Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Thoughts at the moment...

My mind is all over the place right now. Even as I sit at work I find my mind jumping from one thing to another and this makes it very hard to write about one specific something. So instead I am just going to list a few things that have been on my mind.

Ministry
I am a Jr. High Pastor at North Ridge Community Church and really enjoy the role that I fill at the church. I have some amazing Jr. High students and felt great joy watching them sit in church this past Sunday taking notes and listening to one our pastors teach. It was even cooler to get a prayer card from one of my 6th grade guys asking for prayer for his walk with God. It is truly a blessing to see these young followers of Christ in their walk with the Lord.

I am praying that God continues to grow me and mature me as I continue to do the work that I feel He has called me to do. To shepherd these students and walk alongside them as they began to discover not only who they are but who they are in Christ.

Relationships
These past couple weeks the college group I go to has been going through this series on relationships. It has been some really challenging stuff to think about. It goes along with some of the stuff I have been wrestling with in my own life of "What does a healthy relationship look like". Some of the stuff has been challenging to hear but all of it has been thought provoking and hitting close to home. I am still no where near figuring out relationship stuff that confuses me. But I am really enjoying the journey that God is taking me on to understand it better.

I am praying that in any relationship I might have in my life whether that be dating, friendship, family and even with my students. I desire them to all to look like the relationship I have with my Savior. After all it is the best model of what a healthy relationship looks like.

My Past
This is something that I am always wrestling with no matter where I am at in my life. My past failures, my past triumphs, my past hurts, my past joys etc... There is always plenty of things to think about when it comes to this but I will share more on this in another entry.

Just a few of my thoughts.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Friendship Chronicles: Josiah Harvey Edition

I have been blessed with a lot of great people in my life. Ranging from my very large Mexican family (I come from a family of 12 in case you didn't know) also from the amazing group of friends. God has truly blessed me with these people because they are the ones that see all of me and still love me no matter what. So I began to think it was time I brag about the people in my life and give the world a brief glimpse of how truly amazing they are.

Have you met Joey...?

Joey (Josiah Harvey) is a man of few words. He is a friend that has become a huge part of my life. He was the first person I met my first year of college (Southwestern College, now know as Arizona Christian University). Have you ever met someone for the first time and could just tell that you would get along with them really well, thats what happen with Joey and I. He is great friend who always listens before he speaks. He is a very relaxed guy but also has s very quick wit. He might not look like he is paying attention to what is going on around him but in reality Joey is taking in every detail and waits for the best moments to express himself. He is one of the few people I know that truly enjoys giving me a hard time. To everyone else he is quiet but to me he is the friend that just loves to pick on me.

Joey hails from the land of Farmington New Mexico. He has two brothers that look a lot like him and yet are completely different then him. Joey has a great grasp on reality and is often times a voice of reason to me. He enjoys all sorts of music ranging from the classical or the very loud Mega Death this is what contributes to his knowledge of knowing every lyric ever written down. He lead played basketball in high school and is still very talented in the sport. In his spare time he enjoys watching great tv shows such as Chuck or The Big Bang Theory and is a fellow movie lover (one of the many reason we get along).

One of my favorite memories of Joey would be the year we roomed together in college and getting up at almost three in the morning to go get some Federicos burritos. Also the conversations we shared have been some of the most thought provoking conversation I have ever had. He is a great friend and truly a blessing. God has blessed me and I am very sure many other people with having Joey in their life.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Thoughts on awkward situations...

Have you ever found yourself in situation and you just weren't sure what to do? You know a moment where no matter what you do or how you act things are just going to be "awkward". I found myself in one of those the other night. (Long story short I ran into my old girlfriend and her new boyfriend three times in the span of a two minutes. It was interesting.)

What do you do in this situations? How does one handle them?  That I am not sure, I somewhat think that my life is full awkward moments that when I look back at all I can do is just laugh at and share with my friends. Here are few awkward moments from my life.

-I swore at my first parents meeting as the new Jr. High pastor at my church. (No worries it was an accident)
-The first wedding I did for my brother and sister in law. I called the bride by the wrong name during the ceremony. (Thank the Lord she didn't turn into bridezilla)
-I once compared a girl I was dating to Tupperware. (It sounded a lot better in my head before it came out)
-My pants started falling down while I was on stage during my 9th grade production of the Wizard of Oz (I was the Tin man)
There are more but I will save them for another time.

After all the awkward situations I have faced this far in my life I have found the best way to handle is this: Face them head, running from them is only going to make things more awkward and weird for everyone. Just laugh at them! I mean just laugh, find some friends to share this awkward moment with and laugh together. I know that after all these "awkward" events I have laughed about them later with friends those laughs make it all worth it (Plus they make for good stories and object lesson during a sermon for any age.. If you can't change things why not just embrace them and enjoy its going to be one crazy ride. (Special thanks to Sam Cook and Lindsey Blowers for sharing in my most recent awkward moment)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Thoughts on "Car Accidents"

Today has been a rough day to say the least. You ever wake up and get some kind of sign that this day is going to be rough. I was greeted with such omen this morning when I woke to my mom's text asking me to pray for her today. Now normally some might find this sweet; one mother asking their son to pray for her. But to me it just kind of started my day off weird. Now before you get all crazy and start thinking "Gus do you not love your mom?" or "Gus what do you have against praying?" Let me set the record straight and say I love my mom very much and and am always praying for her. But when my mom does something she normally doesn't do that is a red flag to me.

So today I went in to church and had to film some video announcements with another pastor Randy Williams or as I call him "Chief". So Chief and I go and film after we are done I head back to church to work on a few things. Well as  am driving back  the accident happens. ( I will spare you all the details, but know everyone is safe and there were no injuries. Well except to "Ellie" thats my car's name. Long story short I exchange info with the lady who's care I hit and the cop issues me a citation because I was at fault.

This didn't upset me though, what really bothered me was the feeling that followed after the accident happen. I just stood there, as the accident played in my head over and over again. I even began to think "man if I had stayed longer at the place "Chief" and I filmed", or "what if I we had ridden in one car that way I didn't drive." With all these thought  I found myself hanging my head down and just asking "Why, why did this have to happen?"

When I got home, just sat on the couch and began to think a lot. I began to worry about how I am going to pay for all this, or how am I going to get to work now? I felt so overwhelmed with all these thoughts and even more stressed out. I just found myself completely exhausted after beating myself up with my own thoughts.

Later on I went out to get something to eat for my mom and I (she let me drive her car, but not after telling me five times before I left the house to BE CAREFUL!!). I came back with dinner and we sat down and we prayed for our food, it was then that it all hit me and I just thank God. I thank God for keeping me safe, for keeping the people in the other car safe. For letting me even make it home with my mangled car. I thanked Him for being in my life and ultimately asked for help in all this because I know I can't do it alone. I finally found myself at peace after everything that happen.

The feeling that follows any tough time such as a car accident can be draining and sticks with you well after the actual event. Tonight though I am just thankful that no matter what hard thing comes into my life. God has and will guide me through them all. For that I feel completely at peace about.

Oh, and one final thing if your mom ever texts you randomly, be on the look out. Because that women knew when trouble was around you when you were little and they still sense that stuff even when you are older.

Just a thought.