Your comments are welcome!

I realized as I perused my account settings that you had to be a blogspot member in order to post. I changed it so that anyone with the inclination to comment can do so now. Just click on the "comments" link underneath each posting.

Thanks to those who have already posted; I'm grateful for your thoughts and/or feedback!

Turning the other cheek

We were at Starbucks between church services and Elvin Miranda walked in the door, when Sean Wills tossed a cumpled paper bag at Elvin's forehead. The exchange was funny:

(Sean throws the trash that hits Elvin in the face)

Elvin - "Sean, if I wasn't a Christian, I'd kick your butt for throwing that at me!"

me - "Yeah, but if Sean wasn't a Christian, he would have thrown a brick..."

(Gotta love it...)

Getting Rescued

(Helping during a Kids event at the Union Rescue Mission)

(The view from the roof of the Union Rescue Mission; also the same roof where we spent the night)

Here at the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles, I am faced with a bunch of different feelings, when there is enough of a pause to experience them. We're serving, starting with breakfast at 5:45, straight to a celebrity studded charity event for the kids, and in a couple hours, to help serve dinner.

The Union Rescue Mission is in the heart of skid row, serving the homeless and indigent located here. The idea is to fill their stomachs and give them shelter, while sharing the hope of Jesus Christ, and the eternal life He brings those who decide to follow Him.

I am torn, expecting a bunch of things; God to work through the service, God working in me, trying to find a way to relate to these very different people. But are they different? How am I different in my struggles and disappointments and inability to live the full life God intended for me? How am I different...because of Zip code? Because of income or skin color? I realize that we're all in the same boat, and anything I do to serve, springs not from my superiority, but from a common broken place that yearns for God's strength to replace my weakness. I have been really disappointed in how I have chosen to interact with those around me; If I wish to resemble Christ, how can I miss the mark so easily? I'm not saying that I've been unkind to anyone or unfriendly, but how can the dichotomy of the crummy parts in conjunction with the good actually culminate in anything worthwhile? How can a mind that gets it right in one moment and totally wrong the next be anything but CRAZY?

The truth is that trying to build my life from an erector set of cogs and braces of my own efforts is destined to tip over and collapse under the strain of its inherent mediocrity at the most inopportune times. The truth is that being obedient to God through Christ and FOLLOWING His example is the only way my life will count for anything past the brief whisp of smoke my time on Earth really is. An appropriate answer to my question lies in the bulk of Phillipians 2. Lord, take me and make me one with you; show me the way to a life that bears eternal fruit, instead of the bitter fruit my efforts bring.

4am and I'm up?

(Jack Bauer, busy working to protect American lives!... through competent healthcare; one nurse at a time)

Well, we had a key part of our office staff decide that she wanted to make an industry change, and Friday was her last day. Awesome woman who knew what she was doing, but didn't want the daily stress of putting a puzzle together with people's livelihood. Each day is kinda like an episode of "24", where we have a count-down to some big event, there are unfortunate monetary casualties along the way, and in the end, you hope the good outweighed the bad. The only thing is, this takes place twice a day, seven days a week. With her leaving, there is now a void in the office which myself and another great gal, Jasmin, are going to have to step up. This is a pivotal time in our business, and it'll be interesting to see where God leads us.

This brings me to why I'm up and blogging at 5am. We have to call our clients between 3:50 and 5:00am to schedule our staff for the morning shift, and with Julia gone, I've taken the 3-4 days per week she originally had. This means being available by phone on the days that I have it, juggling normal life around the calls, waking up early, all against a time crunch, as well as trying to edge out the competition. It's not as bad as it sounds, in fact, I'm a lot like "24's"Jack Bauer when I think about it...though to make that stretch, I have to think pretty hard.