I want to write a random story that happened to me about a year ago? i think it was a year...anwayz there's this place in Roseville called "Denios Roseville" (obviously located in Roseville) it's a flea market. I remember going there quite often back when i was a wee lad...(like when i was in 5-7th grade). So yah my parents would take me and my bro there every Sunday. So yah I still remember it all. The fake hot pink Spider-Man toys. 100 pogs for $1 (wow do you remember pogs?hahaha SLAMERS). The sound of Mexican music blaring from people trying to sell car speakers. The covers of VHS movies faded by the intense sunlight. Huge blankets of Native American culture and wolves. So yah you get the picture. The thing that i always loved going to, was this indoor comic book shop. I remember the boss there was some asian dude and yah. It wasn't a very big comic shop, but i remember they had some cheap stuff like $1 packets of comic books, marvel cards, pokemon cards, my dreamland as a child. I got a lot of stuff there that really influenced my art and fed my nerdy fetishes. So yah i loved going to that place as a kid, every time i got money i dreamed about what i could buy at the place. But then I became a Christian (like in 8th grade) and thus my Sunday trips to this place ended. Fast forward 8 years later. My parents ask me if I wanted to go to Denios Roseville on a Saturday. I was like "woah! totally forgot about that place!" So yup i went and as i walked through the aisle of people trying to sell random obsolete contraptions that they have abandoned, i saw the building which contained the comic book stand that has played a big role in my lovely childhood. Ahhh....you can smell the nostalgia in the air (if it had a scent). My heart pounded in anticipation of walking in and being revisited by my old friends "Spawn" and "Ash Ketchum." Oh there was so much i wanted to tell them...so much has happened in the past 8 years of my life....Being saved by God's grace...High school...college....o so much. As i opened the door I couldn't believe it. The majority of the place was a furniture store. I didn't recognize the place at all. I can still remember the layout of my wonderful comic store in my childhood, but no it all changed. What did I expect it's been 8 years! But all was not lost. There was a tiny store in the corner. The remnants of my glorious childhood past. I walked in there hoping to see the familiar comic books and cards. But nope. They focused mainly on sports cards. Instead of seeing cards of Cyclops blasting his beam in the air, I saw ugly pictures of Kobe Bryant and lame vintage baseball cards. Booooo i say to thee! Boooooooooo....There was no more comic books. Instead they had sport beckets. Beckets....beckets.... I saw these Duel Masters cards or something like that. Some kinda Pokemon ripoff. I was like wat happened to Pokemon? I was eavsedropping on a conversation between these two kids as I was rummaging through old Sports magazines hoping to find a misplaced comic. I heard the kid say "Dude Pokemon is old. Everyone plays Duel Masters. Look at these pictures! Pokemon cannot compare to that." The kid might as well have shoved a chainsaw through my heart. My childhood as i knew it, was fading. A page in a history book to be forgotten. But all is not lost. I saw a pack of Spiderman cards! Yessssss...Had to buy it. It was only $1 after all. A small price to pay to visit memory lane, to reexperience the joy of buying a pristine package of cards and wonder what mystery lies in the between those expensive pieces of cardboard and ink. I tell the cashier "I'll take a pack of Spider-man card" I can tell he was confused until he looked into the glass case and sees the dusty box of cards. Not even he knew they existed. The cards were old, 1992. I couldn't help but think about the life these cards must have had. For 16 years the cards just sat there...waiting....collecting dust. Waiting to be opened. I commenced to release the old bonds that the cards endured....and felt all the familiarities rushing back to me. I was reliving my childhood, for a short precious minute. The cards brought me waaaaay back to my early elementary school days when I loved collecting Marvel cards. I remember trading one of the cards I got from the pack to a friend. One card that caught my eye was the shiny one. Every packet of cards has that one rare card, the one "collector's item." It looked pretty cool. It was an image from Todd McFarlane rendition of Spiderman (i know i am a geek) and it was all blue and shiny and cool. I looked at the back and it said "Move On." Ooohhhh the irony. God was telling me something. "Stop dwelling on the past. It's over. I know I have given you a great childhood but look forward. Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God." As the shiny and blue card says..."Move On."
Wow I graduated from college already? I cannot believe it people. I seriously think this year went by faster than my yr in study abroad. It doesn't feel as surreal but I seriously feel like this was an insanely fast year. I was really happy this yr = ). Sure i had some emotional ups and downs in the beginning but God really carried me through it all. Readjustment was hard at first but God worked in me. So yah I dunno how to recap this year...living in a house was coool. I am very fortunate to experience every possible living situation for a college student. I lived in a suite dorm, apartment, traditional dorm, and a house. I would say living in a house is the best out of those. You have so much more room and privacy when living in a house. Only down side is mo moolah on utilities and having to keep up with backyard and crap. But yah thIiiiis year. Here's some highlights just from the top of head.... - getting baptized - meeting freshmen (i hearts catcards!) - meeting the sophomores - learning the guitar - going to Louisiana - prayer nights - retreats (not a lot this year....) - uhmmms.....o acting in that lifehouse sketch - sharing during Seniors Appreciation - having pple over at our house
Yahhhhhh so yup. Sorry i'm tired. But yes God is good and he really showed himself this year in amazing ways. I totally feel like i learned a lot more about living a real life that reflects him. And i realized how far off the mark we are, in terms of what we having made the "status quo" of spirituality in America. When you examine other people's faith in other countries and look at the amount of passion the apostles had in Acts, you realized what it means to truly not be of this world. Another thing that the Lord has constantly reminding me is the amount of poverty there is in this world. An image has been burned into my mind that just constantly reminds me of how blessed I am, and the how great of a need there is in this world. I don't want to describe because it is insanely graphic but I'll tell you if you ask me. But yes, on another note. I am single and ready to mingle! I have a bachelors degree now girls! har har har....Just keeeding. I seriously don't see myself as a bf type of guy rite now. So please unless ur hot dont ask me hahaa im so just kidding. Joking joking. I realized i joke and laugh as a response to awkward situations. I just hope this summer will be more God centered and honoring than last. Thank you God for this skool yr. Thank you for being there and for continuing to be there into my super senior year!
So this past week I had a great encounter with God. Last Monday I felt compelled to try fasting. I never done it before and I felt that I was at a crossroad in my life. I just had so many uncertainties about my future and I needed to pray and pray hard for God to reveal what he wanted me to do. So I did a 30 hour fast and it wasn’t that bad. When I got hungry I prayed and the verse that kept coming to my mind was “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” But during this time I felt that I was fasting from the wrong thing. I felt compelled to “fast” from the things that are hindering me from getting closer to God. So for the past week I “fasted” from the internet, video games, and TV. But I wouldn’t call it a fast. When people fast they usually give up something that is important. A drug addict wouldn’t say that he is fasting from heroin. So yeah I gave up internet, video games, and TV for a week because I felt that they were doing more bad in my life than good. I didn’t totally abstain from the internet though. I allowed myself to check my mail once a day and to go on UCMcrops for my studies, and to listen to sermons. And let me tell you people. It is probably the best decision I have ever made for the past couple of years. God gave me the promise that he will bring a joy that is not of this world, that is greater than any joy that you can receive from materialistic objects, and that is simply amazing. So during the first few days of this “fast” I was like “This is pretty boring.” I think I created a habit in my life to go to video games and the internet whenever I felt bored and needed to get some source of entertainment or “joy.” But now because I was reframing from these things I was turning to God’s word, prayer, Christian books, or Christian television. Haha I totally forgot how cheesy Christian television is, but to be constantly reminded of God’s goodness while you’re doing something as mundane as eating dinner is great. But yeah I just want to tell everyone that the joy that you get from God is sOOoo sweeet and divine. When you’re just constantly in fellowship with him and when you are just sensitive to what he has to say to you, it is simply precious, good, and marvelous. I haven’t felt this way since my freshmen year in college. But yeah I HIGHLY encourage whoever is reading this to try it for just one week, give up something that you think is hindering you from increasing your love for God. It could be anything like useless internet stuff like “Facebook” and “AIM” or video games, texting, non-Christian music, movies, shows, etc. Or try for one week to give up everything that’s secular, that is magazines, books, TV shows, radio, etc. I truly believe that when you instead turn to the things of God constantly in your life, you will see how pail those things are in comparison to what God has to offer. Simply put, GOD IS BETTER. So peace be with you all! And know the real joy that comes only from the Lord!
