Ohana means Family...

Maybe it's the fact that for the past 2 months, I have spent most every day, every hour, and every minute with them, but in the past couple of weeks, I have begun to realize that the other CSM hosts have become a family to me. They have been the people I go to when I need support, when I need to vent, when I need to be joyous. Of course, like all families, we disagree on some things. But, that's fine, because in love we come to understanding. We laugh, we cry, we argue, we smile...

In the Hawaiian term, "Ohana" (many of us remember this from Disney's movie "Lilo & Stitch"), family doesn't just include blood relatives, but also friends and community members that are close enough to be considered family. That is what this group of rag-tag hosts has become to me. Ohana.

Today is a bittersweet day for my family, as both Takia and Dave are going back home for the holidays. I am excited for both of them as they get to spend time with family and friends they have not seen in months. But, it is especially sad for me because when January comes around, Dave will not be joining us. If I were to be honest about my feelings, I would have to admit that not only am I sad, but a little upset that I will not be able to spend time with him this upcoming season. It makes me sad that I won't be able to hear his debriefings, or dialog with him about spiritual matters. It's like having a family member move away.

Last night, we went out to eat as a family, and as Dave put, "It's like having a last supper." But, in reality, it won't be. We have tons of meals to look forward to. Today will NOT be the last day we spend together. Today will only be the beginning.

"Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind...or forgotten."

I have never been good with good-byes, because I don't really ever know what to say. But, I will say this:

Dave, I pray that wherever you go from here, that God bless your life. That you will learn the lessons and experience the adventures that only following Christ will bring you. May your life become a shining example of what love (true, unconditional, beautiful Jesus love) really is. May you look back upon this period in your life as your "canoe" trip. And may your words, your actions, and your love reflect upon others so that they may see Christ.

Winter Break

So, it's been awhile since I last updated. Mostly because it's been a real busy time for me. This last couple of weeks, I've been pretty busy packing up my stuff and moving. Also, I've been busy working on training for becoming an assistant scheduler.

But I have a few thoughts about the holiday season, so I thought I would post them up now.

Christmas is an interesting season for Southern Californians. My roommate from Michigan has been complaining about how cold it should be, but the weather is totally what I have expected. But rain and cold weather has become something that I realize affects the homeless much more than you or me.

If it rains, I get pretty upset because it means I can't go outside. And I know in LA it doesn't happen that often, so it's an inconvenience. Especially if it rains when I'm driving, because it means that traffic will be 3x more, and I will be late. But in comparison when it rains on a homeless person, their cardboard house gets wet, or the tarp they use to keep warm no longer provides heat. It is a sad fact of life that people on the street not only are inconvenienced but in fact have a higher rate of mortality on the streets when it rains.

I don't just talk about this to make people feel bad about what God has given them, but to realize what is happening around them. It is easy to complain about what we lack, but every person who has the opportunity to read this blog live in the top 2% of earners of money in the world. I have begun to realize that life is not about "keeping up with the Joneses." It's about how we need to help those around us. And speaking of how to help others... I think a common mistake about what I do is how effective my ministry is. (not to say it is not effective, I believe what we do really does change lives)

But sometimes it can seem that what we do is not helping in the grand scheme of things. But as I am reminded time and time again, God doesn't ask us for the effectiveness of our ministry but for our faithfulness. My mom (yeah my mom) sent this to me today, and I thought it appropriate to my post:

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.

So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down; his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all of his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind, "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't moved." Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough." And that is what he planned to do, until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock."

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just a simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves mountains.

Glitz & Glam

Today was an interesting day. Being my day off, I woke up late, and enjoyed a relaxing morning of making pancakes for breakfast and watching some old episodes of House. My roommate and I started making grand plans to see the sights of LA today, planning to go to the Getty Center & later to Beverly Hills to walk around on Rodeo Drive. Having never gone to Rodeo, I was excited to see how the richest of the rich live. Unfortunately, after a brief check online, we found that the Getty Center was closed on Mondays, so we finished up a few things around the apartment, and we headed out for the glitz & glamour.

After driving the 15 minutes into the heart of Beverly Hills, Dave and I parked and began to walk around. With my trusty camera in hand and my backpack holding my laptop and a collection of books, we began the walk down Rodeo. The first sight, of many sights we saw was a Ferrari parked in front of a store. Bright yellow in color, it screamed, “Look at me!” It really impressed me. Even for a kid that grew up in La Canada, this car was still not entirely commonplace. A few minutes later, we wandered into one of the stores. Of course, it was beautiful. Everything was folded to perfection, the layouts stylish and untouchable. I felt like I was in a museum for clothing. A store salesman came up to us in a perfectly tailored suit and asked us (in a French accent) if we needed anything. We told him we were looking around, and will perfect grace and elegance, he told us to please continue to take our time and if we needed anything to feel free to ask him.

After walking all the way to the north part of Rodeo Drive, we crossed the street and started to walk down to Via Rodeo. That is when we saw Donald Faison. For those of you who don’t recognize that name, shame on you. He plays Turk on the NBC show Scrubs. Standing in the street, I was so surprised to see him that I stood there, mouth hanging open, with camera in hand and watched him walk right past me. I was amazed to see him just walking around on the street, that I forgot where I was.

Later, we walked around Via Rodeo while I kicked myself for not saying, “Hello.” Finally, we ended up at a Starbucks around the corner; where I sat down to write this. Dave is reading one of his books, and I am reflecting on what I have seen this evening. It simply amazes me. Just two days ago, I was driving around skid row and stepping over sleeping homeless men as I was attempting to walk into Midnight Mission to serve breakfast to the poor. Today, these same shoes walk the streets of famous actors and rich consumers. I guess I can’t be overly critical. As I type this message on my 17 inch laptop, and check my email on my iPhone, I am just reminded that Jesus calls us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with wealth and riches, but I cannot even imagine what it would be like if I loaded up a van full of homeless from skid row and had them wander the streets of Rodeo.

Who would feel more uncomfortable? The rich people who are unfamiliar with the state of the poor not more than 15 minutes from here, or the homeless people who clearly are unwanted, undesired, and shunned by society.

Jesus was always found with the poor, but he also was always pleading with the rich to join him. Challenging them to think different about the social structures in place, forcing them to re-evaluate how they lived and what they did with their time. If Jesus was at your house today, what would he say about your possessions? What would he say about how you spend your time? For myself (and for many of us I would imagine), I think he would smile at some of my spending, and he would frown at some of my toys. “Jonathan, I know you bought that laptop as a tool, and you have you have used it for great things including your education, but did you need… that much?” or “What do you need an iPhone for Jonathan?”

One of the last things we say on our prayer tour is simply, “Most of the 100,000 people coming into the city a day never know of how great and how expansive the homeless problems in LA are, because they never see them. It’s not a question of why don’t they do anything, but a simple fact of they don’t know. But now that you know, now that you’ve seen it, what will you do to change it?

Providence...

Do you believe in providence? I do. Recently, it has been a struggle
trying to figure out what I should do in my life, I am reminded time
and time again the God has a good plan for me. And that plan is better
than I could ever make for myself.

All this past week I have been struggling with the idea that I might
never make as much money as my peers. Deciding to go into ministry is
a decision that will change the way you see your future and financial
outlook. Wrestling with God over my future has been exhausting. I did
not want to let Him take control.

Last night, my roommate, Dave, read a story to me. I don't think he
even knows how much I have been agonizing about how much control I
have needed over this topic. Being a college drop out means I cannot
identify my self worth with a college or university. My greatest
acoplishment in my recent life has been my career's success. My
identity and self worth are tied up directly with how well I have done
financially. Giving up all that for God pretty much means I no longer
feel like I know who I am.

Anyways, so unbeknownst to him, I have been trying to figure out how
to trust in God over my identity. How can I trust God with how I
identify myself if I cannot trust Him with my financial future?

But as he read his book last night he decided to share a particularly
interesting story to me. I don't remember the name of the book he was
reading, nor do I remember the author, but when I do I will add that
into this post.

The author was talking about how he and a friend were trying to get an
internship with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. After writing her inquiring
if they could join her, they waited for a response. After some time,
with no response, they began to think they would not get a response,
so they started to call to see if they could make headway by phone.
After a long and complicated process, they finally got to talk to the
Mother Superior of the Bronx. After explaining to her that they had
written a letter and had been trying to call to see if they could get
in, this nun told them she would give them the number for the mission
in Calcutta if they promised bot to give it away.

Calculating the time difference, they realized they would need to call
at 2am and it would cost them $4/minute. Waiting til 2, they called
with fingers crossed they called. This is what that phone conversation
looked like (I'm paraphrasing from memory here)

"Hello, this is ____ from the United States calling for ___ mission,
I'm looking for Mother Teresa"
"This is ____ mission, this is Mother Teresa."
"My friend and I were hoping to intern with you in Calcutta and help
you there."
"How long were you thinking of coming for?"
"For the summer. So, 2-3 months?"
"2-3 months. That's a long time."
"Or 2-3 weeks... Or 2-3 days even..."
"No. Come for the summer. Come."
"Where will we live? What should we bring?"
"God takes care of the lilies and the sparrow, He will take care of
you. Come"

As my roommate read that last line last night, I had tears coming to
my eyes, because it was so comforting to hear that God really will
take care of us. God takes care of the lilies and the sparrow. He will
take care of me. Come.

Even now, as I sit in Chinatown writing my thoughts, I am tearing up
from the reminder that God will take care of me. Haha, thank God I
have my sunglasses on.

He will take care of you. Come.