one of those days
Posted by jaked | Filed under i don't need no stinking label
thrice – broken lungs Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
so i don’t know if you’ve ever had one of those days… (i don’t mean one of THOSE days…) but today was one of those days. the kind of day that you know there’s a little more to this life than chance. one of those days where things seem like God’s pulling some serious strings and that he has a day planned just for you. (well more for me specifically)
you’re probably wondering what in the world i’m talking about so i’ll just dive in. the morning started with reading psalm 115, specifically the rather ominous verse 3:
“our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”
i was thinking about this quite a bit and this just isn’t a verse you hear quoted very much. it doesn’t sounds like a very “fair” view of our God. but i think that’s the point… anyway not really the subject of this post.
after spending some qt with the big man i decided to watch a movie, and what better movie to watch then the movie “serenity.” follow up to the fan favored “firefly” show which fox made the tremendous mistake of canceling after only 12 episodes. (this is not my opinion… this is fact. both show and movie can be seen on netflix streaming) i watched the movie a while back in a hotel in china, actually before i had seen any episodes of the cult classic show. i was struck then and again this morning with the opening of the film.
it actually inspired me to start another post about “the cold open” that i’ll post later this week. but i found the re-watch just as engaging as the first time and thought i was doing quite well for a monday morning. i planned on heading to my favorite local coffee shop (off the leaf) but found an old gift card to city brew the day before and thought free coffee is better then coffee you have to pay for.
so sitting down to check and send some e-mails and enjoy a “free” americano a girl who was sitting nearby commented that she liked the decal on my laptop. (it’s iron man… and pretty awesome if i do say so myself) i said thank you and went back to my music and e-mail not thinking much about the encounter.
i don’t know your views on the Holy Spirit, His role in our lives, how He works, or what have you; but i kept feeling like i should start a conversation with this girl. she was sitting alone, no book, computer, or headphones. to say she seemed a little out of place would be an understatement. i fought the leading for much longer then i’d like to admit… but eventually said a prayer and gave in.
i took off my headphones and introduced myself and asked her for her name and if she was meeting someone. (i do not have a history of approaching girls, i’m happily in a relationship and i’m pretty sure her first thought was that i was hitting on her) she said no, her name is cheryl, and said that she was actually passing through and was on her way to boulder colorado for school and had stopped for an air conditioning/caffeine break.
i asked her, like i so often do with college students, if she had any kind of spiritual background. (a pretty “safe” question for starting any kind of spiritual conversation) i could tell she kind of tensed up a little at the thought, but said she didn’t really like that kind of thing too much. she said that “things that have happened to me in my life really make me think that there can’t possibly be a God.” i asked her what she meant by this and she dove into some pretty painful territory in a way that made it seem like it had been burning a hole inside her and she had to get it out.
what she shared tore us both apart… she talked about being conceived after her parents had decided to stop having kids and had gone through, what they thought were, the necessary precautions and how she always felt unwanted by them. she shared about her abusive, alcoholic father who used to use her as his own personal punching bag… how she had been raped when she was 12 by someone she though she could trust… abortion, suicide… the snapshots of a life plagued by pain just kept coming and by the time she had finished we were both on the verge of tears.
i asked her if i could pray for her, right then, right there. i didn’t know what else to do. my childhood wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t even great, but i had no idea how to give hope to cheryl in spite of everything she had gone through. she was a little taken back but slowly nodded yes. i didn’t know what to pray… i don’t even remember what i prayed… but before i started i just asked the Holy Spirit to speak through me.
after praying i asked what she thought about God. she explained that she felt like if God existed he didn’t care much for her. i shared with her a little bit about me and some of the things i had experienced as a kid. how i had felt the same way about God, and what changed my mind. i had the opportunity to ask her if anyone had ever taken the time to talk about this sort of thing with her before. she said no and so i asked her if she would be willing to read through something really quick that helped change my mind about God.
i was ready to be shutdown… to get a “i should really get back on the road” or a “thanks but no thanks.” to my surprise she said yes and i began to share the gospel with her. she had questions, especially about God having a perfect plan for our lives. after we read through the entire “knowing God personally” booklet she said she wasn’t ready to make any kind of decision right then. she thanked me for talking to her. said that even her best friends had never really taken the time to listen to her troubled past. she gave me a hug and left.
all i could do was pray for her.
it’s days like this, one of those days, when i really do know that God has a plan for our lives, right down to where we have our coffee. if i wouldn’t have found that gift card i would have never gone to the city brew, i would have never met cheryl, and i would have never had a chance to share the gospel with her. i really don’t think i’m unique in this, that this was just one of those things. i am grateful that i have a job where conversations like this are a part of the job description. but you don’t have to be a missionary for that to be the case, just a follower of Jesus.
i know this is a dumb way to follow up something like that, but after finishing my work i had the opportunity to work on some design projects. i created a personalized background for my twitter account and made an advertising postcard for my campus’ fall retreat. i love design work and glad that’s in my job description too.
the obligatory catch up post
Posted by jaked | Filed under just4fun
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aloe blacc – good things
so i figure instead of how i usually put what album i’m currently listening to at the bottom i figure i’ll post one of the songs from said album and hopefully you’ll be able to read the entire post before the song is done. that should keep me from rambling on for far too long. so feel free to hit play (it might take a sec to load) and enjoy the tunes while you read. (also for this time it’s a song that i’ve had stuck in my head for a while, don’t read too far into the lyrics and what i’m talking about ok?)
ok now on to business. i realize that i haven’t been doing a good job at keeping up with posting… anything… in way too long. i’m greatly embarrassed, see this is my embarrassed face.
oh also on the way down i totally had the chance to see the sun rise over the grand canyon. it was one of the coolest God moments that i can remember. seeing the sun rise over one of God’s coolest creations was pretty freaking amazing.
after a brief stint in arizona i headed up to colorado for our bi-annual staff conference. it was a pretty great time of fellowship, learning, and not sleeping. i felt like a student again (partly because i was sleeping in a dorm room). late nights talking and just hanging out with fellow staff; days filled with learning, worshiping, and fellowship. the organization announced a name change. (if you’re wondering why i’m not dropping the name it’s because i’m planning on living in some “sensitive” or closed countries where i’ll basically have to, at least from an outside perspective, have nothing to do with un-said organization)
to end off the fun little weekend my very good friend and boss shana and my other good friend (and very first supporter ever) tyler tie the proverbial knot. probably two of the coolest people i know (sorry everyone else, but if you know both of these people… you know). it was a beautiful wedding and lots of fun (as most weddings are).
over the last week or so it’s been back to raising support, making calls, and trying for appointments. i know i’m running long and the song is probably about to end… or you’re at least kinda getting bored, so i’ll wrap up with this… i’ve launched a new ministry website… it’s a tumblr blog and is therefore easy to post pictures to, write short little things, and easily post things i’m reading or hear. i’ll try and update it regularly… it should be easy…er the web address is www.himynameisjaked.tumblr.com
take care and God bless!!!
EPIC WIN
Posted by jaked | Filed under just4fun
i don’t know about you but i’ve had about enough of all this “winning” nonsense. charlie sheen is bat-crap crazy and i just wanted to get that out of the way.
now on to some winning (doh!) of my own. as i’ve written about before, i have a problem. i am an achiever. i love achievements, badges, stickers, and goals. although i have completely given up foresquare (mostly because well really other then getting badges, there really didn’t seem to be much of a point.) i continue to strive to check boxes, get achievements, and get points that really don’t matter. i mean i’ll sit and play the same stupid angry birds level for 30 min just to get all 3 stars.
why is this? i think most of it is kind of a personality thing. i really am goal orientated, it’s just setting goals that i struggle with. google apps and my iphone has been very helpful while i’ve been in the process of raising support. mostly because i haven’t had a computer since august. (until recently) between google docs, google calendar, and evernote i’ve been able to manage meetings and contacts with relative ease. but we could always do better right?
this is where epic win ($2.99 apple appstore) comes in. epic win is an iphone app that turns productivity into a game. and believe me, most days i’d choose playing a game to checking things off my to do list in a heartbeat. in the vein of role playing type games, (like fallout 3, mass effect, final fantasy etc.) epic win takes my to do list and transforms each task into either a feat of strength, a feat of stamina, a feat of intellect, a feat of social, (jury is still out on if this is really a feat) or a feat of spirit. when creating the “quest” you set the level of epicness which in turn determines how many experience points i receive upon completion.
a cool feature that the app has is that it will sync with your google calendar. turning events, meetings, and due dates into tasks and quests. you only have to sync and then update the item with the level of epicness and category. a nice feature. so i know you’re probably thinking “if you spent as much time just doing things on your list as entering them and messing around with silly apps like this then you’d probably get more things done.” to that i would say “nuh uh!” but that’s just me.
as you complete items on your to-do list or quests your character simulates little battles and levels up, unlocking loot and furthering your journey. so probably to most people they feel enough pride in being able to check or cross off something from their list but there’s just something about filling up a progress bar and leveling up that motivates me. only like 3 people are going to get this reference but leveling up in halo 3 really didn’t matter to me at all… but when they instituted that progress bar in halo reach i did challenges and whatnot just to fill that stupid little meter.
so i probably haven’t used the app long enough to determine if this will be helpful in the long term (my character is jake the masculine, a level 2 stooping dwarven nerd-do-well) but i see this as being a fun, nerdy, way to assist me as i get things done. now i’m going to go cross off writing a blog post and get a little closer to level 3. see a game trailer below.
UPDATE: apparently a similar minded app exists on the windows phone 7 platform called noborizaka.
currently listening to:
the devil and God are raging inside me by brand new
