2011 :: A Year in Review

Is it really the end of a year?  Do I REALLY have to look at myself in the mirror?

Two-Thousand-Ten was a learning year for me.  I left my first Non-Blood Family in Maryland with being Called back home to California.  I arrived in Lancaster in the middle part of July and found the church (Grace Chapel) I knew God was calling me to in the last weekend of August.  Sometime, though, after the first week of November I got lazy and made excuse after excuse NOT to attend.  And because I was not attending I was not being held accountable to myself, or by anybody else!!

I woke up on New Years Day fighting a hangover on a couch that I'm 100% SURE had been used as a dog's urinal, in a house that smelled like cigarettes, and among people that, though I WANT to believe have good hearts, were not who I inspired to be like in any way, and I thought to myself, "What the Hell am I doing here??  How the Hell did I end up here in this crappy situation??"  The answer was obvious...I put too much personal stock in Skin Deep People.  People who all they lived for was to get to the next weekend so that they could drink themselves silly.  People who are numb and CHOOSE to live in bitterness.  People that have lost their hope.  Men who treat their wives NOT like Treasures, but yell, swear, and degrade them. 

A year ago, I made a list of 5 things I wanted to get accomplished.  Some I accomplished.  Others I made strides towards, and then some I just didn't get anywhere near!!

NUMBER ONE, and MOST importantly, I promised myself that I would step away from that life style.  A year ago, I said that I would get off my butt and get INVOLVED with Grace Chapel (GC)!  That was my #1 Priority!  The going has been slow but stead.  I am truly humbled in the path that God has me on.  Am I perfect yet?  HA!  I think that we can ALL agree that THAT won't happen until I reach the Pearly Gates!  I joined the Choir in February, and that was only the beginning...

2) Trust Him::  In the last part of May, I got invited to go hiking by one of my Choir-Mates, FB Friend (that I had never met in person) to see if I wanted to go hiking to be another adult in escorting the HS.  I accepted....

1) I, honestly, had nothing to do on a Saturday (thus having no good excuse not to go)
2) It was a way to get involved with The Body and meet people.

I had an AWESOME time!  Initially met people that I wouldn't of had a chance otherwise.  Afterward, she asked if I'd be interested to joining the Junior High Staff on Wednesday nights.  And that just freaked me out.  I knew nothing about how to relate to a Junior Higher, and I didn't know if I was the best person to be in a position for kids to be looking up to.  I told her I'd pray about it, and trusting God that this was a direction that he wanted me to take,  I joined the staff in the first week of August....I still have no idea what the heck I am doing sometimes...I am there, however, with an open heart and open mind, for Christ didn't come to this world to be served but TO SERVE...And I'm trying to take as many cues from Him as I can.  Now, 4 months afterward...I'm meeting on Saturdays with the High School Director, diving into how to relate with the youth of today.  It's been a humbling experience.

3) Know Him More & Know More About What Other Religions Believe
Part 1 I feel like I have stepped into a new realm of where I am with my walk with Christ.  I am NOT where I want to be, but in my life's journey I have come a long way in a year.  I have a long way to go, but looking back I see a lot of progress that has been made. :-)
Part 2 of this with what other religions believe I just failed at; HARD!  I want to know, but I just set this away from my mind.

4) Share & Show HIM With Others
I feel like this one I'm finally scratching the surface with.  I just had a long conversation with one of my buddies I was pretty close to in Junior High School and I lost touch with when I switched High Schools.  I hadn't seen him in 10+ Years, and randomly he adds me as a Friend on FB.  I never forget a name of anybody who I've been close with, and when his name popped up I was like..."Heh, Wow...There's a name I haven't heard in a long time..."  He's going through a rough time but I want to believe that God is guiding him towards the Light.  It is my prayer that if he needs somebody he will shoot me an e-mail/text and I will be able to be there for him in anyway that I can be of service to him.

5) Love Others as Christ Loves Me.
I need to work on this too.  I might have done more than what I give myself credit for, but I feel like I can do so much better!! I want to start keeping myself accountable to this!  Every time I think ill-will against a person, I want to feel sick.  When I lose my temper with a person that gets under my skin easily, I want to go to them the next day (or when I cool off) and ask, humbly, for their forgiveness.  I want to be a better man than who I am today.  I want outsiders that don't know me to KNOW that I am a Christian by the way that I love...