Christmas/BDAY wishlist.

Some stuff on my wishlist. i'll update as I think of more.

found @ NBA.com

found @ http://karvt.com/shop/maple-natural-iphone4/

can be found @ http://www.karmaloop.com/product/126996

Satisfaction

Satisfaction 03: NOT getting a two in one gift for your birthday and Christmas. -__-. For all the December birthdays, i'm sure you can relate. #bestfeelingever.

2012.

I woke up this morning actually i'd say more like afternoon from this crazy dream only to realize again, it wasn't a dream but was reality. I've come to my conclusions that what I fear the most are natural disasters that no one can but God can take care of.

Last night at work I was feeling under the weather, got past the customers and sucked it up to finish till it was time to go home. Instead of going straight home for once, I decided to head over to some friends place since I haven't hung out with all of them in a long time. Soon as I got there I was dead tired but managed to pull off some type of energy. Browsing through my friends computer, I saw a post on someone's tumblr about the little things we appreciate and one of them said "lighting up candles when there a black out". I didn't think anything of it other than "oh thats pretty true" then couple minutes before 12, the lights start flickering a little and so I joke around with my friend telling them why they havent paid pg&e again and they joke around saying, "yea we havent paid it in two months so the lights are going to go out at midnight". HAHA joke joke joke, no big deal. Only to happen at 12:13 am- lights flicker on and off and the whole building is pitch dark. No big deal, just a mini black out around the hood due to the mini tornado of whirlwinds outside.

So a couple of minutes later, i'm starting to get a little nervous because my roommates are starting to text me and ask me where I am and to come home. So I dropped my friend off to pick up some of his belongings and dog only to realize the whole darn south side of SJSU campus was blacked out. It didn't really hit me how freaked out I was until literally stoplights were swaying back and forth so swiftly and trees were flying EVERYWHERE and my car was being hit by a ton of gunk flying in the air. Dodging the trees felt like I was dodging dead human bodies on the floor because the trees and palm trees branches on the streets were THAT big. I get close to a block away from my house and theres a cop car just parked there with his lights on blocking off my block and I'm so confused why its parked there and I realized just as I was about to drive around it that a couple of feet away from me was the telephone wire that dropped and they were trying to put it aside. Stupid DTSJ has so many one way streets you pretty much had to go all the around down 4 blocks just to get back to my street. And thats exactly what I did except I freaked out everytime I turned into the wrong dead end street cause it was so dark. I finally got back to my house and parked and ran back to my house fighting the winds...didnt realize how pitched dark it was when I ran into a random person walking the streets that scared the HELL out of me. At this point i'm freaking out and I run into the house, my roommate is there gearing on some clothes like they were ready to go home and all the candles are lit in the house. I get down to my room and change so I can go meet up with everyone else apparently outside the house and as I get my dog, whose also freaking out because he wont move everytime I try to get him outta his side of the room, I call my roommate to help me. Only to realize, he left me too=(. Super sad, I ran upstairs and was at the verge of going crazy, thankfully....they all storm back into my house and tell me black out is cause of the wind and trees falling on the wires, etc.

So we're all hanging out in my room since its the basement and you hear less of the nightmare going on outside. And while playing cards trying to not think about whats really going down, I hear the gates creaking because of the winds blowing it half off out walls.

All in all, I've learned to realize at that moment of darkness, loneliness, sickness, and natural disaster CRAZINESS, I am more than beyond grateful for having friends who can help cure a fear by simply just being right next to me to "wait for the storm to pass". I literally woke up today and thought about how crazy that whole night was. During the craze, we drove to danville back to one of my roommates mom's place and hung out there for a bit and came back home...it seriously looked like NOTHING even went wrong two hours before. The winds calmed down and the lights were back on to normal. Cheers to good friends, good company, and nothing happening to me, loved ones, the house, and my car.

It was almost like 2012 was happening right in front of my eyes as I stood there helpless.=\

"The day I almost died!"

Happy "Sweet" December. I'm not a fan of december but lets see how the rest of this year pans out as i'm a nervous wreck going into this month knowing that it already hasn't been off to a good start. Regardless, I wanted to begin the month also with a testimony/journal entry of a close close close friend of mines that many of you readers probably know. Just a mini background about the story...Nathan and two of my other friends went on a mission trip to honduras last year and came back with this story. Hope it inspires you somehow, someway, somewhere.

In August 2009, I went on a mission trip to Honduras with two members from my church. We stayed with two missionaries from the states, a lovely couple Shari and Terry, who led a ministry that catered to homeless and orphans. This is a journal entry/message from my mission trip to Honduras that I wrote in 2009. I feel I’ve come a long way since then, but I’ll never forget the journey I’ve experienced.

" On Saturday we were loading the truck up with supplies for another day of ministry and I saw 3 random guys walking over to the truck. They asked Terry if we needed help in Spanish so I went to grab some water containers to load into the truck. Then Terry yelled out to Shari to close the front door. I turn around and I see that one of the guys stepped foot into the garage area while the other two were pushing Terry around for something. I had no idea what was happening at first. I was standing face to face with the man who came through the garage and he lifted his shirt up a little to reveal a gun strapped to his belt. I started to panic and the first thing that came out of my mouth was “No”. I look over to Terry and I see that the other two men had guns as well. He started to yell some things and then pointed the gun at my face. I thought to myself, “Am I going to die right now?” I’ve heard stories of some people getting shot in the head over cell phones or for no reasons there. I prayed the fastest prayer in my life. “God keep me safe”. He directed me with his gun to go into the house and he told us all to sit down on the couch. They grabbed a laptop, camera, jewelry, and money. Shari kept trying to plead with the robbers saying not to hurt us because we were just missionaries. Terry came in shortly after with the other two robbers and started to say “En Cristo, En Cristo, En Cristo” They ordered us all to sit on the couch with the guns pointed yelling while the other robber grabbed our belongings. They quickly escaped. Shari called the police and called some of their American church members in Honduras. Everyone came shortly after for prayers and support. Shari came over to us and started crying saying “I’m sorry this happened to you guys because in all our years spent in Honduras this has never happened before."

When I was staring at death through the barrel of the gun I didn’t have one of those moments where your life in the past flashes before your eyes. I wasn’t thinking about my family and what would happen to them if I were to die. I wasn’t thinking about my friends or church. What came to my mind was God. I thought, if I were to die now, what would I have to show God for this life that I lived on Earth. This mediocre, unloving, selfish life that I have been living. No! I did not want it to end this way. I told God, “I can do more. I can do better for you Jesus. You gave me your all so give me another chance to give my all. Instead of my life flashing before my eyes, other people’s lives flashed before my eyes. Those who didn't have a relationship with God. Those who had no hope for eternity. My friends, coworkers, and family members. I thought about everyone in my life, that I am responsible for. I said “God, let me minister to them.” Please give me more time. Let me be a LIVING(not dead) sacrifice for your good and perfect will.

I sat down minutes after the incident, flipped the Bible open with no direction but the book opened up to Matthew 10:

28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Before Saturday we had already visited the prison, orphanage, and did ministry work for the homeless. At the time I was thinking to myself, “This is fun and it‘s not so bad, I can see myself doing this long term.” I believe God woke me up on Saturday. God wanted to show me that the mission field is dangerous as well. If I’m willing to live for God, I have to be willing to die for him as well.

Finally this verse came to me:

7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

When the American church came over to pray with us after the robbery I started to realize how selfish I was being. The first thing that I did when I was facing death was to ask God to save me. That was my own desire for my own fate I was asking God to do for me. This verse shows that we belong to God whether dead or alive.

What’s amazing is that God answers prayers in ways I would never expect. Before the trip I asked God for only two things. I asked Him to draw me closer to Him and to take my relationship with Him to a new level and I asked Him to keep us safe. And He answered both prayers. God is so good. I’m so blessed. I always ask God, why ME!? Why do all these crazy things keep happening in my life? Because He truly loves me.

So I want to ask you all today. Look at your lives right now. Ask yourselves, what am I doing with my life? What are you priorities in life? Don’t take life on earth for granted. Spend every breath wisely. Go love your family, your friends, your children, your fellow church members. Children respect and love your parents. Parents love your children and raise them up using the word of God. Help to build each other up in love. Look for each other spiritually. Go out and fulfill the great commission. Finally, Glorify and Love God faithfully every day like it’s your last because He gave us His all."

....And it makes me think, What have I been doing since the day I almost died and had a second chance of life to glorify God?

"Nobody can avoid falling in love. They might want to deny it, but friendship is probably the most common form of love."

Satisfaction

Satisfaction 02:

Coming home on a mediocre mood to see your dog and he/she's wagging their tail like crazy at the sight of you. #bestfeelingever

satisfaction

Theres just some things in life that I would just ponder upon randomly throughout the day and just be so thankful for being so blessed. I think about some of the best feelings that one could feel and theres just so many. So to keep me up to date on this blog, everytime i think of one, I'll post it up. Heres the first

Satisfaction 01:

That moment when you stick out your hands to see if a baby wants to come to you and the moment they choose you and not turn away. #Bestfeelingever