Having an awesome time with roomie and the fam bam! He has been revealing alot of things that I’m still trying to understand and figure out about the future. Please still pray for courage to speak as well as discernment for the future.
Just got back to Davis safely yesterday and settled down a bit before doing support raising.
Speaking of support raising, here’s where I’m at so far. Unfortunately, for monthly support, I’m still in the same amount since May (about 2%). There is good news though for my special gifts. I’m about 17.4%! I didn’t think it was even possible but I’m just overwhelmed and a bit shocked while I was calculating the total amount this morning. I will admit, I’m still a bit skeptical whether or not I would raise the full amount for both monthly and special gifts by Aug. 23rd but it’s definitely a faith-stretching experience by having to trust in Him even though it seems impossible to raise such a high amount.
There have been also been a lot of praises during this process. One of them is getting over the fear of initiating and calling people. During the beginning of this, I came to the realization that I’m pretty shy in meeting new people because I feel that I need to look and act presentable. Fear of rejection paralyzed me these last couple of weeks when I share to others about what I will be doing this upcoming year. It wasn’t until a certain point when I just started to accept the fact that the support isn’t going to be raised if I just continually sit there moping and complaining about it. I also learned through this experience of maintaining eye-contact through conversations and not looking down at the ground or avoiding the person. Definitely a good skill to learn when it comes to interviews.
Another praise has been reconnecting with people back from high school and engaging in conversations with them. The people that I’ve talked to were mostly people that I didn’t really know well so it was such a joyful experience catching up laughing, talking and some teary moments with them. Their stories about their lives touched my heart in many ways through their good and bad moments. I really hope to continually maintain contact with them when I start interning since I’ll be close to home.
Please continually pray for:
I also wanted to thank those that have been keeping me accountable as well as encouraging me during this support raising process. There are times when I have hit a funk and didn’t feel like support raising or personal issues came up but you guys keep telling me to move along and strive to finish what I’ve started so if it wasn’t for that, I don’t think I could share the good things happening so far so thank you!
Currently, Diddy’s song “Coming Home” is playing in my head. In about three months from now, I’m coming back home to serve Him from where I grew up. It’s going to be quite an interesting experience knowing that I will be close to home yet at the same time be far away because most of the time I will around at the epicenter (downtown) LA. I got a chance to walk around the certain districts of LA by taking the bus and the subway. Visiting these areas really fueled my passion even more in the city.
I’m more determined to raise the full support that I need to serve this city. Please pray for me in discipline for time management and more people that would be interested in joining me for this.
I’ve admit, I’ve been in a rut this whole week. A lot of things happened that really got me thinking about stuff. The range goes from: the purpose of life, what drives me to serve, personal passions, God, school (especially math) etc. I’ve gotten to the point where I just started to shut things out because everything became a distraction and couldn’t seem to get my foot back on route. It wasn’t until the many conversations I had with Boy and reading through the May 21st prophecy of Judgment Day that really started to get my brain cells moving.
Once my brain cells starting moving, I cracked the Word into 1 Peter and read through the highlighted texts. After that, I checked out 2 Peter as well since they follow in a sequence. Just quickly reading the Peter sections (thank God that He has provided opportunities in teaching me how to read fast and being a CRD major reading lots of articles), made me realize how much I really miss reading the Word and just being in God’s presence.
I’ve been so occupied with what is around me but not thinking about the bigger picture. It’s a humbling experience when you realize that there are more important things in life than the minor things we get frustrated over on. The big picture is being in relationship with God and sharing this experience with others whether it’s within our community or to others. Don’t get me wrong, we have problems but it’s realizing that our problems don’t define us in who we are. Rather, we should be defined through Him and be continually reminded that we are made for a purpose. Now, that’s a refreshing thought before ending a crazy week.
Definitely what I needed to hear especially in the time of support raising.
There’s 365 days a year. So that means always wake up in the morning telling yourself, “Do Not Fear.” everyday. God is by your side and he will always protect you.
(via alice-carline)
These last couple of days, I have definitely felt the Spirit encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and emerge myself into something different. Today, I went to a Destino large group meeting and let me tell you, I honestly felt like it was home for me. Growing up in El Monte, I honestly really have come to appreciate it the city and the people that I have had met. Tonight’s meeting and meeting new people made me realize the beauty about community regardless of ethnic backgrounds and why He created it.
Also, please pray for Spain. I just found out that there was an earthquake that happened within the Southern region around the Madrid area. There weren’t a lot of casualties but Spain has been a special country in my heart ever since I studied abroad there. I miss the culture, art, fashion, food and nightlife.
In about 3.5 months from now, I’m coming back home to intern with EPIC. I definitely have mixed emotions about it (excited to do something that is eternal fulfilling yet nervous about the difficult challenges that will be thrown at).
Prayer would be something that I would ask for especially in having the courage to ask. Ever since the intern kickoff weekend, I feel much more nervous and unsure about whether or not is this the right fit for me but all I know is that this is something that I need to do.
Ernest Hemingway (via kari-shma)Haha, this is so me. =)
I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?
(via quote-book)
The things which grow quickly are often more easily destroyed than those which take a long time.Mitch Albom; Have a little faith (via quote-book)
