The Week That Was

After a particularly good week, I feel it appropriate to write about it... so that in a year or two or three, I can stumble across this blog randomly and remember the good times that were had.

THE AGENDA

Sometime last Sunday (6/20), I took a look at the prospective week ahead and wrote it down on the white board above my desk, so that I'd be motivated to do those things and so I wouldn't forget... allowing myself a day off on Monday to be at rest, it seemed that a busy week (outside of work) lay ahead.

Sunday

Sunday started off with going to Mosaic, which I'm really enjoying. Two of my growth group brothers go, and everyone else is super friendly, and the messages and worship are both well-done and in ways that speak to me. Had an early dinner with the parents for father's day, and then went back to Flood, again meeting up with some of the guys. I've always heard that there's a joy that comes in being able to experience church within community, and I'm definitely starting to feel that. And it's so great to tangibly experience God's love and grace through others, especially when those are things that He calls us to do, and to know that my brothers are living those qualities out and to consider them friends, it makes me feel blessed.

Monday

I rested. I ran. :)

Tuesday: The Casbah

My friend Gayle Skidmore is a local musician in San Diego, and she was playing at The Casbah as the first opening act. When I got her Facebook invite to go, I thought "sure, I'm down for the cause." I went down there by myself and was so impressed with her sound. I've seen her before, and known she's such a talented girl, but I definitely think she's grown as an artist and musician. She rocked that joint, and even though she was the opener, the audience called for an encore and got it. Many props to her and the band, and I can't wait for her CD release show - I'm sure she'll blow the roof off!

Wednesday: Flood worship

One of the things Flood does extremely well is worship... our church is so blessed to have not just one amazing regular house band, but two. And on Wednesday, Pat Little led us in a time of acoustic worship while a guest pastor came in and led us in prayer for the ministry opportunities coming up and in giving thanks to God for what He's done in our lives. My coworker Vicki came along too, since I'd mentioned it at work, and we joined the guys. (And Vicki, if you read this, Kyle told me that he so appreciated the Bible passage in Matthew that you recommended.)

Thursday: Comedy night

Cho, one of my brothers from the growth group, invited me out to join some peeps at The Comedy Palace over in Clairemont Mesa. I met up with them and while the humor contained stuff that some friends would find offensive/uncomfortable, it was a pretty fun time. You can't take things so super seriously, and as Cho pointed out, God invented humor and laughter, and when we get to heaven He'll be able to tell us jokes that will have us laughing our asses off.

Friday: Goo Goo Dolls

I've always wanted to see them, but never have, so when Ashley proposed that we go see them in concert, I thought "deal!" I picked up her and her friend Ali and drove us out to Alpine, as they were actually playing in a theatre at Viejas Casino. And for a group of "old" rockers, they were fantastic. They played their hits and had us rocking out to the songs we didn't know. We did have an issue with this eccentric older lady, who was there by herself, quite obviously a little more than tipsy and wearing this large fur boa. Those of us in the audience around her called her "Squirrel Girl". Poor Ashley and Ali could only take so much! I just gave terse smiles and nodded along when she tried talking to me... so we eventually moved away from her, as she made new friends (to annoy). But as for the band, the highlight was definitely "Iris". I was able to record most of it too, thanks to my new phone's video capabilities, and the whole audience was singing along... good times.

Saturday: Pasadena

And now we're at the end of the week, with my day trip to the LA area.

I'm back home at midnight, and wanting to write about it, so that definitely means I enjoyed today immensely.

Last week, Cho mentioned wanting to get a group together to visit the Pasadena International House of Prayer (PIHOP). You might be thinking what I thought too, when I first heard of it...

"Jigga wha?"

He'd visited this place a few months ago, and felt incredibly blessed by their ministry. Basically, you visit this church, people pray outloud for you but you haven't told them a thing about yourself (prophetic prayer), and then you go home and within a week you receive an mp3 email with their prayer for you (because they record).

That little blurb doesn't do it justice. Because when I heard the Cliffs Notes description, I was still skeptical. Having people listen to what God is telling them and letting them prayer over you is not something I've experienced or heard much about. But Cho felt extremely blessed by it, and talked about how God spoke through those who administered the prayers and that he would listen to the recording weeks later and still see how God was working.

I decided to go and to keep an open mind, and so we met at Cho's place and he drove our group of 8 in a minivan. Included in this group was another one of my growth group brothers, Dan, as well as Liberty, who is another friend of Cho's that I just met a few days prior. The drive to LA included traffic of course, but we had some fun conversation and games.

A few random highlights of the drive:

I now know why a guy would kill his friend over a bowl of albatross soup.

I learned what can and cannot pass through the green glass doors.

The car learned that I think it'll be at least 60 years before we see an Asian president.

Elliot (Cho's cousin) really can't relate to Disney's "Beauty and the Beast".

Our first stop was at this "all-you-can-eat" Korean BBQ place in the Koreatown part of LA. And it was only $10 a person. And it was the bomb. I've been to one other KBBQ place and that was down here in SD, and it cannot compare to the awesomeness of this place. The meat just kept on coming! The side items were good too, and we got to enjoy it all while watching the US lose to Ghana in the World Cup... despite the loss, it was a good time.

We hung around LA a bit, walking along the shops on Melrose Ave before killing some time at The Grove (hella nice outdoor shopping center). Then we took off for Pasadena to PIHOP. After we arrived at 6pm and signed up, we had more time to kill, so we played frisbee on the sidewalk. Like right by the busy street. And we learned that the girls could kick the boys butts.

So at 7pm is when things start at PIHOP. How it worked was you signed up on a list, and they would take about five people at a time into another part of the building, and each person would meet up with a smaller group of PIHOP prayer leaders. In the meantime, there's worship being led by an acoustic guitarist and a drummer in a waiting area. And there was a good # of people waiting, so while you wait to be brought to the back, you get to sit and worship.

I don't think I was brought over for prayer until around 8:15, so I was sitting around awhile, but the worship never stopped. It was continuous, and it was a good way to set our hearts ready. Once I was in the back, I first sat down with one group. They welcome you, they start the recording (a handheld minitape device), and then you kinda wait... and really, they're just praying silently first and listening to what the Holy Spirit moves them to say, and they pray it out loud as it comes. And they're not saying anything weird or making predictions about what you'll be doing in the future, or telling us to do things either. But it ends up being offering prayers of encouragement that happen to be specifically for me. And like I mentioned, they know nothing about you, except for your name. You sit with one prayer group for a few minutes, and then you move to another set of prayer leaders who follow the same. I can't wait to get the email of the recording so I can re-listen, because some things don't make sense right away, and I especially need to think things through and process it. But when I was finished and returned to the worship/waiting area, I took out my phone and jotted down these quick thoughts that the second group gave me:

You are like Timothy. Though you may have felt disappointment and let down by others, including people you've looked up to, and not just father figures but mentor figures, God wants you to know that not only will He not let you down, but He will provide others in your life to walk with. Much like Timothy had Paul as his mentor, God is preparing you for a similar relationship as well. And in all this, the Lord seeks to raise you up, calling you to bask in His grace so that you can find healing and become the warrior that He's designed you to be.

It's a paraphrase (which is why I can't wait for the recording), but that whole time with the second group, I felt something. I can't remember everything now, but the things they were led to say are things that I needed to hear. When we all got back together in the van, everyone else recounted their own unique experience too, so it wasn't like the different prayer leaders just said the same things to different people. Some even received metaphors that perfectly fit their life circumstance. And the first group sensed that I had just moved to a new place, and that this time with my roommate would be a time of building a stronger bond. Like I said, everything they lifted up to God was just words of encouragement that they felt led by the Holy Spirit to say.

Anyways - if you read all this, cool. I'm tired now. I'm up past 1am writing this and I'm doing it for me, because I don't want to forget and because this whole week but today especially has been a blessing. And I'm so thankful for the ways that the Lord is working and moving, not just in my life, but in those new friends that I was able to spend some time with this week.

Mosaic

Thought of the day, thanks to today's morning service at Mosaic San Diego --

Mosaics are often made of small broken colored shards of glass... in the darkness, it's not much to look at, but when brought to the light, they're often beautiful.

And each of us, we're all like mosaics... born into a broken world, we're all broken in our own different ways. And it's when we admit to our brokenness and allow God's light in our lives that we can start to shine and be what He created us to be.

Choice

Random thoughts/reflections before heading to bed.

Every day we're confronted with choices. Some are simple, and some are complex. Sometimes you end up fighting your natural inclinations when confronted with a decision that you need to make. Do you take the easy path, the one where you know the outcome? Or do you take a risk and choose the less comfortable option, putting your faith to the test?

"If a moment is the gate through which your divine journey begins, then choice is the key that unlocks the adventure."

Six on Saturday

Yes, I am again cribbing from the TGO's blog.

1. I ran 16 miles today. My legs were pretty much dead for the last two miles, and so I walked them (like... really slowly), but I got it done. Coach Ronnie asked how I was feeling, and I mentioned that I hadn't had a long run in three Saturdays, and my last run period was last Sunday (for the Carlsbad 5K). He told me that the lack of training this week just threw me off rhythm, and it's not a big deal and that I can shrug it off as a bad day. Although, 16 miles on a bad day is still cool -- because who does that on a regular day, right?

2. While on those 16 miles, I had to amuse myself. That's a long time that we're not allowed to wear headphones or have mp3 players. (This is because we're not in an official race, but training on the streets, so we need to be aware of our surroundings). I ended up making a Taylor Swift parody (?) to her hit "You Belong With Me", but from the perspective of a guy singing to a girl... (And no, I'm not a Taylor fan, but darnit, this song was all over the place and is catchy.)

You're at the bar with your boyfriend, you're upset

'Cause he ignores you for all his friends that you've met

He doesn't appreciate you like I do

You're dropping hints that you're ready to go home

But he's drunk and he is talking in loud tones

He doesn't think about you like I do

But he wears jerseys, I wear polos

He's into beer pong, and I play piano

Writing out a song that expresses exactly how I feel inside

So I'm singing out now

If you could see that I'm the one who'll be there for you

Do the things you like

So why don't you know

That your man's a schmo

That your man's a schmo

And when I got to that point, I thought that was enough ridiculousness for the day. And so I moved on to focusing on the cute girl running in front of me... (Just kidding.)

3. This is my medal and bib from the Carlsbad 5k. Pretty cool, yeah? I feel.

4. My delicious dinner at Hash House, where I was with The OSFs and some of Chris' family. This was a mashed potato and bacon burger. They know how to serve you up at this place, that's for sure. I ate half and saved the other for tomorrow. It was filling, and I didn't wanna stuff myself completely. Plus, Jordan's trying to get me to lose, and I gotta stay strong.

5. Apparently I have guns. Or am starting to have guns. As in my arms. I say this because I caught up with some friends tonight that I hadn't seen in a few months, and the three girls were all "whoa, you are looking buff!" Then they asked me to flex my biceps. And I did. And they felt them. And they said "oooooooh"... And then we moved on and chatted about real things... And then when our time was over and we had to split up, we all hugged and they asked me to flex one more time. I obliged, and they felt me up. It was just a funny moment to me, as this has never happened.

6. This video is one of the reasons I love Lea Michele. If only we had gone to see her at this cabaret before "Glee" had taken off! Now an intimate event like this with her there will never happen... But still, she amazes me, and this song from Spring Awakening reminds me and re-affirms my love of the show.

Free Concert!

So I haven't been to many concerts this year, and it's already mid-April. It's a little sad... I feel like by this point last year, I'd been to at least 8. This year, I've been to one, and that was for my bro-date with Chris to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. And I probably would've missed out on that one if it weren't for the fact that it was part of his Christmas present to me.

But I was at a free radio station concert this past Monday. I guess I don't consider it a "real" concert since it was a non-ticketed event put on by Sophie 103.7 in a (nice) bar/lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel. I found out a few days before the event that Kris Allen was having a free show, and that Sara Bareilles was opening.

Two artists I already really like, and it's free? Heck yes, I'm there! I was bummed to miss out on my Monday night hill run, but it was worth it. I went with Weezy -- and just so that any readers are clear, Weezy = Brittany, but I always tend to refer to her as Weezy. (And I'm KD. But that's another story.) We took the trolley down, expecting downtown to be crazy because it was opening day at Petco Park (the Padres won), but it was an afternoon game, and the concert was at 8. So we would've been better off driving ourselves. Lesson learned: check the time if there's a game.

Sara went on first, and she played a short four song set. I've seen her before though, and I really think she's incredible. Great vocals, catchy tunes, good stage presence and banter with the audience. But it was nothing new, I'd heard all those songs before. (But don't get me wrong - if she comes back and it's relatively inexpensive, I'm there.)

But I was positively blown away by Kris. I was a fan of his on American Idol last year, and you betcha I was voting for him. Not just because I was turned off by Adam's theatricality/vocals and didn't want him to win, but because Kris' style appealed to me. Since I started getting into music/concerts in 2004, I've been a fan of the acoustic singer/songwriter types. And I loved his song choices and arrangements on the show, and he seemed like a genuinely good guy on stage (humble and having fun).

Kris hasn't blown up on the radio though, and while I have his CD downloaded, I hadn't listened to it yet, save for the one single. So I really wasn't sure what to expect. But he got on stage for an acoustic set with one of friends accompanying him, and he had us with him the entire time. They may not have been shredding on electric guitars or had a drummer, but they rocked out plenty to some of his originals and some fun covers too.

Here's a video clip of him singing MJ's classic (with a good message at that), "Man in the Mirror"...

And here's one of his originals from his self-titled CD, called "The Truth"...

Not exactly rocking out songs that I chose to share here, but these were two of my faves... and I'll admit, I was man-crushing a little bit throughout the show. No wonder girls fall for guys with guitars! I should pick mine up again... anyways, I do have another "official" concert in the works though. I've got another bro-date with the OSF around the end of the month - heading up to LA to see a band he introduced me to called Sleeping at Last. Very stoked about getting to see them (as they're not coming down to SD), and it'll be cool to have a mini-road trip with one of my best friends since he's getting all hitched soon. (You take care of my man, TGO!)

On the drive back, I'll think it through...

There's been one little trend in my recent blogging habits -- I tend to blog on Sundays and Wednesdays. I came to this realization while on my drive back from today's little trip, and then I also remembered that today is Wednesday... so what better time to share about the day's mini-trip to the OC!

[makes the letters with his two hands]

Ok, so I was never really good at making letters/signs with my hands. But true story -- I did drive up to the OC today. Lake Forest, to be exact, and I hung out with Sarah. Totally unplanned and random, but I'm glad with how the day went. Here's how it went down...

I was sitting at work, feeling discontent with life and wanting something to liven things up. I need to take some time off, but going on a trip isn't something I can splurge on at the moment. (Didn't help that my cousin gets to visit Europe for two months with his girl, and on her parents' dime.) And I'm still liking my marathon training (both running and weight lifting) and have been consistent, but now we're midway through the season and I'm feeling the repetitiveness (they warned us). So when the afternoon hit, I was in "I need to get out of SD" mode. Figured a drive might do some good.

Drive south? No... I have no passport. And what would I do in Mexico? I'd be kinda scurred.

Drive east? No... there's a whole lotta nothing until I get to maybe Calexico/Mexicali? And again, what would I do over there. Maybe I'll save that for another adventure.

Drive north? ... ... "Sure! I know peeps north of the San Diego county border," is what I reasoned.

I immediately thought of two friends I've missed hanging out with, and Sarah was one of them. Wasn't sure if she'd be free to hang, but she was. She did question me being able to drive up on a "school night", heh. But after I responded with a "that's how I roll", she proposed we see the movie "Date Night" and grab a bite to eat. I responded, "Perfect!" And off I went.

Traffic sucked, but I made it up there in good time. We grabbed a bite to eat at In-N-Out, and then caught the movie. It wasn't as laugh-out-loud hilarious as I was expecting, but it was still a funny movie. I knew nothing about the storyline, so I was surprised with how it went down, but it worked. I give it a solid B+. And I was awake the entire time! Like a solid alertness. If you've seen a movie with me, you know this is a feat in itself.

So I was very stoked with the outcome of my spontaneous decision to drive up for the evening. It was great to see Sarah, since San Diego misses her. But it looks like her, Bethany, and I (and hopefully we can rope more friends to join us) will be heading on a karaoke outing when Sarah comes down for her next visit. With her love of singing (and great voice) and me being Filipino, it's a wonder we've all never hit up a karaoke bar already, haha...

On the drive back, I was listening and rocking out, singing to that Lady Antebellum song. You know how it goes. "It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now..." It's a fun one to sing even when you're sober. And then I started thinking... this little road trip stemmed out of my present longing for something to stir in me again. I've had certain thoughts brewing for awhile now, and I've wondered where they were coming from... is it me, or is God trying to tell me something?

So I turned off the music and sat there driving in relative peace, and started a half listening/half prayer thing...

"So I await the words that You say

I open my life, I am longing just to hear these words

That You say, That You say..."

And what came to me was that even though I may be scared to pursue something -- I don't need to be. We may look at ourselves and see how we fall short in certain things, but I think God looks at us differently. Like it goes with any loving parent -- your child may disappoint, anger, and frustrate you at times, but yet you love them fiercely and when you look at them, you see all the potential in the world and all the possibilities for their future. And I was thinking how God's the same way... He gave us the ability to dream, and He will help us out. We just need the courage to ask, and to seek in Him both the strength to follow through and the humility to keep ourselves grounded and thankful for what He's done.

Having thought of that tonight, and feeling certain that He was the one that planted this seed that's been in my mind for the past few weeks and allowed it to grow... I think I know what I want to be doing in the fall. Granted, this will require planning and research, but I'm game to start the process. I want to go back to school, and if I can, then hopefully achieve my second bachelors degree (biology). And if that goes well...

I wasn't ready for this back when I was a college freshman, but I'm ready now.

I want to start studying to become a doctor.

On a Sunday, I'll think it through...

The title for this blog entry is the name of one of my fave Jimmy Eat World songs... but has nothing to do with the song. I just wanted to jot down some reflections on today, tis all.

IT WAS AWESOME! =)

Act 1: Carlsbad 5K

Got up there just in time to meet up with Pete, who had his family there to cheer him on, and my old roomie Ben. The three of us gathered together at the start line, and off we ran! We all pretty much made our goal times. Ben finished in at just about 26 mins, Pete in an even 28:00 (when he hoped for 29), and I clocked in at 29:39 - just under 30, which is what I was hoping for! I tried to give it all I had, which needed to include a few walks to catch my breath, but this race marked another improvement (pace-time wise) from my previous run (new pace 9:33 min/miles vs 11:06 min/mile). After I caught up with the guys at the finish line, we got our t-shirts and went to the beer garden. Because apparently that's what you do at these things: you run a good distance, you treat your liver to some alcohol... Cassandra snapped a pic of us guys with our beers in hand, and I hope that pic soon to commemorate a fun run. There were professional photographers taking pics of all the runners during the race too, and I hope those get posted online during the week.

Act 2: Oggi's Pizza

After the race, I wanted to treat Ben out for some pizza. Post-run is a good time for that usually unhealthy meal, heh. Plus it was his birthday a few days ago. So the two of us former roomies went down to Oggi's Pizza and shared our usual pepperoni. Definitely miss hanging with the dude, as he's always been a stand-up guy and one of the very few that I could always be real and raw with.

Act 3: Coffee with Matt

After I got home/showered, I went over to Linda Vista and had coffee with my growth group leader (Matt) at a little shop by the Flood campus. He was my prayer partner for the week, so we caught up on the latest hap's and discussed life... I'm liking being in growth group this time around. It's still a little hard to break down my walls and talk sometimes (although I did manage to give my personal story last week), but I know it's something I need to keep trusting God to work in and through the group.

Act 4: Flood with Jess

Straight after coffee, I met up with Jess and her cousin Camille in the Flood parking lot. Chatted it up a bit and went inside for the service. Once I saw the piano on stage, I knew that The Gate Called Beautiful was likely leading worship - and they were. It was a good service - worship was awesome, and the service marked the beginning of a new series called "Touch: Real Sex in an Artificial World". Earlier in the week, another friend of mine saw the name of the series, and she kinda gave me a look, like "mmmmhmmmm..." But the fact is, sex is a big part of the culture we live in and regardless of one's age or marital status, the Bible does have lessons to learn on how we should view our sexuality. Thankfully, Adam (our speaker) didn't just throw down the stereotypical conservative church party line of "pre-marital sex is bad". (Actually, he started out with a rather hilarious look at the lyrics of Usher's song "Yeah"). But to sum, I'll just use a quote that they gave us from author Philip Yancy:

People worry that they will miss out on something if they heed the Bible's warnings against premarital sex. Actually, the warnings are there to keep them from missing out on something.

I'll definitely re-listen to the podcast, as I enjoyed the message (even if I can't properly express how it went - I'm tired now, lol) and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Also, this was the second week in a row that one of my original Mitchell besties, Jess, joined me for a service. Aside from the fact that it's been nice having a friend join me at church again, it's rad to feel like she's enjoying it (both the music and message), and to feel that the Holy Spirit is just doing it's thing.

And that's what I prayed with Matt during our coffee session. A lot of times I feel that uncertainty of the future, and I have my periods of doubt and lack of faith. But then I get that still voice pulling me back in and reminding me, "Hey... I'm still with you... for all those times you feel like I'm not there, or you may not even want Me there, I'm still working in your life. You may not see it right away, and you may not understand something, but trust in Me." When I hear Him reminding me of what He's already done and what He's promised us in Jeremiah 29:11, I realize that it's all good and I can put my fears aside and start finding peace/rest/hope in His love.

With that being said (quoting my Medicare mentor right there) -- Happy Sunday!

All of my life, in every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing...