Life has continued to do its thing and fly by. Just yesterday, Tara and I celebrated our two year anniversary! It is hard to believe that two years have gone by already. A lot has changed in the years following college. We have both adapted quite well to life out here in California, despite the chaos and flurry of activities that always seem to keep us running and more active than our bodies/minds can handle.
Easter is an amazing season to celebrate, it has always been my favorite holiday I would say. The deep theological meaning is very significant, but I also celebrate the rebirth that the world seems to undergo around this time of year. Plants have begun to sprout, flowers are beginning to bloom, and the evenings are becoming more and more full of sunshine. It is a great time of year. This year, we have even taken on a little gardening of our own. I have grown a couple of peppers (about a dozen) from seeds and they are starting to sprout, it is quite exciting to witness the miracle of plant growth! We also have a couple of tomato plants that are beginning to take off. The way a plant comes from such a simple seed into a great plant, full of life and fruit, is a miracle.
Speaking of growth and new things starting, last week, I was able to be a part of the first official gathering of the new Center City Classis of the Reformed Church in America. I could write about that for quite some time, but it was an amazing opportunity to be a part of! God is doing some great things in the RCA, and I am thankful that I am able to be a part of it! We got together with church planters from San Francisco, Denver, Philadelphia, and of course Compton/Los Angeles and had a great opportunity to share our stories and testimonies of God's great work in our lives.
Tonight Tara's family comes into town. It has been awhile since we have seen any of our family, so this will be a great gift. This is the third easter now that her family has come to visit us-what a great tradition!!
Life has been continuing, it has been full of exams and papers, scheduling and not scheduling, researching and defending, arguing and apologizing, and of course a lot of running around. I am working on starting a new journey in my life, one to help me find out where I am and a little more about who I am. Tara and I definitely feel the calling into ministry, we have been affirmed from the outside, we recognize we need to grow, thats for sure, and we feel a calling to Compton, but what does all of this mean? We have been blessed with a new home, we have a great community to minister within, but what does this exactly look like. There are things that we feel confident about, like our love to host people and to love our neighbors, but then there are things that we cry out to God for clarification of, like Tara's job. God continues to reveal himself to us, but I am not sure that I am always revealing all of myself to God. Why is it, that when I feel exhausted and tired, I run to the streams of refreshing from television that leaves me parched and wanting. I think that I realize God has streams of life waiting for me in his word, yet, I don't go seeking them. I feel like I am tired, yet I feel like I am not really "doing" anything. Today, I think that I am full of questions, yet somewhat empty.
God, please wake me up. I need your strength to continue moving forward. I hear you, but I don't hear your voice. I know that I need you, yet I rarely turn to you. As I prepare for Easter, give me the strength to release the pain that I hold onto. Help me to trust that you will free me from the darkness that seeks to control my life. Help me to be a friend, to connect with those that you have put in my life. Please God, help me to know who I am. Help me to find my way in you.
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