I was made to LOVE you

When my pastor announced last week that we were starting a new holiday series called, “One Thing” I had no clue what it was going to be about.   The only “one thing” that came to my mind as we enter into the holiday season is Jesus and I was pretty sure we weren’t going to have five different sermons about Jesus’ birth.

So this morning I got up and went to church, excited to hear first talk of the new series and I was not disappointed.  This series actually gave me my idea as well for what my challenge is going to be for the month!  I don’t exactly know what each lesson is going to be about but I hope I can work it in. 

My challenge is to take the sermon and really live it out....not that I don’t try to take every sermon to heart but today I really felt convicted that I wasn’t fully living out today’s lesson on love.  Our lesson was titled “The Question Jesus Couldn’t Answer” and was on Mark 12 where a teacher of the law wanted to trick Jesus by asking him what the greatest commandment was.  Jesus’ response was, “The most important one is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these.”  

The main point of his lesson was to have, “love for God and others” which is obvious from this verse but his bullet points are what challenged me.  The first point was that “love is our purpose” which reminds me of the lyrics,

“Give me your eyes for just one second, give me your eyes so

I can see everything that I keep missing.  Give me your love for

humanity.  Give me your arms for the broken-hearted.  The ones

that are far beyond my reach.  Give me your heart for for the

ones forgotten.  Give me your eyes so I can see.”

God calls us to help the widows and orphans of this world and we do this though love.  God has wired us in so many different ways and all we’re called to do is use what we have to love others, knowing full well that the reason we go out and love is because of 1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us”.

The second point was to “make love our response”.  How often can I say that my first response in every situation is to love?  I can think of countless examples I have with my students.  I have some who are on a streak with not turning in their homework and every day that they “can’t find it but know they did it” or “didn’t have time because of this and that”, I want to scream!  I don’t assign homework because they love it!  And I especially don’t assign it because it’s the highlight of my week to grade but I assign it because I know they need the practice.  I have been getting so frustrated with them and while I hide my frustration pretty well, I know I let it slip from time to time.  I have three weeks before Christmas break and my hope is that I can respond with love rather then frustration.  I should probably practice that on the road as well.  I mean, I can show love and be patient with the cars driving 55 mph in the fast lane right?

The third point and the point that brought me to this post was that “love is our reputation”.  The pastor gave us a challenge this week to sit and reflect on or to ask a friend to tell you what we are known for.  If I did, would people use the words love or compassion?  I know my reputation in my kickball league is “goody goody” but do they see more than that?  

This week, month and for the rest of my life, I want people to see that I truly and deeply love them.  Yes, it will be difficult since right at this moment I can think of a handful of people on my list that will make this challenging but I am determined!  It is going to take prayer.  It is going to take not gossiping.  It might even mean not scrolling through my Facebook wall.  But not matter how I have to do it, my prayer is that people will start to see a change in my life and it will push them to seek the Lord or challenge them to change their mindset on how they are living our their Christian walk.

At the very end of the message, the pastor had us flip to the infamous verse in 1 Corinthians that, Christian or not, you know!  “Love is patient, love is kind....”.  You can fill in the rest.  I have heard this before but today I am looking at it in a new light.  He told us to take out the word love and replace it with our own name and see how it reads.  “Erica is patient.  Erica is kind.  Erica is not self-seeking....”  When I read it that way, I really could see the areas I needed work in and that’s what I plan to do....work!  So get ready to be loved on!

Candid

Today's sermon was on "God's Will".  While it was a good message, it was frustrating at the same time. The conclusion my pastor made was that there probably will not be an audible voice nor will we always get a conclusive answer on "where God wants us to be".  Instead, he claimed that as long as we follow God and remain in him, he will always be with us.

Like I said, it was a good message and it was also reassuring that as long as we are walking with God we are in his will but for people like me, at this stage in life, I WANT/NEED to hear an audible voice.  I need guidance of where he wants me because I feel unsettled at where I am at.  I thought by doing this 30 months before 30, I would learn more about myself and be satisfied with who I am and where I am....but I'm not.  And maybe it's just because I am going through a phase and it will pas but every day I long to be somewhere else.  Maybe once I finally move out of my parents house I will feel better but right now my mind is on Italy, Vietnam and even Arizona.  Italy because it was such a fun place to visit and it seems like a place that would be easy to settle into.  Plus, you have to admit, Italian is a beautiful language nor are the men bad lookin!  Vietnam is always on my heart because I don't just have friends over there but I have a family and I miss them on a daily basis.  Arizona is a new thought but my roommate from Vietnam lives there and she is one of the greatest people I know!  I loved every day I got to spend with her and our other roommate and I would be just fine moving out there with her.

I am not saying this to hurt feelings because honestly, I have amazing friends and a family that I love dearly but I am restless.  I feel like I need more out of my life right now and I keep waiting for God to show me where he wants me but I guess that's not going to happen.  Guess I need to start making some decisions!

First Long Run

Yes, I am slacking in my training.  I ran my first "long run" today.  Throughout the week, training has you running 3 or 4 miles but on Saturdays...or in my case, Fridays, you are supposed to do a longer run.  Today I was supposed to do 5 miles but when I got to the 2.5 mile mark, indicating I should turn around, I kept running.  I was running along the coast, listening to my Korean boy bands and watching the surfers sitting out in the water, not able to catch a wave since there were none!  I was lovin it!  I ended up running 6 miles today and while I took a few breaks, I did not feel exhausted when I got back to my car.  I don't know what a typical pace is but I ran at a 9 minute 39 pace and that felt good for me! Today I feel good!

It helped too that it was cool and stormy.  I didn't get overheated...even though my face afterward was cherry tomato red...again!

Photography, Boys and Their Dogs, and Korean Boy Bands!

So I have to be honest in saying that I have failed this month at taking pictures.  I mean, I have taken pictures from my iPhone but that doesn’t count.  I will say this though, that even though I haven’t practiced my photography, the pictures I have taken this month are some of my favorite because they are full of people that I love!  The following is a picture of my friend Lily.  She lives in AZ so we decided to meet in the middle.  The picture on the right is one I took on my drive....look at that sky!

                                             Taken at a backwards bowling party for kickball.  Love them!

As far as my Vietnamese goes...I am rockin it!  Okay, so I haven’t advanced past the 4^th lesson but I am pushing myself the extra mile and actually reviewing and learning how to write in Vietnamese (accent marks and all)!  It hurts my head but I am having so much fun learning it!  There are a few pictures and phrases that keep me entertained throughout.  For example, Rosetta Stone feels it is absolutely necessary to know “một em trai và một con chó” or that there is a boy and dog in  the picture.  Usually, a picture comes up once in a lesson but this picture, for some reason, comes up two or three times!

   

                        Little boy-man.  I laugh every time!          My new buddy and his dog

Running is going well too!  I am running 4 miles consistently and today ran it under 40 minutes.  I was pretty stoked!  Today I felt like I could run even longer which is funny since I am usually a little slower the second day in a row.  My theory on why I had more energy....I have switched my Pandora station form country or Pitch Perfect to...drum roll please..............Big Bang (a Korean boy band).  Their music is so full of energy and it keeps me at a good pace.  I have no shame!

Practicing My Photography!

I want to start this post by saying, “thank you” to the people who actually read my blog!  And then I would like to follow that with a, “sorry” since I only seem to write once a month.  I will try to be better about that!

This month I chose a challenge that I felt I could actually achieve because I will WANT to practice it!  I have loved taking photos for as long as I can remember so this month, I am choosing to put time and effort into taking great photos.

Taking pictures of people freaks me out because I feel like I am going to miss that “moment” and since my 30 months before 30 is to do things that push me out of my comfort zone, that is exactly what I am going to practice!  If anyone wants to help out, I will need subjects! 

These are photos I took today.  No people I know but I just wanted to get out there again and take pictures of something!  I love these leaves by my house and lifeguard towers are always fun!

I have found a substitute when I don't have any live beings....http://veryhilarious.com/so-beautiful/

I just about died seeing these pictures!

Running update:  I wore out my shoes and let that be my excuse for why I couldn’t go out for a run.  I finally dragged my butt out to the mall and bought new shoes to get back to my training.  It felt good to get out there!  I get more and more excited for my race as I train.  I hope I can keep my motivation!

Chords + Rhythm = Success and I don't have them!

The month of October, I have decided to learn (or at least try to learn) guitar.  I cheated a bit because I got my first “lesson” last month.  Unfortunately, when I picked up the guitar to play again, I had forgotten all of the chords!  So I’m basically back to where I started.

I got a guitar my junior year of college and I had it in my head that I was going to teach myself.  I learned the chords and could actually change between them decently well....but I had a problem strumming.  I have rhythm when dance so I was hoping that would help me but I guess that was wishful thinking.

My goal is to be dedicated enough this month to say that I gave it a shot...if I pick it up that’s awesome but if not, I can at least say I tried.  My hope is that my muscle memory will kick in and chords will not become a problem and somehow I will find rhythm  If I can still remember the dance I did for my 6^th grade talent show, I am sure, if I give it enough time, I will be able to remember at least the basic chords!

Unfortunately, I can already see my motivation dwindling!  Yikes!  Mid practice today, a baby started screaming bloody murder outside my window and when I went to shut it, I lost my pick.  I have torn up the baskets at the base of my window and have come up empty handed.  I could just practice the chords minus the pick or I could just run downstairs and get a new one but I think 15 minutes is my max for the night!

In other news...I had a vey lazy week last weekend.  After my friend’s bachelorette weekend two weekends ago, I needed to catch up on sleep so I did not run AT ALL!  However, I started to see just how much my body needs the exercise and I have been running since.  I still have my race ahead of me and I can’t loose the motivation now!  

I am also kicking myself in the pants for staking such big claims right out of the gate.  When I go from not reading the Bible ever, to committing to reading it everyday is a lot to ask...not that I shouldn't be but I should have been okay with easing into it.  What has come out of that challenge though is me actually reading the Bible and wanting to read it.  Unfortunately, I did come to find Joshua has a lot of chapters on how land was separated between the 12 tribes!  I will admit I skimmed since I have no clue what boundaries they are talking about.  One thing that did stand out to me in my last reading though was in Joshua 21:45 which says, "Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed; everyone was fulfilled."  This was not new or surprising to me but it stood out because it's something I tend to forget often.  It was a good reminder that God NEVER fails.  He is committed to keeping his promises to us and I am so thankful that I hold on to the promise that I will live with him in eternity forever!

Lessons from Joshua

I am going to admit to you flat out that I have missed two days of reading my Bible but honestly, I thought I would have missed more.  What I like about having this as a public deal (again, whether people read it or not) is because I don’t want to fail you or myself.  Maybe that’s why at 10 o’clock last night, instead of laying my head on my pillow, I picked up the Bible and read a chapter from Joshua.

I am not to far along in the book but that’s because I want to make sure I am really getting a picture of what I read.  I don’t want to read just to say I’ve done it but I want to understand what it says about God.  I want to see how I can relate to these people and their situations and think about how I would respond to things they went through.

The book of Joshua follows the exodus of Moses bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.  Moses was told he was going to be leading his people to the land God promised them.  However, after 40 years of wondering in the desert, Moses dies.  After being a faithful servant of God while others created idols, Moses was not even able to see the promise land.  Instead, Joshua was appointed by God to lead his people across the Jordan. 

I won’t go into more details of what I have read but I am only 5 chapters in and I have so many questions and thoughts....like did Moses know he was not going to see the land God had promised his people and was he bummed?  Or was he stoked because he knew heaven was going to be so much more than that land?  I honestly think I would be a little bummed.  Who would be okay turning their project or their “baby” over to someone at the last moment so they get the glory instead?  I think Moses was a different breed though and knew perfectly well that he was getting the best reward for his faithfulness.  In steps Joshua...how old was he and was he nervous about taking on such a huge task?  My assumption was yes because in chapter 1 alone God and his people told Joshua 3 times to be, “strong and courageous”.  Then Rahab enters the scene.  Rahab is a prostitute who houses Joshua’s spies and lies to the men who come to her house looking for them.  To me, it is so fascinating that God uses prostitutes, men with stutters etc. to do his will. 

I have never been excited about reading the Bible before but I no longer feel like it’s an obligation.  Instead, it’s something I want to do.  I am no longer leaving my Bible in the backseat of my car so it will be there for church next Sunday but I make it a point to make sure it’s by my bed.  Oh I am excited for what else I am going to learn!

Half Marathon update!

Training is going well.  Slowly but surely I will get there.  I am running 4 miles on a consistent basis and each day is different.  Monday I felt like I was never going to make it home and wanted to call and have someone pick me up.  Today, I felt like my energy would last forever.  Next stop...6 miles!  Oh and I need to be careful where I run....I almost ran into that little sucker.  They are everywhere!

Vietnamese update:

Unfortunately there isn’t one.  I got discouraged because it jumped from, “hey I get this” levels to, “what the heck are they even describing.”  I know that’s not the attitude I should have but I need a little kick in the pants and I will be back with it again!