it's been awhile, hasn't it?
today, i realized that i've actually been kind of bad at this blogging thing. no updates, no stories about life...
well that's all about to change TODAY.
just kidding, it's not that epic, but i thought i would at least provide an update.
for the most part, life has stayed pretty simple. i work, go to the gym, catch up with someone on the phone, watch part of a movie, read, fall asleep. that's what 99% of my days and evenings have looked like and in all honesty, it's been glorious. i've become a bit of homebody, which is new, and i think it's good for me.
i've done a couple of fun things here and there.
a couple weekends back, i met up with my friend, shaun. shaun and i know each other from working together in sacramento. he moved to santa barbara a couple years back and we stayed in touch, but just recently, he decided he was moving back up to sac. so, we decided to meet up before he moved halfway across the state again. we had a good time hanging out, messing around at some mall for an hour, and talking a lot.
the reason i bring up shaun is because he has really been on my heart since we met up and i would love some prayer for him. every time shaun and i hang out or even talk, we talk about God. you see, shaun is Jewish by ethnicity and more...searching by practice. what i mean by that is he's very open-minded in the sense that he doesn't see anything as being "truth." everything is just "another person's perspective," he tells me.
so for almost 4 years, this has been our friendship. we hang out, talk about God, hang out, talk about God. and not even for just a little bit, but for HOURS. just this time last year, shaun was calling me on a regular basis and we would spend hours at a time challenging each other over the phone. he loves to challenge me and question what i believe because of how passionate i get when i talk about God. and i enjoy it because he's one of the few intelligent non-Christians i've ever had a conversation with (and of course, because i'd love to see him find Christ).
anyways, so this time hanging out wasn't much different. we spent at least 2 hours talking about our different perspectives on God, on evolution and creation...tons of stuff. it was awesome and i had a great time.
but this time, when i drove away, i felt different. this great sense of frustration came over me, so i immediately began to pray. i told God that i hoped i said the right words, the things that He would want me to say. and as i was driving and praying, the video from "23 minutes in hell" popped into my head and i understood that more than frustration, i felt a sense of panic. of urgency. "i know, time is short," i told God. and i do know that. i would not wish for anyone to endure eternity in the way he is currently destined, especially not any friend of mine.
since then, shaun has been on my mind constantly throughout the day. i don't think i have ever prayed for anyone the way i have been praying for him and i ask that anyone who is reading this to please pray for him, also. pray that other people will come into his life and show him who God is. pray that i can continue to challenge him in his thinking, yet still continue loving him. pray that God will reveal himself to shaun in new ways, in ways that could not be explained by any outside influences, but only by God Himself.
your prayers are appreciated :)
the following saturday, i had a great evening out with the girls. my friend, nicolle, invited me out to sushi with her and her mom and her friend, che (shay). after sushi, we went to get coffee at this place called alta's in newport beach. we stayed until they closed at midnight, drinking our vanilla chai's, laughing, and taking silly pictures. but the best part for me was the conversation that filled the air. it amazes me that i have been surrounded by Christians my entire life, and never have i met such rare women as the ones i spent that evening with. their love for God and for other people absolutely poured out of them. more than that, the way they spoke about Christ was with rare boldness and confidence. i left the coffee shop that evening feeling rejuvenated. since then, i have been praying that God will empower me with the same boldness and love to speak out about Him, unashamedly. and already i have seen Him working through me in that way and allowing me, in the simplest of conversations, to declare His name. it's amazing how much a few short hours could inspire me to live that much more for Christ.
it's crazy too, because the following evening, i really had the opportunity to live out that prayer i had prayed only hours before. the girls in the house i live in decided to have a "roommates dinner" that night in effort to get to know each other. i had been praying about it in the days leading up to it. i didn't get the impression that any of the other girls were Christians, so i knew this was my chance to really be a light.
it was a great evening. there ended up only being 3 out of 4 of us roommates and i'm sure there was a reason for that. we spent 4 and a half hours around our kitchen table, eating fried chicken and pasta salad and getting to know each other. we shared a lot of stuff with each other, even extremly personal stuff. we talked about our family situations, about boyfriend situations and ex-boyfriend situations, about their culture (the other 2 girls are japanese) and other asian cultures, and about where we'd like to see our lives go from here. it was a really neat evening. the more we talked, the more i liked them (mai and kelly are their names). they were good listeners, to me and to each other, and they were sympathetic and understanding and funny and genuine. and yes, in the midst of all our deep conversations, i got to share my faith :) i had mentioned going to church a few times and kelly eventually asked me, "are you a Christian?" and it went from there. i actually didn't share my faith right off the bat. following that question, i asked the other girls if they practiced any form of faith. kelly said no and mai told us that she's buddhist, and explained to us a little bit about what she believes. (the form of buddhism she follows is that every person is Buddha. she doesn't believe in God, she believes that she is god or can become god. it was very interesting.)
and once again, it was kelly who asked me, "so where do you go to church?" i got to delve even deeper when kelly asked me what denomination i am, specifically if i am Catholic. so i got to explain the differences between Catholicism and Christianity. i explained that i don't believe in denominations because most denominations are based off of non-Scriptural things and also, because that's not what Jesus was about. i explained that Christianity in the Bible is based off of accepting Jesus as God, loving Him and letting Him love you, and in addition to that, loving others. it was awesome, you guys. no, there was no beaming light shining down from heaven or any epic music playing, haha. but i got to share and they listened. seeds were planted. that's a good start!
besides that evening, the only other evening that really stands out to me was this past saturday night. sleep for sleepers and the workday release were playing again at the same church in whittier, so nicolle and i drove out there to see them and it was awesome.
the first band that played was called the fragrance and they were unbelievable. i seriously think my mouth dropped during every one of the songs they played. just the instruments they used and the way they presented everything was pretty amazing. one guy even played the xylophone, how legit is that! i think my favorite part was when it was just the lead singer with his acoustic guitar and all the other band members were playing a different kind of drum. at one point, they all stopped playing and start singing a cappella. i wish i could remember what the lyrics were, but that was one of those jaw-dropping moments and it took my breath away. i wish i could capture moments like those so i could show you guys!
besides that, sleep for sleepers played a few love songs, which, of course, were amazing. jamey price is fantastic.
and of course, seeing the workday release with their full band was awesome, too. all in all, it was an amazing night musically. nicolle loved it too, which made it even better, having someone to share it with :)
so that's all for right now. those have been my most exciting, memorable moments these past few weeks and i'm glad i can get them written down.
i could write more, but this post is long enough. i hope to try and write more tomorrow.
see you soon, then. :)
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