Quick weekend recap and other musings
Spent lots of time outdoors this past weekend in the gorgeous, mid-60s California weather. As my mom said - "You can travel to lots of different places on this globe, but when you get back home, you realize that California is about as good as it gets."
- My dad's currently on a business trip until the 20th, so while he's been gone I've been driving the Infiniti G35 sedan. Sweet car. Basically, everything related to driving - maneuvering, accelerating, braking, cornering - becomes so easy.
Friday
- At youth group, Mark taught on the topic of spiritual gifts at youth group, with a particular emphasis on their purpose - being used by the fellowship of Christian believers to build up the church on both an individual and global basis. Through the discussion that followed, it seemed that several youth are interested in trying to discover some of the ways that they might be spiritually gifted to serve others inside and outside the church.
From observing the questions that some of the youth raised, talking to some of them, and reading some of their various blogged thoughts... it seems to me that particularly in this generation of high schoolers, there's a trend where many young people are considering serious issues like meaning and purpose in their lives at a relatively early age. Perhaps this can be traced to impending war, perhaps kids are just maturing at an earlier age in general... either way, in one sense I'm glad for this because I believe that it is in this searching stage of life where God's message of hope can really take root. My entire purpose in serving with the youth group is that they might have the chance to understand more of the fullness of life that Jesus promises (John 10:10b) at an earlier age than I did... so I'll continue to pray for them and see how I can encourage them as they take steps of faith.
Some lyrics I heard recently on the radio, from Seventh Day Slumber's "I Know" - I particularly like the last line:
And I know it's hard to take what's happening
And I know life is tough sometimes
And I know it seems like there's no hope for you
And I know your life is worth more than you can see
- Interestingly enough, I think I'm in a searching stage of my life as well. I believe that over the past few years I've been able to come to at least some appreciation of the "big picture" meaning and purpose in my life - taking joy in magnifying God in my life - and now, I'm seeking for a more specific purpose to work towards. The way that this was phrased at WCC: "What role has God created me to play?" This is something that I'm still working out... been planning for over a month to set aside some time to consider who I am when I'm real, the experiences that have shaped me, my values, my personality (personality tests seem to be popular these days), and my talents and gifts, with the hope that through the searching process, I might get some elucidation into next steps to take. Maybe I can grow alongside the youth.
- That night, the young adults serenaded Karen and Maria for their birthdays. I believe they busted out a karaoke machine and the guys broke out into Sinatra's "New York, New York". Funny stuff...
Saturday and Sunday
- Had praise band practice in the morning. Included MercyMe's 2002 Song of the Year "I Can Only Imagine" as part of the set for this past Sunday. Afterwards, went to lunch in Mtn View, then sat and soaked in the sun outside Tapioca Express. Even though I'll take a good smoothie over a tapioca drink any day of the week, I must admit that it was a brilliant idea for whoever that brought it into the Bay Area, giving people an alternative to coffee.
- Hung out and shot around with Byron and Tomio that afternoon while Tomio's fiancee was conducting a fellowship meeting. After the meeting a bunch of us played HORSE, where Alice did surprisingly well. Lesson: Even if you don't play basketball on a regular basis, if you can hit a 7-ft straight-on set shot, you'll do pretty well at HORSE.
- Later that evening, went up to Milpitas to get together with Cal and Danny for dinner. Went to Applebee's where we watched Cal basketball lose to Stanford, conceding second place in the Pac-10. Ah well. Also went to Sportsmart and on their urging, bought some finger sleeves for my previously-injured pinky fingers. Incidentally, I used them Sunday afternoon to play and found that they actually helped - provided some support against overextension for my fingers. A bonus was that I actually shot better because the sleeves made me consciously spread my fingers out more, and thus I had a better grip on the ball and follow-through. I still look like a major dork while wearing them though.
Spent lots of time outdoors this past weekend in the gorgeous, mid-60s California weather. As my mom said - "You can travel to lots of different places on this globe, but when you get back home, you realize that California is about as good as it gets."
- My dad's currently on a business trip until the 20th, so while he's been gone I've been driving the Infiniti G35 sedan. Sweet car. Basically, everything related to driving - maneuvering, accelerating, braking, cornering - becomes so easy.
Friday
- At youth group, Mark taught on the topic of spiritual gifts at youth group, with a particular emphasis on their purpose - being used by the fellowship of Christian believers to build up the church on both an individual and global basis. Through the discussion that followed, it seemed that several youth are interested in trying to discover some of the ways that they might be spiritually gifted to serve others inside and outside the church.
From observing the questions that some of the youth raised, talking to some of them, and reading some of their various blogged thoughts... it seems to me that particularly in this generation of high schoolers, there's a trend where many young people are considering serious issues like meaning and purpose in their lives at a relatively early age. Perhaps this can be traced to impending war, perhaps kids are just maturing at an earlier age in general... either way, in one sense I'm glad for this because I believe that it is in this searching stage of life where God's message of hope can really take root. My entire purpose in serving with the youth group is that they might have the chance to understand more of the fullness of life that Jesus promises (John 10:10b) at an earlier age than I did... so I'll continue to pray for them and see how I can encourage them as they take steps of faith.
Some lyrics I heard recently on the radio, from Seventh Day Slumber's "I Know" - I particularly like the last line:
And I know it's hard to take what's happening
And I know life is tough sometimes
And I know it seems like there's no hope for you
And I know your life is worth more than you can see
- Interestingly enough, I think I'm in a searching stage of my life as well. I believe that over the past few years I've been able to come to at least some appreciation of the "big picture" meaning and purpose in my life - taking joy in magnifying God in my life - and now, I'm seeking for a more specific purpose to work towards. The way that this was phrased at WCC: "What role has God created me to play?" This is something that I'm still working out... been planning for over a month to set aside some time to consider who I am when I'm real, the experiences that have shaped me, my values, my personality (personality tests seem to be popular these days), and my talents and gifts, with the hope that through the searching process, I might get some elucidation into next steps to take. Maybe I can grow alongside the youth.
- That night, the young adults serenaded Karen and Maria for their birthdays. I believe they busted out a karaoke machine and the guys broke out into Sinatra's "New York, New York". Funny stuff...
Saturday and Sunday
- Had praise band practice in the morning. Included MercyMe's 2002 Song of the Year "I Can Only Imagine" as part of the set for this past Sunday. Afterwards, went to lunch in Mtn View, then sat and soaked in the sun outside Tapioca Express. Even though I'll take a good smoothie over a tapioca drink any day of the week, I must admit that it was a brilliant idea for whoever that brought it into the Bay Area, giving people an alternative to coffee.
- Hung out and shot around with Byron and Tomio that afternoon while Tomio's fiancee was conducting a fellowship meeting. After the meeting a bunch of us played HORSE, where Alice did surprisingly well. Lesson: Even if you don't play basketball on a regular basis, if you can hit a 7-ft straight-on set shot, you'll do pretty well at HORSE.
- Later that evening, went up to Milpitas to get together with Cal and Danny for dinner. Went to Applebee's where we watched Cal basketball lose to Stanford, conceding second place in the Pac-10. Ah well. Also went to Sportsmart and on their urging, bought some finger sleeves for my previously-injured pinky fingers. Incidentally, I used them Sunday afternoon to play and found that they actually helped - provided some support against overextension for my fingers. A bonus was that I actually shot better because the sleeves made me consciously spread my fingers out more, and thus I had a better grip on the ball and follow-through. I still look like a major dork while wearing them though.
posted by Bob at
10:00 AM
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