexplainable but at the same time, undeniable.

Home away from Home

This past week I was able to go down to Fresno, CA for a convention. This convention was for an organization that was a huge part of my life from 1994-2002. However, this is not what the post is all about.

When I landed in Fresno, I was full of excitement. I didn't realize how much I missed this place until I actually set foot into the airport. It was a familiar place for me. It was where I went to college and a place where I experienced a lot of firsts. People have said that once you come to Fresno, it's hard to go back and it's hard to leave. Fresno does have that effect on me. However, I did get out of Fresno to attend school in Oregon (a big accomplishment) but I always thought I would be coming back to my old stomping grounds. Well 4 years later, I'm still up in Portland and not in Fresno. I'm still figuring out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Fresno was and still a place that I call home. It is a place that I can go to and not feel like a foreigner or a stranger. There are familiar places and familiar people. There are places that I can go to and feel right at home. It has my college "The Home of the Bulldogs"- Fresno State. This campus was one of the first I visited and felt right at home. Just something about it that makes it that way.

So anyway, last week was sort of a homecoming for me. It was to a place I have called home for many years and maybe it would be called "my home" again. It's up to God to make that happen or not happen. Either way I'll always be able to go back "home" whenever I can.