Struggle

27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
39He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
41"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
43"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." -- Luke 6:27-49

How do you struggle and where does your struggle lie with folks that you run into? Personally I struggled with a couple of men who infiltrated my campus on Monday and Tuesday... I still feel violated, my religion was violated, my god was violated, my friends were violated, my fellow students were violated, my heart, mind, and soul violated, my overall being was violated by these two screaming men. Today I got in a small yelling match with one of them, I had heard them condemn people for 2 days, and I needed to voice something. I tried my hardest not to judge and I feel like I did not fully judge them but left it to God, but I know that part of me passed judgement. I was just so emotional over this violation, I told/asked one if he believed that we should leave judging people to God, he told me no, and then called me a hypocrite, because of what I was trying to say. I let him have his piece and then tried to vocalize another portion, but I wasn't allowed, because he was just screaming bashing anyone who had anything to say that differed from his opinion. I think the reason I was saddened the most wasn't the violation I felt, but the fact that as some people walked away I heard them say to their friends and to whoever was on the phone that there was a reason that didn't like christianity, because christians to them were just like that, screaming hell, fire, and brimstone kind of folks. I was glad that my friend put his arm around me, and stood up for me today, thank you Andrew. A woman spoke to me and said it'd be a lot easier if we all just walked on by, and I started talking to her, for less than a minute, and he started calling her a totalitarian Adolf Hitler, so to show my displeasure with him just a little more, and to see if I could ruffle his feathers, I looked at her asked her if I could have a hug, and hugged her...

The verses above just helped me today... Another thing that helped me was the positive reaction to a couple of other christian groups who were on campus, the Tuesday Afternoon question, the Campus Prayer Days table (1 and 2, which went amazingly well) and other random prayer circles like the one held in the free speech area which doubled in size before it was over... And Also calmed down the situation with the screaming men...

Pray for me please, pray that I find willingness to accept God's plan as to a girlfriend or whatever should happen there. Pray that a friendship started in ballroom continues, that my sleepless nights become sleepful, and that I find a place for the summer, well that Paul finds a place for me, but that I hear about it soon...

Tomorrow is huge! So is Tuesday...

So last week the Shasta/Lassen/Craig IV Bible Study decided to have a table for folks to come over and be prayed for on campus. And if they dont want to be prayed for right then, maybe we'll take names and numbers, and go grab coffee sometime, or somethingwho knows how God will lead us... That is about all I'll say for now, 9am-4pm on the Chico State Campus near Glenn Hall. Come get prayed for, or just to hang out. Pray for us too...

Ballroom Dance Night!

Was pretty bomb... I tango'd, cha-cha'd, waltzed, swung, street hustled, fox trot'd, night clubbed, west coasted, and merengued I mean I was a dancing fool. I even mixed it up and danced with two girls at once, which didn't work out too well, but well enough, we got through the entire song so it was pretty cool. I figured out some new stuff which was really cool, because a lot of it was just trying new things. It was crazy fun, I saw a crazy amount of people that I knew, I ddin't know ballroom was so prevalent in the circle I hung with. I think I was on the floor for 23-25 songs which I think is a pretty darn good number. It was really crazy fun and it was pretty crazy, but now I'm wicked sore...

One Week Later

Ugh it feels so long since I've posted on here. Kind of like a week, oh wait that'd be because it's been a week. So much has happened in that week, Upward on Saturday, work, Relay for life, work and then church just for the weekend. And then a week of struggle, pain, shame just a lot of crap.
I guess I should start with Saturday, my team continues to surprise me it's pretty much amazing how cool those kids are. David, Josh, Jeovany, Wyatt, Charlie, Eduardo, Alvaro, AJ, and Ryan a some really amazing kids. After our game, during which I felt like I was about to pass out from overheating, Ryan helped me out during the late game that I was ref-ing. That kid is really amazing, defensively I think he's a genius, he's always always in the right place in the right time. David has improved so much as a soccer player, and is more and more actively participating in the games and practices; honestly it's a challenge with him sometimes, but he's truly a great kid. Heck in the first couple of weeks he was answering questions about God, in ways that I couldn't it was great... Jenny and I have figured out that practices work well when I lead the lesson portion and she leads the devotional, neither of us feel completely competent in our areas but we both go into it with a lot of prayer and it helps amazingly... I want to see if I can get David in on three different periods this weekend. He's played in one for a couple of weeks and two last week, so I want to see if I can get him in and playing for half of the game this time. Wyatt and Charlie work wonderfully together, and Eduardo and Alvaro are crazy on offense, Jeovany that kid is a soccer player, he may be built like a lineman but he is an amazing soccer player... I'm worried about AJ; he's good when he's showing up, but he hasn't been at a game in a few weeks and then hasn't been at practice and apparently hasn't been at his afterschool program either...
Work was alright, I mean it's work right, but I got to work with a lead who knew what they were doing, I hadn't closed with a lead like that in about 4 weeks, it was great, even though it took forever...
Relay for Life was great International Neighbors raised over $600 for Cancer research, I'm so glad. I was also glad to be able to participate, because my Great Uncle had passed away at 65 from Cancer, so I did 6.5 miles in his honor. I love that man Reverend Robert T. Appleby, and he loved us... "I have loved you by telling you the truth." -- Rev. R.T. Appleby
On Sunday I started my new position, well sort of, because that position isn't going to be official until this summer, Training Mentor, I started the newbie on her training which was prety darn cool... And on Monday I started as a CSO, Certified Sampling Officer; Robe and all...
Church was alright, I mean it wasn't great, I found some truth in what was said, but I didn't find myself being in the right place to find God on Sunday night.
Monday was crazy, I had school, then ran from school to work, from work to pick up some kids, then to soccer, then to the north side of town to drop off a kid, and down to the south side of town to pick up someone for Bible Study and back to the middle of town for Bible study, South again to drop someone off, and then finally home. But the rest of Monday was the impression that was really placed on me, I was fully under attack on Monday night. It got sooo bad, I ended up taking a walk at 1am, and ended up at Craig Hall, and then hung out with a friend, until 3am, and finally made it home around 4am... it was just not a good night... Tuesday night was much of the same, and it was another scary night... On Wednesday Jamba got a new menu board which was a really long close, it was kinda crazy, just that it took forever to do it... Working around people, I'm trying to clean the store while they're trying to fix the menu board, which looks nice. Really ya'll should check out the Forest Ave. Jamba from 2-9 tomorrow just for the menu board.
I finally had a night off last night, which was great because I was really tired from school, work and just everything, so Lian and I hung out after Ballroom, up until she had to be at school for her small group stuff, and I had to be at Augies for Large Group set-up... We learned a bit of West coast on Thursday in dance it was pretty much amazing. Large group was pretty good, so was dinner, next week I'm trying out Sweet Pineapple Tamales, hopefully they'll be great, because it totally looked like it was gonna be great, but I stuck with the pork... I think I'm gonna have one Beef, and one Pineapple. Ooh I love thursday night market...
Today was pretty much amazing. I went to class, then came home and relaxed for quite a bit before dinner with my parents, brother, sister, and a buddy Jarod who's birthday it was. Came home and watched the Sharks in game 5, steal one from the Stars. I gotta be honest after the 2nd period I was about ready to shave my face because it looked pretty hopeless, it was 2-0 after the first two. And the Sharks stormed back in the third with 2 goals and then an overtime goal by Joe Pavelski to take the game, now we trail by only one game in the series which is pretty great after being down 0-3. Game 6 is on Sunday at 6, which kind of sucks because church is right then too, and I've got friends coming with me on Sunday... Oh well church is outside so I'll be checking out the scores during the game, I know what's wrong with me, I'll be respectful and only sneak a check in the scores, plus it was described as more of a baptism and a bunch of worship music, rather than a full church service...
Alright well a coach and a ref needs rest, so I think I'm going to try and hit the sack, but knowing me I'll be up until at least 4am, man I just pray for this community tonight the sirens have been going off all night, and it is just a lot of activity.

Oh new baby in the family Marcus J. Appleby born on Monday 6 lbs. A new baby in the house my buddy resides Genevieve Hosanna Grace Lynch... Plus Shawn Aaron Wun is now a month old. Another praise of all these births is that these children were born into loving christian families. I'm so excited for John and Jo with the birth of their second child Marcus, Dan and Mischa with their second child Genevieve, and Aaron and Kimberley with the birth of their third child Shawn. I don't think I know anyone else who's prego, so I think I'm alright on birth announcements for right now, but if God is blessing another family with another child right now I hope that they welcome that child with open arms and an amazing amount of prayer...