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Ahh finally some time to relax. These past couple of weeks have been so busy due to the holidays, work and settling into my dad’s new place. It seems like its been forever since I’ve had some time just to sit down and slow down from all of the business that is life. It’s really sad because many of us fly through life so fast that there really isn’t time in care focused on living in the moment and cherishing it to it’s fullest.
This last month has been a very automated time for me. It started on a normal day with getting up around noon to three pm, then doing some chores, eating, going to work, eating dinner and then coming home from work around three to four am. It just got dull and tiring after a while. It was hard to give guest the kind of service that they deserve and expect however I pushed through. My last night working till next Friday was last night in which an older couple came up to me and in the middle of helping them, the wife told me that I had been one of the most delightful people they had dealt with that night. She continued that unfortunately the rest of the cast hadn’t been so pleasant to her and her husband. I really was pleased to hear that I had made her night special and as I always say the best part of my job is being able to make a difference. It’s good to know that even though they may have not had a great experience earlier, they left knowing that they’re really were people there that had their best interests at heart. I encourage everyone else to go make that difference too. It does not take allot of time of energy. Sometimes it just takes being friendly and letting someone feel special and cared for. You don’t have to be special or necessarily do anything special to make magic… You just have to be different and treat someone with kindness. Even after being so against working another big hour week, I felt as though I could not wait to go back but unfortunately I had other tasks.
Today I have been feverishly working on my chapel makeups that i was planning on turning in this morning but unfortunately will have to turn in on Tuesday. No sweat though because I have plenty done. It’s really brought me back though to settling down and being able to ponder over my maker. I’m definitely excited over some of the ones I’ve listen to now and can’t wait til I’m driving in about five hours to Las Vegas through His beautiful creation. One final thing that really touched me today was that Joel Osteen was talking about how the people in your life will come and go. Sometimes you just need to let those people go becase it is God’s plan. Unfortunately this is so true but I owe it to myself to move on to bigger and better things…. and Lord I’m ready.
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I just wanted to take a little bit of time to reflect upon the recent past and future. This has been a huge season of change in my life. Changes ranging from academics, career, family and friends. It seems as though so many things have been thrown at me all of the sudden but I don’t mind it at all.
The first would be regarding academics. My first semester was definitely a rough semester for me and so recovering from that has been a very interesting road filled both with successes and disappointments. I have done my best this semester to place me in a position so that I will be successful for this year and the rest of my education at Biola.
The next big change was that I went for a job at Disneyland. This was something that I’ve tried to pursue in the past and haven’t exactly been successful but I’m pretty sure that God opened this opportunity right now as it has been such a wonderful experience for me. I’ve learned so much from it like what it is like living off of close to minimum wage. Also learning about such a magnificent company built by Walt Disney who had such a unique vision that is to this day such a magical place. Learning how to give great customer service has been the most rewarding and the best part of working at Disneyland.
The next two areas in my life have been so fluid lately. This semester was the first time that I had not lived with both of my parents. It is sad but it was good for everyone. I think. I still don’t feel like life has fully settled down in both arenas but its acceptable. The friends have also been such a unique situation in the past couple of months in which I’ve met so many new people and unfortunately will probably have to get rid of some (i though) pretty good and healing friendships. Apparently I was wrong and caught completely off guard.
Its definitely so ironic how things in life work but you learn so much from every good and unfortunate thing that passes by you. Right now I’m finishing getting settled into a new era of life and ready to Enjoy a wonderful Christmas with great family and friends, and a wonderful New Years.
“(If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t have, we must wait patiently and confidently)” Romans 8:24 + 25(NLT)
When I read this the other night everything seemed so clear to me. Even though we get so caught up, confused and many times so frustrated with God and Christianity is because we look around the blessing God’s gift of Eternal life. Yes, there is so much sin in our world and its so easy to sin. Everyday we are faced with so many choices. We know often times that what we are doing or saying is not so pleasing to God yet we do nothing about it. We get so caught up in why a God would let His people suffer and be involved with so much sin. Yet this verse made me realize that yes all of this is true and its a daily struggle but it’s a gift from God.
Just think about when you were a little kid. Boys you saw that awesome action figure or that way cool video game that you just ‘had to have’. Or girls you may have seen that Barbie doll or Easy Bake Oven. So you told your parents about it but they said “hey maybe for your birthday” or “you can get that when you earn enough money”. And as a little kid that really sucked. It was so hard to wait for that special occasion or to earn all of that money. But finally when that day came… it was awesome because you finally had that action figure or doll in your hand.
Now think about it… What would have happened if when you saw that present in the store, your parents just went out and bought it. Well you might have been excited to take it home and open it up. You might play with it for a little while and put it on your shelf. It just wasn’t that exciting. It didn’t mean that much to you. You didn’t have to wait and hope that someday you would get one. There was instant satisfaction and you may have been amped at first but in the long run it was just a normal toy.
In 8:23 it says “we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit with us as a foretaste of the future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.” God has this amazing gift of eternal life with Him, free from suffering and pain. It’s something that He holds for us in anticipation. It’s like He’s saying ‘sorry, you have to wait for my perfect timing’. This is so that we will be waiting in anticipation with all our hearts for this gift. It’s a gift that’s so rewarding that He cant just give it to everyone. It instills hope and value in us that He did not just hand it out but we had to wait for it.
So remember next time when you are troubled about life’s troubles or your personal struggles with sin, remember that there is a ultimate gift from God to come. This gift is eternity with him free from pain and sin. It’s something that we as Christians will have to wait for, strengthening our hope and faith. But it’s also something that will entirely blow us away when that final day comes and He reaches out His hand and says “please join me forever in eternity” because it is just far beyond anything we could possibly hope or dream for.
