p.s. it's raining

I met another homeless man today. His name was Ricky and he smiled at me in the most genuine way and said, "Merry Christmas!"

I was so nervous to talk to him. There's something that just makes it hard to look a person in the eye after you've walked past them, trying to forget their presence, a couple of times. Yeah, I walked right past him. And then I felt that tug on my heart again and I turned around and introduced myself.

We ended up talking for maybe 30 seconds. I was so afraid that I would say the wrong thing; I couldn't find any courage to ask him about his story, even though I knew that's what I was supposed to do.

So my prayer today is for courage, courage to do the things that God has pressed on my heart.



In other news, Rheanna's Quest Towards Being As Awkward As Possible is still going strong. I got lost in San Dimas after the "AH! You're running out of gas!" light came on in my car and I raced off the freeway in a panic, frantically searching for a gas station. I then proceeded to completely forget my zip code, which apparently you need to pay for gas with a debit card at certain gas stations.

No worries, though. Ugly Betty is full of gas and safe in the school parking lot. And I am safe in my dormroom, content after a night of music and poetry and bizarre Christmas antics.



The logs on the fire fill me with desire to see you and to say that I wish you Merry Christmas.

sleep tight

i'm going on vacation tomorrow.


with some people that i kind of like (aka my second family).


plus best friend number K!


am i excited?


absolutely.

=]

We'll make the great escape

My high school World Religion and Cults teacher (the infamous Greg Collard) told me once that there is one month in the fall semester that is more difficult than all the others for college freshmen. I don't exactly remember which month he was talking about, probably because I was semi-busy looking out the window and pretending I was a butterfly who could fly to the windows of the Hospital Vozandes and cheer up all the sick people. In my personal experience, though, that one most difficult month has been November.

If I lived in a place other than Southern California where the weather actually turns cold and stays that way, I think that would be justification enough for a despressing November. As much as I love snow and cold and rain, I can't imagine bundling up to face wind every day during the fall and winter. (Today, I'm actually wearing a short dress and my roommate and I still haven't turned off the a/c in our room since school started. This is my blissful life as a Californian, I guess.) On that note, I am extremely thankful that God decided to put me in a place like Azusa, where the only thing that blocks the sun is smog and girls who wear Uggs have to pair them with short shorts to keep themselves from suffocating.

However, the lack of fitful weather makes it necesary for me to find something else to blame the overwhelmingness of this month on.

Could it be all the pressure, the pressure of turning in all my projects when they're due, of making time to study for tests that matter, of writing this blog before my next Beginnings class?

Could it be social tensions? People change in college, whether they're trying to or not, and dealing with that has become a headache of it's own.

Could it be homesickness?


Mmhmm yep. Yep to all of the above.


It just boils down to the fact that I'm living, absolutely LIVING, for my next vacation (which happens to be in exactly seven days!) and for this thought: is it really possible that we are almost halfway through the year already?




And bee tee dub, all the stress is also making me incredibly joyful. Go figure.

Un sapo, sapo, sapo que nadaba en el rio, rio, rio...

I'm sorry. I can't just write one blog about this.


So for the last thirteen years of my life, I think I was on one long mission trip. For example, every Wednesday last year, I would go to the city dump with a group from my school and we would help out in the daycare for kids whose parents live among the trash. A few years before that, we went to a children's hospital every week and basically evangelized and did goofy stuff to make the kids happy. I've helped to translate for different groups from the U.S. who came down to Ecuador to go on a mission trip (although the emphasis on those trips was always on something other than God... oops). I went to a school for missionary kids; we even had an Evangelism Explosion class to teach us how to talk about Jesus.

Because of all that, it's really hard for me to be in a place where a mission trip isn't waiting to happen right outside my window.



It will be interesting to see what happens to my passion for the world when I'm no longer forced to be in it. And I think that's all I can say about it.

And if I had wings, I would fly.

What makes you happy?


A good grade on a really difficult test?

Extra money for a shopping spree?

The knowledge that one more person thinks you're attractive?



We were hit in the face by the concept of global vision all week last week. We were challenged to open our minds to what's going on in the world around us, not just in our small-bubble lives. We were begged to see the big picture.

But the first step is to take our eyes off ourselves.

If the things that make you happy have to do with what's happening to only you, then I challenge you to change that. We do not live isolated, lonely lives; we are growing together, living together, finding God in new ways together. It shouldn't be solely about I ME MYSELF. It should be about US WE YOU THEY. What can we do to make someone else happier? What can we say to brighten someone else's day? How much of ourselves can we give?



So what makes you happy?


A good grade that your best friend got on a really difficult test?

Extra money to spend on someone else?

The knowledge that you made one more person feel special?





It's all about the love, people.