so, i've embarked on my journey through the derrty south before i get ready to head to seattle. it's starting out with the wedding of my good friend henry and his then-fiancee/now-wife sharon. i'm sooooo excited and genuinely happy for them! and, this is my first time being in a wedding party for real. but, it's allowed me to see a different side of God's goodness that i haven't seen before.

the first thing is seeing what friends God has truly blessed me with from washu. it's amazing to be together with a lot of the people that i met my freshman year at washu that shaped my experience for the rest of my time at washu. and, it's amazing to me to know these people all over the country. and, it's amazing that, even though i haven't talked to some in months, weeks, or even years, we picked up like we just left each other yesterday: like we just ate in bear's den yesterday, like we just bumped into each other in the cec yesterday, like we just had bible study yesterday, like we just played frisbee in the dark on the swamp yesterday, like we just rushed to turn in a physics problem set yesterday, like we just stayed up all night playing super smash brothers yesterday...

another related thing that i saw was how much that i've grown in being able to relate to others. i didn't realize this until chatting with sie deen (james' wife) and victor lin: if anybody would have told me in my senior year in high school that i would find myself five years later at dreamland bbq with a whole bunch of asians, i probably would have laughed in his/her face. but, again, God has blessed me with many friends during my time at washu, and it's not as much about color as it is our common bond through Jesus' sacrifice.

the second thing is seeing how henry and sharon (and their families) have shown me what it looks like to serve God and serve others, even at a time when i personally thought they should be receiving much more. it was definitely a privilege to be a part of henry and sharon's wedding party. yet, henry and sharon's servant hearts and attitudes were apparent throughout the three days we were with them. they were taking care of us selflessly while juggling the last minute details of a beautiful wedding. for me, they embodied something for me to look forward to in my future, something that will hopefully change somebody else's paradigm of a servant to God's glory.

as i get more pics, i'll post them to this entry.... holla!

in the spider web.

apparently, i've been yelled at for not posting much, so here we go:

so, today, i went to powder valley nature park to journal, pray, walk, and take pictures. but, i think God showed me something today that i haven't thought about before, especially for something that i'm afraid of.

tell me what you see in this picture:

yes, there's a leaf suspended in the air. no, i didn't take a picture of it while it was falling; that's how it looked when i took the picture. what was holding it like that? can you see it?

it was a spider web. as i was walking this morning, there were a lot of spider webs, some that spanned across tree branches, some along the signs on the path. and, my face almost got covered by one had i not being paying close enough attention while i was walking. spider webs are pretty good at what they do: they're lightweight, translucent/ nearly transparent, flexible, sticky, and effective. dang, isn't that how a lot of traps are in life?

so, how did i find where spider webs were along the path? it seems like something has to be caught in it for it to be noticed, like a leaf (as in the picture), or a bug, or light. of the three ways to notice one, i think the best choice is light; it's the only thing that we can see that can get caught in the web but isn't trapped in it.

i'm glad that God allowed me to see that before i head out of the lou, because i'm sure there will be webs along my path as the enemy or other people (or even me) may try to stop my future, my purpose, God's will for my life. i was encouraged to keep my path lit to see any webs before i get caught in them. and God has already provided the light i need:

Your word is a lamp to my feet
       and a light for my path. -- Psalm 119:105 NIV
The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man;
       it searches out his inmost being. -- Proverbs 20:27 NIV

my hunger for the word has weakened a little bit over the past two weeks, but i don't want to be caught in a web, so i know i got some work to do.

as far as the bugs caught in the webs, sometimes it hurts me to see others who didn't use their lamp to expose the webs before they flew or crawled or fell right into them. i've seen so many brothers and sisters in the Body get caught by offense, unforgiveness, disobedience, lust, greed, apathy...... and so on. i don't want to be the next one, and I know that God is gonna provide for me through His written word, through His voice, and through the voices of others that He's divinely placed across my path.

i hope this encourages y'all as well. i know that this was for me, but if you're blessed by reading it, then praise Jesus ;-)