5POINTZ

I have to go to 5ptz before summer ends. It's been too long!!!!!!!!!! JOIN ME!!!

Pandora

I met a lady on the 7 train two days ago. Her name is Pandora. She was preaching the gospel on the train car I was in. I've heard them before. In the past, I just turn up the volume on my mp3, or CD player. I didn't that day.

She started off with,

"I just wanted to tell you all that Jesus loves you."

I'm not going to lie, I assumed she was going to ask for money or it was at least one of those shady, fishy evangelism speeches and I am embarrassed for thinking that.

She went on to saying,

"God wants nothing more than to have a personal relationship with you... You can have a relationship with Him today... He will meet you where you are... Nobody's perfect, but God is forgiving."

I've heard this so many times before. I've told this to others so many times before, but I never felt so loved hearing this from Pandora. It could have been her genuineness and honesty and the visible care she had for the people around her, people she didn't know, whether they were listening or not. Or it could have been the weird mixed feelings I've been getting all week. Whatever made me really listen and take in what Pandora was saying; I just really needed to hear it. I guess you could say it reaffirmed my faith.

She got off at either Junction or Woodside, I forget... one of the express stops closer to Flushing. I was so encouraged by her boldness and I understand that even preachers and people as bold as Pandora need prayer. So I followed her out of the crowded train and tapped her on the shoulder and she let me pray for her. Then, she prayed for me. I didn't tell her anything about me or my family or what I was going through with my own faith, but she knew exactly what I needed prayer for. [[One thing I really miss about Pittsburgh is the culture of prayer and just being surrounded by brothers and sisters I know I can randomly pull aside from what they were doing and , without hesitation, ask them to pray for me or vice versa.]]

Since then, I've been praying that God would use me in the morning and at night, a prayer I've sort of been neglecting intentionally for a while. Today, I got to share a small piece of my faith to 2-3 of my coworkers. Only one guy was asking the questions, some of them were just to be funny, but I hope that my responses will open his mind some and that he will question his own faith, or lack thereof. Since I started work, I found that I couldn't really be myself around the guys (yes, I work with a bunch of guys), but when one guy found the word, "shalom," as the banner on my phone, there was a huge weight being lifted off.

Eternally grateful for Jehovah Elohe Yeshuathi

RIP Shadow XX/1994 - 07/25/09

tired and confused/unsure.
stop putting these thoughts in my head please. ty.
this world is so broken and only the God who can move mountains can heal us.
i don't understand how people can just pick up their stuff and go because they're bored of life (very office space).. i pray Colter will hear the call of God to follow Him on a journey that is definitely not boring.

i kinda wished they had stuffed him :(

some positive comments:
super glad sharon came to ny :)
super fun time at the met... kinda want to go back
super fun time gaining more exp points in the dancing category

SHARON!!!

Sharon's visiting SATURDAY!!! :D

Let the adventures begin :)

Jehovah Jireh

God is so faithful. I don't know how many times it'll take for me to finally get that. I totally had doubts about planning a last minute sharing and prayer time for fellowship tonight. And it wasn't until the minute I was picked up to go to fellowship, did I realize how selfish I was being. It isn't about me. It didn't matter how much or how little I prepared to "lead" a small time of prayer with the group because God knew what was necessary for our fellowship. Not only that, but He knew what I needed to hear as well.

Freshmen year, I read, "Too Busy Not To Pray," by Bill Hybels, and it helped me a lot when it came to refocusing my prayer life. But recently, I seemed to have forgotten what it means to pray and even why I should pray. A handful of us agreed that praying comes easy to us when something good or bad is going on, but when there seems to be "nothing" happening, prayer doesn't come to mind so easily anymore. Bill Hybels ends the book with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

I am so grateful Jehovah Jireh.

The Red Balloon

For those of you who read doobybrain.com, he just had a post on this video recently and for those of you who went to PS 162 with me may have remembered this video. I think this video is the reason I have a fear of holding onto helium (or floating) balloons by the string. Whenever I do, I get a tingly, itchy kind of feeling in my fingers. Like I have an urge to let go of the balloon, but I shouldn't, so I try to avoid holding onto balloons altogether. Even so, I really liked this video and didn't mind watching it over and over again in elementary school.

Cloudy With A Chance of... Debris?

As much as I love the city, my year will not feel complete if I didn't have my annual dose of wilderness and an amazing fireworks show for the fourth of July. For a random town in the middle of nowhere, the fireworks are AMAZING even if we're close enough to feel the debris fall on us. My mom says it's better than the show Macy's puts on. My favorite part of our camping trips are the hiking trails. There's nothing like traveling through nature's own obstacle courses to find an amazing view at the end, unless the trail is called, "Boulder's Point" (haha. inside joke). Actually, the story of Boulder's Point doesn't take long at all.

Beyond a very small hiking trail to the Mountain House (which no longer exists), there's another trail called, "Boulder's Point." Last year, some friends and I decide to hike up to said point. The hike ended up being longer than the hike to the Mountain House and more dangerous. Boulder Point turned out to be quite anti-climatic and very disappointing. It was just a huge boulder that we couldn't climb at the edge of the cliff that covered what could have been a very nice view. The best part of the hike was probably when we encountered a family looking for their dog, "Lucky." haha oh irony. I hope they found him/her.

Seriously though, I think I need to go camping or at least be in the wilderness at least once a year so that I don't become so engulfed in the commercialized, materialistic environment of the city. There is a huge relief to be cut off from my phone and computer. NO DISTRACTIONS! There is such a huge joy in just sitting down and taking in all that God has created. I don't ever remember happily waking up at 7am except for the ultimate "Stair Master" that is North Point (a longer hiking trail unsuitable for the elderly).

And while I love camping, I don't think I can live in the wilderness for a long period of time either. One of the greatest things about living in NY is all the diversity. I like learning about different cultures and I enjoy watching people, as creepy as that may sound. People are funny sometimes. We only started watching the fireworks from that small town 3 years ago and everytime we go, you get the feeling that some of those people have never seen an asian person in real life before. This is based on some looks they give and some comments that are made. Patience with truly ignorant people, I have not.

Now I'm back in NY (yay!), but I will be looking forward to more hiking next year :)