Jewels? Pfft! Try Souls!

Howdy!

Why do seagulls fly over the sea? Read the rest of the blog to find out!! No cheating!

Today has been pretty relaxing with a pinch of challenges. It all started with EMP which means Early Morning Prayer. We pretty much get together in the morning and just pray about things in our lives that need prayer and it was a great prayer meeting! After that, I left for class only to realize that my car was still at Ramiro's house. So he gave me a ride and I drove my car to my apartment to get ready. Unfortunately, I was already late for class and so I just decided to go anyway and arrive late; that didn't exactly happen either. Once I arrived at the school, I went straight to Blocker and got on Facebook. That was extremely unproductive on my behalf. I was, however, able to get my stuff ready to transfer from the College of Science to the College of Agriculture and Life Science. I have been feeling this for awhile now and I'm really praying to God that He will want me to do this. I guess I'm just waiting for confirmation that this is His will. I got the stuff ready, talked to an advisor, and before you know it, I was up and out of that office faster than you can say supercalifragilistisexpialidocious! Quite a mouthful I know. So after that, I grabbed lunch with some friends and pretty much relaxed as I conversed with them. I felt like going home to get ready for soccer, but I ended up taking a power nap in the field in front of the Gateway. Talk about relaxing with God's creation! I could really feel the Oxygen level just increase ten-fold while the Carbon Dioxide level practically disappeared! So anyway, after that, I took another great rest in the game room of the complex and shot some pool, which reminds me that I need to invite people over for a game night full of billiards, Wii and X box! I stayed there for about an hour watching Animal Planet on the TV until I finally left to play soccer. Wow! What an amazing experience; I never really liked playing sports too much growing up. I guess I can say that it was my phobia for some reason-especially when you have to get a ball and score in some type of goal such as Soccer, Football, Basketball etc. I don't know what it is, but I always get extremely nervous when I'm handed the ball and am expected to go somewhere with it...so I pretty much just pass it almost immediately after I get it. However, I believe it was good for me to play and get over that slowly!

After about two hours of playing soccer and world cup, we parted ways and I was extremely excited about treasure when all of a sudden, I felt somewhat faint while driving home. It wasn't a huge deal; I just felt like I needed a shower and get some rest. Unfortunately, after I dropped off April and Chris, my chest began developing a sharp pain and my left arm starting to go numb. At first I started freaking out because that is usually some of the first signs for a heart attack, but I knew that I tend to hyperventilate and pass out over things like that. I kept driving just reassuring myself that everything was going to be okay and once I get to my apartment, I'll be okay. In my apartment, I still felt the pain and the numbness so I just freaking out to the point where I decide to call someone and make sure that someone was around to perhaps call for help in case something happened. Of course, around my apartment, I can never get signal so it was kinda frustrating for a few minutes not getting signal. Finally, I gave up and made myself take a shower to cool off then just go to Sam's house and wait for T.H. So I call Sam after my shower and find out that he's at his apartment. As soon as I hung up, I was out the door ready to chill at his place. I felt better after the shower, but I could still feel the numbness and a slight sharp pain. First thing I did when I went inside Sam's apartment was ask him if he could pray for me. I felt better afterward and just chilled on his bed while watching "I shouldn't be alive" until the rest of the party arrived. I knew that this was in God's hands and that He will provide me the necessary comfort and relief. After what seemed like a while, we started the listening portion of the night and split into groups for the hunting portion.

My team went to HEB and I'm not going to lie, I had doubts that we would actually find someone to talk to. I just prayed that God would remove the doubt and just lead me to where I need to be. One of my clues was white shoes with red soles and I just kept staring awkwardly at people's shoes looking for it! We got to the dairy section of the store and I saw this stock-guy putting up cottage cheese and guess what he was wearing? White shoes with red soles. I was simply amazed that my clue was spot on! So I gather up some boldness and went to talk to him. After introductions, I went on to say what I was doing and just letting him know that God loves him and is pursuing his heart and asked if he needed prayer for anything. At that moment, I could feel that he was astonished about what we were doing and began pouring out his heart to us. He told me that for two weeks, he has been trying to find his identity in something: school, work, the marines, anything that could satisfy that soul craving of having a purpose. It was amazing of how vulnerable he was being and so I shared a little bit of my testimony about finding my identity with Christ this semester and how I know in my heart that He satisfies all my soul's cravings. So we conversed for a bit longer, I prayed for him and let him know that Jesus doesn't want a religion with him, but rather a relationship with him. Afterward, he told us that just before I got there, he was just thinking about what he should do and where does he belong. I was absolutely blown away! It's amazing how God answers prayers with the people He puts all around us! I told him about Life Group, Antioch and encouraged him to get connected with a community of christians. After exchanging numbers, he told us that he still couldn't fathom what had happened; he was still a little overwhelmed about what we did, but he knew that this was a divine appointment. That reminds me, I need to call him later to remind him about Life Group! I did find another treasure that night actually. It was just awesome! I just felt this tug pulling me towards this one guy holding some stuff in his hands and when I approached him, he to was receptive and allowed to pray for him about school. Again, I was blessed with the opportunity to encourage him to pursue Christ because it was evident tonight that God is pursuing him! We exchanged numbers after I invited him to Life Group and Antioch so I also need to call him and remind him.

There aren't any words to describe the feeling you get when you see that God is using you; when you see that you do have a purpose in life. Tonight was no coincidence that I was able to treasure hunt! God has a plan for us, don't worry about the future because He is in control and so it would be pointless to worry about something that is not in our control. Live in the moment praising God and giving Him all the glory and honor! I feel that this is truly what God intended us to do as followers of Christ: to go out into the world, out of our comfort zone and just tell the world of His love, joy, peace, news and what He has done in your life! I'm just so pumped up right now! I believe that I could really do this on a daily basis! Jesus is amazing! Well, I'm off for now. Take care and much love!

Pablo

P.S. Did you think I would forget about the punchline to the joke? I bet you already forgot that I even had a joke so you went back to the top to reread it! Well here is the answer:

Why do seagulls fly over the sea?

Because if they flew over the bay, they would be bay-gulls! (bagels)