"Urine Trouble"
Let’s see where I left off, I started playing on a co-ed
flag football team with other students from school. My team is called, “Urine Trouble” and our
team color is yellow. We haven’t won a
game yet, but we’re having fun. In our
game yesterday, we scored our first touchdown of the season, it took three
games, but we finally got some points. Playing
football is a lot of fun! I rediscovered
that I am much better at defense than I am offense. Although at one point yesterday, I was playing
on the offensive line guarding a guy who had to have been 6’4” 250 lbs. Good think contact is not allowed!
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Team Urine Trouble: Donny, Les, Chad, Jeff, Stephanie, Katharina, me, Terry, Paul, Naomi, Danielle, and Cara (photo from Sarah Keay) |
Eaton Canyon Waterfall & the Flat Tire
Two weeks ago, after the football game, I met up with my
friend Sarah and Jeanine and went hiking to Eaton Canyon Waterfall. It was a beautiful hike; we followed a path
back and forth across the creek using stepping stones to cross. The closer to the waterfall we got, the more
lush it got. I was surprised that it was
Jeanine’s first time hiking, but she absolutely loved it! I also couldn’t believe how many people were
hiking! I had no idea that there would
be places to hike in Pasadena, and that they would be so popular.
As we pulled out of the parking lot, a high school boy waved
us down to tell us that we had a flat tire.
So, I pulled over to evaluate the situation. I was on the phone with AAA, when a police
man pulled over (in the parking lot) to see if we needed help. He was going to put my spare tire on for us,
but we found an air compressor in my car tool kit. That gave us enough air to get to a gas
station, so that we could get home. The
next morning, my tire was flat again, so I repeated the same process, minus the
cop’s help. I ended up spending five
hours at Sears. They fixed it once, but
it didn’t work, so I went back later in the day and they deemed the tire “un-repairable”
and had me get a new tire. By the end of
my time there, I was on a first name basis with the manager and a few other
employees. Too bad the Sears Auto
waiting area was not conducive to studying.
The good news is I don’t have to worry about it anymore.
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Me, Jeanine, and Sarah along the trail (photo from Sarah) |
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Sarah, Jeanine, and me at the waterfall. (photo from Sarah) |
The Best Parts of my Busiest Week Yet
Week four was my busiest week yet. I had two papers and a quiz, in addition to
my usual assignments. I made it through,
barely. My quiz was on Thursday of that
week, so I spent all day on Wednesday preparing and felt ready for it. When I got into class the professor asked us
if any of us felt that we needed to feel God’s grace and goodness, so I raised
my hand remembering that I had to read a whole book and write a paper on it
later that day. She led us in prayer and
asked that we pray for those around us who raised their hands. After prayer, she had us raise our hands
again and gave us our quizzes first.
Then she got out a second stack of quizzes and passed those out to the
other students. I wasn’t sure what that
meant, but when we were able to turn our quiz over, the question was crossed
out and below it said something along the lines of, “You do not have to take
this quiz. Simply write your name on the
top and you will receive 100%.” I was
shocked! The more I thought about it,
the more I was able to connect this act with the material that we were being
quizzed on. We had read about God’s
giving and forgiving. It was such a
blessing in the midst of this crazy week!
When the quiz finished, we went on to look at the parable of the vineyard
workers (Matthew 20:1-16). There are
some workers that start at the beginning of the day, and some that the owner
brings to work right when the day ends.
The owner pays the late-comers first, and pays them all the same
wage. Those working from the beginning
complain that how they were paid was not fair.
The lesson here with the quizzes was that sometimes what we believe, as
Christians, offends people and also that salvation isn’t based on a fairness
principle. The whole thing gave me
energy to get working on my paper after class.
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Buster Bluth |
After eating lunch on that same day, I walked over and said
hi to some friends. One of them pointed
out Tony Hale, the actor who plays Buster Bluth on Arrested Development. Apparently, he comes to campus on a fairly
regular basis. He walked into the
library, which I headed to shortly after.
I ended up sitting across from him.
I was super excited! I didn’t
talk to him, since the library is a really quiet place and I assume he went
there to get some work done quietly.
Maybe someday, we’ll become friends…if that happens, I hope he’s not too
creeped out that I named two cats, which didn’t belong to me, after his
character.
Me and Buster II this summer. The best cat that ever adopted me. |
That next weekend wasn’t quite as busy. I spent Saturday morning in a meeting for the
SISGU Cabinet, a group of student leaders within my program. I joined as a member of the Community
Building Team. I visited two churches
with friends on Sunday, and went to a movie at the local $3 theater with my
friend Priscilla.
Searching for a Church Home
I have to say finding a new church home has been more
challenging that I expected. I have
visited six churches that ranged from huge congregations to small, rocker style
worship to traditional pipe organs, Baptist to Four Square, etc. As of this morning, I think I may have found
a church that I’d like to come back to. It
is called Epicenter Church. It is here
in Pasadena and a few of my friends from school go there. I felt really welcomed (which was true for a
few of the other churches too). They
have a pretty diverse congregation and an outreach ministry to international
students studying at the local community colleges; it sounds like that ministry
focuses on building relationships with the students. They
also had lunch together after the service, so I was able to meet up with my
friends and also meet some others who go to church there. I am excited to go back!
House Warming Party
On Friday, Christina and I hosted a housewarming/costume
party. She was Cinderella and I was a
cat (inspired by Kaylee of course). We
had about 30 people come. It was a great
chance for me to meet more of Christina’s friends and for her to meet more of
my friends. From what I have heard,
everyone enjoyed themselves and a lot of people made new friends, which was
great! A highlight from the evening, was
when several of the guests spontaneously broke out into song. They sang “Time of your life,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,”
and “Don’t stop believing.’” It was
quite entertaining.
Well, I suppose that is all for now.
Christina and me - Stephanie and Sarah (mimes) in the background. |