United we stand, something something we fall

Monday, June 8, 2009

I feel like I did so much this past weekend.

Friday - CBC/REM Joint Teen's Group. "Fellowship on a whole 'notha level" is how C.Wu might describe it. Rom is a genius for putting together such a super fun scavenger hunt for the kids. I was manned at the 'Snack Attack' station where each team of 9-10 kids had to consume 20 twinkies + 2 gallons of water. (Please refer to twinkie nutrition facts on the left) As I was screaming and shoving twinkies down throats, 2 things dawned on me. First I thought to myself, "wow, someone is most likely going to die tonight as a result of my fierce peer-pressuring skills". And then I thought, "wow...I really love these kids. This is where I want to be. This is where God wants me serving". Last semester, I'd go down to dc every monday to help out with little lights hw club. It was a frustrating and tiring experience to say the least. And I wonder how different it would've been for me and the kids I worked with had I known a thing or two about humility at the time. I won't deny that my intentions to work with littles lights was solely for the self gratification from 'doing something good'. The problem with serving others to serve yourself is that there is nothing to fuel your fire and you're doomed to eventually burn out. Self-gratification is not fuel. When the 7 year old you've been working with for the past month still can't read the word 'CAT' and would rather sit in time-out and stare at a wall for 1 hour than do homework...you get discouraged (and possibly want to punch the kid). You want to give up and move on to some other child who has an attention span of at least 10 seconds. But that's where the whole 'WWJD' thing comes in. To me, this struggling kid is straight up sassy and disrespectful. Does he even know the kind of traffic I drive through to get here? The billions of times I've gotten lost in dc? THE PRICE OF GAS? But to Jesus, this 7-year-old illiterate kid from the hood is a king. This kid deserves MY respect and my love. It's no longer about serving others to serve myself, it's about serving others to serve God.

Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:25-28 NLT)

Saturday - I already documented my baking escapades. Overall, a colorful/vibrant failure. Celebrated Asaph's 19th Birthday. It's strange and awesome that a lot of my close friends are people I've only been friends with for like a year...and also happen to be freshman (hah). I think we may have bonded over a common ACL injury...doomed to stationary exercise on a bicycle. Your efforts to teach me a flip-turn have not gone to waste. I will nail it one day. Just watch. Breakfast (sometimes...or 20 minutes past the scheduled time) on Tues/Thurs at co-op, chik-fil-a, or mickeyD's before 11am in Tydings. Walk over to Japanese Pragmatics, try to look as attentive as possible and pray we wouldn't get called on (at least that was my strategy). I know I can't throw a football but it's one of my favoritest things to do on a sunny day. Too bad you had to teach me a lesson and jam my left index finger, which still won't bend all the way.

Sunday - woke up bright and early to run my very first race ever with my team buddy and Patti Look. 5k in 28.20 minutes. Honestly, running as a form of exercise does not excite me. But within the context of a race, running is awesome. It's about pushing yourself to the limit. It's about going FASTER, STRONGER, BETTER than you've ever run before. At least that's how I think it feels for people who are in shape.....*sob* I feel so lost without a gym membership :( It was a nice start to my day nonetheless. Afterwards, last team meeting before we fly out to Nicaragua. Hung out with the gals at Jason's deli (the quality of their all-you-can-eat soft-serve icecream still astounds me). Celebrated my parent's 24th anniversary at their favorite little restaurant. Yes, I'm sure it was incredibly romantic for them with me and Matt there.