SoulThirst

It was a good day today ^_^

Got up early, went over to Amanda's (keep her company while cleaning the house ^^;;;). We went up to Wheaton around noon; I had lunch with Peter... heh, being at Wheaton in the summer, eating at Saga during the summer. Actually today's lunch was worth the $6.... FRIED SHIRMP... mmm. (For Wheaton students, it's the shrimp they serve at Student Appreciation, except today was all you can eat ^_^).... I ate more than enough to get my $6 worth. Afterwards, Amanda drove me down to Fox Valley to get my car. Getting my car back... they did such a good job that, looking at it, you can't tell that the car was ever damaged. Even as sentitive a driver as I am, I still couldn't feel a difference before & after, which is pretty amazing. The steering wheel has a VERY minor vibration above 60mph, but I can look into that later. Felt really good to get the car back & be driving around.

Leaders appreciation was lots of fun... the night was very "simple" in format, but very well-done & meaningful; those kinds of nights are best. My junior high guys... what an impressive bunch. Especially Bailey... you rock! Thanks for puttin yourself out there in sharing, & also for the CD. The evening was a good reminder to me, of what really matters & what the core of ministry is. It was a testament to selective-attention XD, but a good humbling reminder that lessons, sermons, & sharings are not most important; it's the smaller things, the relationships, the general sense of "presence".... those things stick. Y'know, as a leader, believe it or not, it's very easy to forget that the core of ministry is love- for God & for His people. I think the biggest temptation for pastors & people who serve is the temptation to forget why we do what we do. More often than not, it's not committing sins that affect ministry- it's forgetting to love. Tonight I was reminded again to love.

Thanks for the shirt.... for those of you who weren't there... it was a big pink pig on the shirt... in honor of my pig Hamlet >.<. Seriously, I thought like you were responsible for doing that or something, heh. I think my shirt was the most.... er... "off" of all the leaders. I got the feminine looking one >.< *thwaps Vicky for the comment*. A few Rachael Lampa remarks ^^;;;; , made me do a jig (go 1980s dance, whee), & a lot of good laughs all around. I needed the laugh, the light-heartedness.

Life appears good these days, and in many ways it is. I really can't complain & have more blessings than I realize. Yet still it hasn't been very easy these past few weeks. Much like the sudden thunderstorms and tornado-warnings this week, I feel like storms in my heart "pop up" suddenly without warning. There've been some fairly deeply seeded hurts, discouragements, & pain to work through. I confess, that it's been hard to serve & be with people; if I had my way, I'd hide away in my room all week. I've fallen asleep to bitter tears & prayers.

Almost through the tunnel

posted by Andy Chang @ 12:43 AM