Easing Through the End of The Year

The time is here again after another year that is filled with so much unexpected, here are some of the highlights of my life...

This year I experienced a loss that was rather unusual for me to deal with and even till today I find it still strange with the things that are going on. But there is a surprising relief that comes from God brings comfort at the end of the night, promising joy in the morning as so very often it has been this way.

It was a pleasant comfort to have my parents coming over this summer to see me and what I am doing with my life here. Their presence made a difference somehow, to which helped a lot with the healing that I have been dealing with, as well as giving them a glimpse of my world here.

My last year with Summer Day Camp was more pleasant than expected as I was able to flex a little more of my preaching muscles and construction of my messages. Also with the various sermons once a month in another church this year was a great help in preparing me for how I rely on God's sovereign provision in His word. I am looking forward to another year of God's revelation through His word.

Early this year I took a class on poverty that sent me into a place contemplation about my life here in the city and how I perceived poverty. This has made me appreciate more of the life that I have and the understanding of the struggle of survival with the demands of society in life. I am still open about my experiment to go amongst the poor and understand them more.

This year has a been a year of much relations with people. Even in my loss, I have gained so much more. I have made a few good friends that I have come to appreciate as Godsends through my hardest moments here. I have learned a lot about myself through the new people that I come across this year and how God is revealed in all these relationships.

Mosaic City Church seems to be my immediate future right now as I am now officially submerged into the church-plant effort. This is a new avenue for me as I find myself taking on a bigger scale of the role that I have been playing for the past 3 years. MCC has been a medium to which I am finding God making things a little more concrete with the life that I am planning to get into and everything that is awaiting in the future for me in this journey.

I have laid off Google Sketchup this year or any other creative aspect of my life. My creativity has been slowed down to the point that it somehow was more of a year of learning and input, rather than a year of production. Although I am picking up on music a little more due to church, it is more of a season of learning as I am beginning to work with people that are more talented than I am.

The very thing that is a constant is my love for movies that I have kept up with. These are the few memorable ones that I can think of this year.

Here are some of the newer tunes that I have discovered that are constantly running through my MP3 list this year:

Midnight - Coldplay

Say You'll Be There - MO

Sex and Candy - Maroon 5

Promises - Ryn Weaver

Love Never Felt This Good - Michael Jackson Feat. Justin Timberlake

Magic - Coldplay

Little Secrets -  Passion Pit

Swimming In The Flood - Passion Pit

Classic - MKTO

I'm Not The Only One - Sam Smith

Too Cool To Dance - Eden XO

Not This Time - The 2 Bears, Gary Go

House of God, Forever - Jon Foreman

Dancing In The Mindfields - Andrew Peterson

Cough Syrup - Young The Giant

Safe and Sound - Capital Cities

Cool Kids - Echosmith

Geronimo - Sheppard

In Your Arms - Wilshire

Nobody But You - Kimbra

Nevermind - Foster The People

My Heart -  Tait

Miracle - Kimbra

Coming of Age - Foster The People

The year has been good simply because God is around. Through so much pain that came, so much grace and comfort followed through. My greatest lesson is found in Mark 4:35-41 about placing a more thoughtful faith in God and the storms that comes my way. The verse ushering me through the new year is simply Romans 5:6-8 in remembering the all surpassing goodness of God in the love that He gave to us even in our worst.

See you next year