welcome back, me!

Hello, faithful few!

Hello? HellO?!

Ah, well.

By now most of you've figured out what's up in my life and don't need this, but I'll tell anyway, for the sake of those whose paths don't regularly intersect mine.

This. Is. An update.

I was searching/waiting for God to put me on a boat and float me away into the next season of my life and something unexpected happened...

Woke up one morning and God said, I'm going to give you reason to rejoice today. I thought, ooh, cool, I wonder what it'll be. The things I hoped would happen didn't and I got to the end of the day wondering if I'd missed something. I had! But wait, I didn't know that yet.

I chose to be thankful and rejoice in the simplicities of the day, saying God, you HAVE given me reason to rejoice and you always do. Then I pulled my phone out to switch it off for the night and saw a missed call...

Ended up that I had a coooool job in just a couple days and have been there since. So I'm a visual effects (VFX) coordinator at a company called Zoic Studios.

The last month has been crazy at work, putting in 13, 14 and 15 hour days. I left off the 16, 17 and 18 hour days cuz they don't happen as often... but they happen. Sheesh. And I didn't want you think I'm just trying to get sympathy points or something, but that's the truth. Yeah, I'll take the points. =P

I'm finishing work on an action comedy called RED that stars Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich. Looks like a fun one and it'll be fun just to see my name in the credits. Starts October 15!

Oh, and I was in a car wreck on the freeway last Sunday. More on that later... maybe. Just know God protected me, which is his way. =)

pictures worth a couple words

My friend, Rae (found on the sidebar under People I Listen To), recently posted a blog of pictures that had long been trapped in her cell phone. And it inspired me to figure out getting my own photos out of my pocket and onto the computer (you see, the USB port on the phone only works to get battery juice IN and not data OUT).

So I texted the pics to my dad, who then e-mailed them to my computer. Easy. Shoulda thought of that sooner. =P

So here are a few of my favorites with a few words of description or story to go along with 'em.

First off, a picture of Ryan (my bro) in a room made of chocolate at MOCA in LA. We were both downtown for jury duty and heard you get into the museum free with your badge! We could smell the "installation" way before we got to it! =) HEY, NO LICKING!!!

This seemed to pop up overnight! I swear it was just suddenly there, right in the middle of the driveway! Made me think of country songs and how beautiful life is. "I saw God today."

Went to a Wild At Heart camp in CO a couple years back and we got caught in a bit of a whiteout as we drove out into the mountains - crazy! The 4 wheel drive rental was a good idea.

This is from back in the day when I risked my life to put shades on windows. =P That's my buddy, Roger, way down there. We're at the new Monrovia library working on scaffolding. That job took me to some really cool places all over SoCal. Very grateful for the time and experiences I had with those people.

I got in my car after work one day and it didn't move when I took my foot off the brake. See, I was on a slope and it should have moved. Weird, I thought. Gave it a little gas. Nothing. Hmm. Got out and found this on the other side of the car, tactfully hidden where I wouldn't see, step on the gas, shred my tire. What up, gangstas?!

Every once in a while Interior Services (the window blind company) would send us to USC dorms for "an easy day of inspections." And, far more regularly than was funny, we'd open the door to a room and see this. Yeah, "agility test" woulda been a more fitting description of what we were doing. =P

This was one. fine. day. in April 2008. We went sailing with Jim and Joe.

That's all for now. There'll probably be another post like this at a later date - I've still got some pics I haven't transferred that I think are interesting and fun.

Life is cool. Share it. =Drew

live in a tent

Forgot to post this recently... so it's a little old. But so is the Bible. =D

A way of thinking (and existing - at a heart level) that's been developing in me in recent months just became more clear to me as I was painting the porch (I'm finished now, btw).

As Christians we need to live in tents. Not literally, but in our hearts. Like Abraham, we need to be ready to pick up everything and go where God says at a moment's notice.

And yeah, it may be hard. You may think, but what about these things I have? Kinda like the rich young ruler. Jesus wasn't asking him to take a vow of poverty! He just knew the guy's wealth was too important to him (and we see that it was because he chose not to go follow). We need to hold loosely. Even with people! You may think, but what about this or that relationship? I may never get that back.

You're right. Maybe you won't. But I believe in a good God! And He knows our hearts and the things that are dear to us. Trust in the goodness of His love. And even if we do leave those relationships or possessions...

Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life." - Mark 10:28-30

So be ready to let go. In fact, let go now! Don't hold on to the things of this life! Not even the good things you know are from God! Cuz by holding on, in a way, you're saying, "God, I trust you, just not with that." Enjoy them and be thankful as long as they're there, but hold only to Him.

It's when we live like this that He can give us the desires of our hearts.

more

As if I wasn't blessed enough (turns out God didn't think so =) by the outcome of taking that detour on Wednesday, I just found a note in the mail from my friend!

It was a thank you!

And it had money in it! =D More than a simple thank-you's worth!

He must've sent it or put it in the box just before I picked him up! And I didn't tell him God had directed me to go by his house - so I'm assuming (very safe assumption =) this was God moving in his heart to send it! Agh! So good!

I'm convinced God wants so much to expand our view of Him! He's made this way available to us! To shatter the boundaries we've limited ourselves to! In the way we believe. The way we trust. Hope. Love. He wants bigger and better for us than we can even come close to realizing! But as we seek and follow we're giving Him an invitation to do that in our lives!

And He delights in that!

simple story

I was driving home from the bank this morning and felt prompted to drive by my friends' house. I thought, Nah, they're all away on vacation, why would I go over there? Yeah, I bet you can guess. =) This sorta thing is becoming more normal, as you're probably aware from previous posts, and I'm learning to just follow it.

So I turned and took the route past their house. And lo and behold, one of the cars was out and I realized someone was still home. I remembered, Oh, yeah, he's flying out later to meet the family. So I got home and texted him to see if he needed a ride to the airport this weekend.

Turns out. . . he did need a ride and was leaving today, not this weekend. And I was able to help him cuz I did something as simple as turning and taking a different route home from the bank.

If I'd just dismissed it, which I almost did, he probably woulda taken a Supershuttle or left a car at the airport, which woulda cost him money for either and, if he drove himself, extra time to go get the car from the airport when he drives back with the family. So that's a blessing for him and I got the blessing of spending some time with him and rejoicing over some good/fun/happy news we recently got!

So. . .

God speaks.

Listen.

don't wait

I ride my bike, or go running, or rollerblading almost every morning (thank God I live in SoCal =). There's something about waking up and doing something very deliberate that requires intensity and energy that helps get me into a really good place with God. It's a time I set aside to pray - for friends, family, neighbors, whoever God puts on my heart.

I rode to the top of Pasadena and was gonna go to the Eaton Canyon bridge entry, but decided to go left to Allen for a fun ride down and jumping curbs. But I felt in my heart that I was to turn back around and go the way I was thinking I'd go originally. I thought, why? And reasoned why it didn't matter, but then again felt I needed to go. With a sense of urgency because I had delayed.

I zipped past the entry, where a man was just emerging from the gate and walking away. And I felt in my heart, whoa, where are you going? I wanted you over here for a reason. I thought, that guy?! And I felt Him say, yes. I stopped and delayed a while, asking, is this really you? What is this about? And I felt I was supposed to introduce myself and give him my business card. What the heck! This is crazy! I tried to quiet my mind and ask for more certainty, but heard nothing. So I said, even if it's not You, the worst that happens is he thinks I'm crazy... and has my phone number. =P But I felt You say to do this and so I'll just do it.

The guy was out of sight around the corner (I'd waited a while, giving God plenty of time to tell me it wasn't Him speaking and that I could go on my merry way =) so I took off after him and waved him down. Awkward. I said good morning and introduced myself with a, "this is gonna sound really weird, but." And I told him that I'd gotten this really strong impression when I passed him that I was supposed to give him my card. He laughed and said, "Uh, well, what do you do?" I told him I studied film, but I'm currently looking for work on a yacht. You gotta know the yacht part made him laugh - we're up in the foothills of Pasadena, remember.

But then he said good-humoredly, yet, matter-of-factly, "Well, I've never been involved or connected to the film business in any way... and I don't have a yacht =)... BUT... i might just meet someone tomorrow who does and is supposed to get this card." So he took it. I thanked him and we went our separate ways.

Okay, that was weird!

I rode back the way I wanted to go before and then felt God prompting me to turn away across another street, a street I had come up on the way to the top. I'd come across here to pray for some people I know and was feeling now like, but I already prayed for them. But I'm beginning to learn it's best just to go with what it feels like God's saying. Even if you're not sure it's Him, as long as there's no big reason you shouldn't do the thing, just do it. He's got the big picture and I don't =) =(.

I went across and right as I got near the house a guy got out of a car and walked toward the house and then back (musta forgotten something). Because I know the people who live here I had an idea who this visitor was and I thought, what did you bring me across his path for? I looked inside and felt, tell him to tell them you're praying for them.

What?! They don't need to know I pray for them. And besides, if they tell the story about this guy bringing a message from me, it might be misunderstood as me trying to get attention or something.

So I waited again, hoping God would either make it crystal clear to me what I was to do... or the moment would pass. And it did. And as soon as it was gone I felt His gentle disappointment. I knew I'd just missed out on being a part of God's blessing to these people.

And I don't want to miss out! But we can't do things waiting to see the outcomes of the things we do in obedience to God as if in the outcome we'll be assured that it had been God. Like the result of our actions will somehow be special and prove we heard Him. Or nothing will happen and prove we're crazy =).

Maybe that guy I gave my card to will throw it away and forget all about it. Or maybe he'll pass it on to just the right person. Maybe that won't happen until three months from now...

He asks only that we obey. And as long as the things we believe He's asking or telling us to do aren't harmful, we shouldn't be requiring Him to assure us it's Him before we act. Really, what's the harm in putting yourself out there a little and trusting that you hear the shepherd and know His voice? =)

so she went

Sorry I haven't shared in a while. I've had lots to say, but every time I came here I felt like I was being sidetracked from what was really important - seeking.

So I've been reading. A lot. Ordered a new Bible recently; an ESV with tons of room for me to scribble my notes. Okay, so those who know me know I don't scribble. =) It's so good to hear the Word in a different translation sometimes; you see things you haven't noticed before, get a fresh new pass at it that helps you build on what you've already found.

I've had lots of time to, and felt directed to, study and read in these last many weeks as I've searched for work (still haven't hit on anything. . . yet =) and I've been growing in my understanding of what it means to "delight yourself in the Lord" and in His word or "law," which is also translated "instruction." More on that in another post - but I'm loving the time I spend in it and the wisdom and faith I'm receiving from it ("faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God," Romans 10:17).

And now I feel like it's time to share something.

I received some money for my birthday that was given with the intention that it go toward getting a small digital pocket camera (I haven't had a camera since Ryan ran off with ours, God bless him =). But having spent a lot on training and having no income I've been considering just depositing the money and considering it as, well, income. Thanking God for it, of course, and the people who gave it, but thinking it seemed rather "nonsensical" (remember that) to go out and buy stuff when there's no money coming in.

I'd asked God yesterday if I should keep the money out and possibly buy a camera or put it in the bank (I'm suddenly thinking about Mary Poppins and the boy's tuppence =). And I woke up this morning with the story of Elisha and the widow on my mind. And God saying (and I don't mean I heard an audible voice, but I felt Him speak in my spirit), Go, in faith, and buy the camera. You're gonna want one where you're going. =) So I looked up the story. . .

1Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves." 2And Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?" And she said, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." 3Then he said, "Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside." 5So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another." Then the oil stopped flowing. 7She came and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest." (emphasis added)

The woman is widowed. On her own. She's got nothing. On top of that, she has debt and they're gonna take her sons as payment. See, she thinks she has nothing. Or she feels she has nothing. And rightly so. What she can see and feel says there's not much hope, if any. And in my case too, what I see seems pretty limited. But Elisha says, go and do a bunch of stuff that seems "nonsensical" (gathering loads of jars from everywhere she can think of. . . so she can pour her one little jar of leftover oil, what, into the bottom of another one?).

God's asking her to step out in faith - to prepare for what He wants to do! And it's as she does that that He's able to work for her and through her for her good!

He's asking me to step out in faith! To trust him even when it seems nonsensical - this is almost beginning to feel like a theme in my life. =) He said I'm gonna want a camera where I'm going. He's always got good reasons for why He asks/tells us to do things, but most important, as with the widow, is that we do those things! What if the widow had said, "You're crazy! What's borrowing all those pots gonna help? It'll make everyone think I'm crazy, that's what!" God wouldn't have done a thing. Her sons woulda been taken as slaves and she woulda starved! Or something.

But she had faith. Or, at the very least, obedience. So. she. went.

They got every jar they could get their hands on! She was preparing for what God was going to do! She did what Elisha said and look how God moved! They filled every jar! The oil in the little one didn't run out 'til they'd filled all the borrowed ones! She paid the debt and they lived off the leftovers!

I'm not saying God's gonna make me rich by my going to get this camera. I'm saying, "I'm going out there and I'm gonna prepare for what God is going to do!" God is bigger and better than what I can see.

So believe with me! I will be out there! Soon!

And I'll take pictures! =D