I've been running since March this year. While I can't say that I enjoy the physical output I do greatly appreciate the many life lessons found in the exercise. Whenever I go running the first couple kilometers/miles are the hardest. However after pushing through those, one finds one's stride and settles into the rhythm of the run.
Upon arriving in SoCal I found myself in those grueling first kilometers/miles just grinding through the necessities of my new life: settling into my living situations, finding a job and a church, creating a whole new social structure from scratch (as I did in France), discovering my new community and BIOLA... Well you get the picture. It's been nearly three months since I arrived and I feel that I am now finding my stride. I'm settling into a rhythm. I know my job and have begun building friendships with my collegues on the foundations that I laid in the first few weeks. The flow of my appartement and the lives of my flatmates are familiar. I've established habits of where I buy my groceries, do my laundry, get my gas, where I run etc... And I have found a church ! Praise God ! It is called Grace Ministries International and it is a Korean church. Of course I attend the English service, haha.
What I absolutely LOVE about the area is it's cultural diversity ! God has blessed me immensely to live in such a culturally diverse area ! I shop at an Arab, Indian and Korean market, get my hair cut at a Thai salon school, attend a Korean church and am every day having cross-cultural experiences, reveling in God's magnificent creativity ! This has been part of finding my stride. As I frequent these places I am also making personal connections that with prayer will turn into opportunities to share the love of God in word and action.
This week was my first week of classes at BIOLA. I am taking three courses : social anthropology, linguistic anthropology and cross-cultural communication. They are all very interesting courses and I can't wait to learn and grow in my understanding of God's kaleidoscope of cultures and how to understand them and clearly communicate the Good News to them ! That being said, it is all a bit intimidating :s But God has called me here and I am confident that while it will be hard He will equip me to accomplish His will.
One final note : God has brought an incredible possible housing opportunity across my path. A fellow appointee from WorldVenture lives out here. Her parents, who live here as well, want to have a summer getaway when they move to the Northwest of the US and need someone to rent it. That's where I come in. They would let me live there for... FREE !!! The house is seven minutes from BIOLA and living there would allow me to pay for school up front and probably graduate debt free ! Of course God's plans are higher than mine so I deffer to Him but how good this sounds and how much I pray it works !
Prayer : 1. Wisdom and discernment to know how best to manage my resources : time, finances, relationships etc. 2. To reap all I can from my professors and courses 3. Understanding in how to synthesize what I learn and practically apply it so as to serve well where God places me 4. Someone to disciple me 5. God's perfect will concerning the housing opportunity
Praises : 1. God's strength through a wonderful prayer group which has helped me find my stride 2. The housing opportunity 3. My classes and professors 4. My church 5. God's faithfulness
Upon arriving in SoCal I found myself in those grueling first kilometers/miles just grinding through the necessities of my new life: settling into my living situations, finding a job and a church, creating a whole new social structure from scratch (as I did in France), discovering my new community and BIOLA... Well you get the picture. It's been nearly three months since I arrived and I feel that I am now finding my stride. I'm settling into a rhythm. I know my job and have begun building friendships with my collegues on the foundations that I laid in the first few weeks. The flow of my appartement and the lives of my flatmates are familiar. I've established habits of where I buy my groceries, do my laundry, get my gas, where I run etc... And I have found a church ! Praise God ! It is called Grace Ministries International and it is a Korean church. Of course I attend the English service, haha.
What I absolutely LOVE about the area is it's cultural diversity ! God has blessed me immensely to live in such a culturally diverse area ! I shop at an Arab, Indian and Korean market, get my hair cut at a Thai salon school, attend a Korean church and am every day having cross-cultural experiences, reveling in God's magnificent creativity ! This has been part of finding my stride. As I frequent these places I am also making personal connections that with prayer will turn into opportunities to share the love of God in word and action.
This week was my first week of classes at BIOLA. I am taking three courses : social anthropology, linguistic anthropology and cross-cultural communication. They are all very interesting courses and I can't wait to learn and grow in my understanding of God's kaleidoscope of cultures and how to understand them and clearly communicate the Good News to them ! That being said, it is all a bit intimidating :s But God has called me here and I am confident that while it will be hard He will equip me to accomplish His will.
One final note : God has brought an incredible possible housing opportunity across my path. A fellow appointee from WorldVenture lives out here. Her parents, who live here as well, want to have a summer getaway when they move to the Northwest of the US and need someone to rent it. That's where I come in. They would let me live there for... FREE !!! The house is seven minutes from BIOLA and living there would allow me to pay for school up front and probably graduate debt free ! Of course God's plans are higher than mine so I deffer to Him but how good this sounds and how much I pray it works !
Prayer : 1. Wisdom and discernment to know how best to manage my resources : time, finances, relationships etc. 2. To reap all I can from my professors and courses 3. Understanding in how to synthesize what I learn and practically apply it so as to serve well where God places me 4. Someone to disciple me 5. God's perfect will concerning the housing opportunity
Praises : 1. God's strength through a wonderful prayer group which has helped me find my stride 2. The housing opportunity 3. My classes and professors 4. My church 5. God's faithfulness
Sounds so awesome and encouraging, Seth!!!
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