when day comes, and night falls...

Thanks to God for the good things that i have had the joy and blessing to be a part of in the last few days and weeks.

This weekend, we took a group of northwest pasadena youthseses to a resort in Palm Springs....it turned out to be much needed relaxing, fun time for me, among many other things. To see the youth interact with each other, to see the guys in my bible study interact with each other and me outside of bible study, to really connect with more of the youth on a friend level, and to just have a lot of fun and enjoy the company of the other leaders and youth...i am so glad i went and i will keep many memories from this time..

i guess i could really feel this time like this was like family. I recieved a call from my mom saturday night as we were cleaning up after dinner. She was sad becasue our dog had died and the Pope had died. She called me becasue she was feeling sad and lonely. When this happens, i get overcome with sadness for my family, and after i got off the phone, i had this surge of longing to be home with my family, and just missing them so much.
I went to a quiet place to cry and pray.....and it was good...i think there is some morning i have to do for the ways God has separated me from my family, but also a healthy missing them, which leads me to plead earnestly to God on their behalf...i really really love my family, and this weekend, tlaking with my mom really made me see how far i am from home, how far i am from their struggles, triumphs, growth, joys...And part of me wants so much to be there and asks why, God, do you have me in this place that is strange and hard for me?

Yet, as i went back with the youth and leaders, i started to feel a comfort from their presence. There are ways in which my peers on leadership can know me that my parents dont. And, to my joy, there are ways that the youth can know me culturally that my post-college peers cannot. It was a blessing to be reminded of this this weekend as i interacted with the youth and leaders, some for the first time in meaningful ways.

Praise God- for showing me what he has for me in my neighborhood