So recently I have had quite the life. My last post in October was one of transition and of new beginnings, this one is, to-date, where that transition has brought me.
When I posted in October, I was interviewing at REI. I got that job, but now I don't because it was a seasonal sales position. (Really the only thing I miss is the sweet discounts I could get...and some real RAD dudes there). So sadly I'm in the job hunt once again, with a little hope! Aside from that though, my life has been a hell of a ride and God has been workin in a big way.
First I'll tell you the hard stuff to admit. I really started the new year off on the wrong foot, and lets just say I blended into the hype and the crowd of the holiday. The consequences of my behavior left me sick for 2 days and heavy with guilt. I was truly humbled by the Father in that moment and He revealed to me the way in which I had allowed my selfishness to veer away from him.
Another hard thing to admit is that there was a time when I was fed up being here. There was a tension in our house that really could only be explained by all of us hitting a slump at the same time. That's been resolved since and I sincerely LOVE the dudes I live with.
Now on to whats great in my life in RVA
We've been able to go the local school, John Marshall HS for football and basketball games as well as greeting people for the middle school's open house. I've never felt more out of place than when I walk into a JAYEM (that's how we/they say the the initials of the school)basketball game in a bass pro shops shirt and vans shoe's. It's a beautiful site to see. When the intermission music comes on for time out's or half time, the entire stadium is just dancing. This was actually the first place I saw someone do the dougie haha. The culture is a complete 180 from what I am used to, and I thank God for it. We've also just this week gottin a "go-ahead" to start mentoring kids at JAYEM. It'll start in the next couple weeks and we are all ecstatic for it to start happenin!
I've also had a long journey finding a community and a church. My original vision for my room mates and I was for us to all go to the same church and have the same group of friends...the same community. Well that vision lived for about 3 weeks as we all church hopped all over RVA trying to find the church where we wanted to build a community. I think now we may have 3 different churches/communities we are engaging with. I found a great church in the city...its called city church (who'd guess huh?) and I am in love with it and the people who make it up. My weeks have since been filled with hang out nights and bible studies with some really great people, and the head pastor at City Church is also one of the guys who had the vision for our ministry in the first place, so I knew I could trust him.
What really sold me on this place was that on the 3rd or 4th sunday i'd been there, I saw someone that I recognized and said Hi to him, then I was immediately introduced to a friend of his who invited me to sit along with him during the service. After church had ended, I was invited by 3 different people to do 3 different things so they could get to know me. I was blown away by their excitement to meet me and include me. One guy I met is named John Bouguise (we call him Boug (boojsh?)) and he invited me to grab breakfast with him one day so we could talk about getting into a bible study. John asked me a lot of questions and just listened to ALL that I had to say. For those of you who know me, you know that could be a while. He said something that i'll keep with me for a while. Quoting his professor, he told me that struggles are God's way of trimmin' the fat off our hearts. Then he told me, "The way you're talkin to me doesn't sound like you have much fat." WHAT A REWARD! I have told many people that the entire year of 2010 was one huge transition/struggle for me, and also that I've learned more in four months living in RVA than I did in four years of college (about my life with Christ that is). I think both my room mates are in the same boat too!
One thing that my room mates have said about me, and it's that I can talk a lot. I'll agree with them, cuz when I get rollin' on somethin great, ESPECIALLY JESUS its hard for me to stop. I always tend to preface or stop talkin with this quote.
"I could probably talk a lot more about this, but..."
So i'll leave you with that till next time.
Calloused Hands, Calloused Feet, Open Heart
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