To read or not to read...

I started reading "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan today and I'm debating about continuing. I hear it is somewhat of a "Christian classic" but I'm not very engaged so I'm here to take a vote. Do you all think I should press on? Is this one of those books which gets better as you go on? Do I need to endure so I can receive a crown of life at the end? I heard that there is safety in a multitude of counselors...



A bonus random thought:
What we do at interns these past few months.....
1. Move stuff out of Oak Valley into a truck
2. Move stuff into the church
3. Organize
4. Move it back into the truck
5. Put it in storage
6. Organize
7. Have Julia tell us what to throw away.
8. Move from one storage unit to another.
9. Play musical storage units with all the church stuff.
10. Organize again.
11. Give lots of stuff to Mexico.
12. Experience great joy when we find useful things.
13. Move stuff back to the church.
14. Organize.
15. Move stuff into one room.
16. Move it to another room to do the floors.
17. Move it into the kitchen.
18. Organize, Organize, Organize.
19. Ask a million times.."Where do we put this?"
20. Pray for more storage in the church and praise God that we can work with our hands!!

I love my life.

A birthday with Gaby: One of a Kind

I had to make a post especially for this story because it really stands on its own. So last night right before dinner I called Gaby and invited her to come and she was distressed because she didn't even know it was my birthday and she was busy. I think she tore her cloths and wept. I told her we could do something another day and that I did not hold anything against her.

So tonight she took me on a little birthday adventure, and I must say, it was an adventure. After finishing some stuff at the church she rushed me into her car and drove like a mad woman to an unknown destination. It turned out to be the Coronado Ferry, which I have never done before. We took the 8pm Ferry and the last returning one was at 9:30 so we would only have about an hour over there. When we got to Coronado we stopped at the Taco Bell/Pizza Hut/KFC (Trinity of fast food!) and Gaby proceeded to get a free piece of chicken and order one biscuit. It was good that we did not spend a lot of money here and that she got that free chicken. You will see why later.

Then she is going to get me ice cream at moo time but it is a really far walk. We don't know how far, but we just keep going. Then we get there (after like 15 to 20 minutes) and it is 9:08. The last ferry leaves at 9:30 remember. We figured if worse came to worse we could take a taxi back. Well, it turns out that they only take cash at the ice cream place and we were a little short. Again Gaby worked her magic and got us out of there with a deal. But now we were really far from the ferry, with no cash, and like 10 minutes to get back.

As we began to speed walk, I saw a shopping cart and told Gaby to get in. She said she was afraid it might tip over and began to run away from me. I got the cart, chased her down and made her get in. Then we took turns pushing each other in the cart (running) all the way back. The funny thing was that we were having so much fun that we didn't even look at the time until we were almost there. Then I looked and it was 9:30!! We suddenly realized that the ferry was leaving right that moment and we began to sprint in our rainbows sandals. The boat was about to leave the dock when I yelled and they graciously pulled it back in for us so we could get on. It was a close one. After getting on the boat we realized that if we hadn't found that cart and ran the whole way back, we would have missed the boat. Once again, the Holy Spirit saved our lives.

Now at this point, one thing was still missing from the perfect birthday celebration with Gaby. Yep, you know what it is, a divine appointment! Well, before leaving the dock on the harbor side we got the opportunity to pray for this really sweet Mexican couple who were celebrating their anniversary. It was great.

I have to say tonight was one of the randomest birthday celebrations I have ever had but one of the most enjoyable! There is no one like Gaby and I love that I never know what is going to happen when I am with her. Oh...the good life.... :)

My Crazy Birthday....

My birthday was yesterday and it was great. I got to snowboard for free at Mt. High in 65 degree weather with my dad and his girlfriend. I am no longer on a running scholarship so I had the freedom to take some more risks! It was great. I did some jumps and boxes and took some good hard falls. It's powerful coming face to face with fear and going on anyway. When you take risks you can get hurt. But that's why it's a risk. As Gaby has been saying, "If I perish, I perish." So I didn't perish, but I did gash my shin open a little bit! It was great. I won't post a picture of that though.

Then all the snow melted and it was like wake boarding or something so we left early. I then proceeded to hang out with Jenny, Emilie and Mirby (Emilie's new obsession) at Starbucks and then meet up with Jael and Joy at Cuban food in Poway. It was the perfect birthday dinner and I even got to eat plantanes! I was so blessed.

Here are a few other things I loved about my birthday:
1. Emilie text messaged me like 50 times to wish me a happy birthday (exaggeration). She is the queen of text messaging. I think she has an anointing for it. :)
2. I don't really advertise my birthday. It's fun for me to see who remembers and who calls me. That's how you know who your real friends are! Just kidding. I have observed that it's usually only the type A friends that remember every year and I know a lot of other friends love me just as much.
3. Jael sang a wonderful song and a prayer on my voice mail. The combination put her in the running for #1.
4. Lots of people were born on March 12th including: Mariah Nixon, Nicole Shaw and Rick! Crazy!
5. My little sister cleaned my car. It was disgusting! And guess what they found? Exodus and Hebrews! The Book of the Law wasn't lost anymore!!! I think it was under the seat or something. As soon as I saw it I tore my clothes and repented. It was a couple of parts of Ben's bible on CD that I borrowed and apparently didn't return complete.

Oh, glorious. I love it. Well, here comes another year to serve the living God and have a great time doing it!

The good life

I left for a run early this morning and saw one of the prettiest sunrises I've ever experienced in San Diego. Usually the sun rise isn't very exciting, but this morning there were a bunch of clouds and they were all glowing pink. It was great. Then I went and ran in the canyon and was so grateful that I could run, be ministered to by God through His beautiful creation, and just enjoy life. I was thinking on my run about things that really enrich my life and allow me to really enjoy it. Here's the list...

1. The presence of God.
2. Running on trails. Hearing the sound of moving water as I run. Being alone in the middle of a canyon or hills and only hearing the birds and my feet hitting the ground.
3. Hanging out with preschoolers.
4. Hanging out with my 85 year old grandma.
5. Doing art.
6. Laughing with friends.
7. Playing the guitar.
8. Moving the church...aka...lifting stuff and working with my hands.
9. Making everything prophetic.
10. The Word of God.

If you are feeling bored or a little "blah" I would suggest partaking of some of these things. It's amazing how many people never do these things! What enriches your life?