pinkbeans's Xanga

Renovare

Wed, 23 May 2007 02:35:44 GMT

Ok, I have a chunk of time on my hands to write some about the Renovare conference that took place in Long Beach two weekends ago. Basically, it was a conference about spiritual formation and transformation. It was a busy week leading up to the conference, and I was running on fumes as I drove about two hours out of L.A. traffic to get to Long Beach straight from my work. This past week was fairly busy leading up to another weekend of even longer driving to Arizona to meet up with my former youth pastor and his family (from Guam—Woot!). This week is also fairly busy, and this coming up weekend will be the least amount of driving as I get to watch some friends graduate out in Redlands where I interned. So it's been a hectic few weeks for me. All this to say that one of the nuggets of wisdom I got out of the conference was a quote from Dallas Willard: "Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life."

Psalm 16:8a says, "I keep my eyes always on the Lord." Or another translation is "I will set the Lord always before me." Jim, one of the speakers, mentioned the idea of "action of intention." Choosing to be before God is an action. If we know our schedules are gonna get busy (or already are!), we should schedule time with God first and our activities around him. We need to create space for him. How often do we try to "fit" God into our schedules? It's tough and inconsistent. But if we turn things away because we planned an afternoon to be with God, we are more likely to succeed. Similarly, Richard Foster, another speaker (author of Celebration of Disciplines), asks, "What is your intention? Are you intending to do wrong or are you intending not to do wrong?" You can't just decide you're "ok" when fighting temptation by not doing anything. I like the example of one of my accountability partners (Joel Hamaguchi). (I might be paraphrasing a bit). He said, "It's like staring at a chocolate cake—not doing anything, just staring. You can't expect to be successful if you're on a diet from eating sweets!" You have to remove it from your view and get your mind on something else. More so, we need to intend not to do wrong and attack the problem directly by spending time with God.

time for a new profile pic!

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:12:03 GMT

change is good

Kiwi

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:21:02 GMT

(my chameleon)... she died last night. i'm sad, but that's ok. at least she's no longer suffering.

i always did get a kick out of her flinging her long tongue to eat, though

rest in peace, girl.

dress up

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:00:33 GMT

yesterday, i decided to wear slacks & tie (something i wore commonly at my last job and hardly here -- i could probably get away with shorts, slippers & mohawk, but i at least wear jeans and running shoes).

anywho, these are the two main responses i got including variations of them:

"are you having an interview?" and "you going on a hot date?"

i found it amusing.

irish

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 11:06:59 GMT

so i'm drinking beer AT WORK!!! (it's about 8am) one of my co-workers is passing Guinness and Irish whiskey around the office for St. Paddy's Day (and she's Irish).

don't get me wrong, i just opened the Guinness so i can brag about being able to drink beer at work. haha. also, i've never drunk beer so early, so i thought i'd see what it's like. i generally do not like the taste of beer, but Guinness is not bad.

have a happy St. Patrick's Day weekend everybody! drink responsibly... lol. i'm like a beer commercial.

******* edit 2pm *******

the Guinness stout tasted worse and worse to me, and i'm reminded that i really don't like beer. anywho, now it's time for my coke & irish whiskey!... hiccup *

ap-uh-thee

Sun, 31 Dec 2006 22:33:09 GMT

apathy

Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference.
Lack of emotion or feeling; impassiveness.

* American Heritage Dictionary *

i think that's what i've been feeling for some time now. it's so sad. i mean, i can't complain. i love my job, church, living situation, kiwi .... and the list goes on. even today was a good day. i didn't do much, but it was fine. i even considered not going anywhere for new year's eve. that probably would have been ok.

what am i talking about?! life is about relationships. i'll be honest. i have been neglecting my relationship with God. but i am hopeful. the good news is that there is always hope. i'm too focused on myself. i need to shift my focus to the One who provides hope.

a toast to a year full of hope!

grace & peace ~

there's a new girl in my life!

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:22:26 GMT

her name's Kiwi

yaay!!!

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 23:08:36 GMT

what a great weekend to launch off to my first week on my new job. here are some highlights:

friday, my friend & i went to six flags. won't you come ride with us:

first up, the new ride, TATSU!!!

up next, for the risk taker in all of us, DIVE DEVIL!!!

and then, on to the tribute to my favorite super hero, SUPERMAN!!!

finally, we take a nostalgic ride on the very first roller coaster of six flags EVAR!!! and it's my current favorite ride as you'll see in this last clip of GOLD RUSHER!!!

and on to saturday.... as you've probably already noticed the new profile pic, we went to a rock climbing gym in long beach. it was AWESOME!!!

have a great week everybody!

grace & peace ~
jojo

recharge

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:25:33 GMT

i love mondays! and monday evenings in particular.

first off, i get to play songs that honor God on my guitar. i don't practice nearly as much as i'd like, but i get to play a couple songs for our Bible study. second, Bella, our host, always has food prepared for us.... free food! haha. third, are the relationships that are deepened with other people and more importantly with God. fourth, are the encouragements from others as we get to pray for one another.

and after Bible study is accountability with my boys Justin & Joel. nothing like unloading our crap to one another. and it's fine to just vent once in a while, but for the most part, being totally honest in sharing our struggles and praying for each other. even more awesome is sharing how God answers our prayers and seeing transformation in our lives.

it is definitely a good way to start the week being recharged and being reminded of the ways God is and has been good in my life and being able to share that with the people around me.

have a great week y'all!

thank you, Jesus :-)

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:32:16 GMT

i have been offered a job with Universal Music Group! we're still figuring out the details of my start date and other logistical things, but i will be working as a royalty accountant. i had 2 interviews with usc's engineering finance office that went well, but they went with another person for that job, but the pay is actually better at Universal (with 100% health & dental -- i know !!! and !!!). also, i feel like it would be the more challenging of the two.

again, i just gotta give it up to my Homeboy, Jesus Christ. i mean it's like i barely said anything during the interview. they trusted in my learning abilities because i finished college, and i said i was good at math in high school. that was pretty much it! and God gave me favor in their eyes. i received an offer an hour after the interview.