Consistency: People Are Inconsistent

As humans we can try to be consistent in everything we do. Yet, we will fail in this endeavor, we call consistency. We want it, most of us want to emulate it. But the reality is we are not built to be consistent. The only thing that really is consistent is how inconsistent we are....

Which brings me to this. I grew up in a very consistent environment. My family was a family that strive for consistency. My parents were always there for my brother, sister and I. We always had food on the table. There were no internal family struggles, that were tearing us apart. But, by no means were we perfect. Overall, I had an expectation of people, because of my environment. That people were going to be consistent.

It has taken me a long time to realize. People will fail you, hurt you, deceive you among other things. But the real problem is that most of us, hinge everything we have on people. In many ways, its a 50/50 chance of success or fail. Not good odds.

So, over time I have started to see my reliance on people. And why I have pursued it human interaction, friendships, relationships etc. Those things are good, but they can hinder us in our pursuit of relying on something much bigger and better.

Hebrew 13:8 clearly states the consistency of Christ. Which means his love, patience, wisdom, hope, goodness and all that He is remains the same. It never changes, Christ does not leave you, ignore you, deceive you, like people.

Our dependence should be on Christ and Christ alone. You might say, this is obvious! And I would respond with " of course" but why do we neglect this simple truth? Why do we so heavily rely on people to fix things for us?

Christ is the only constant we will ever encounter. People are a crutch to us, in allowing God to be our constant.

People can serve as a great outlet for us. It is imperative to have people around us to cry with, listen too, vent too, and fellowship together.

But don't let it become your crutch in approaching God for your ultimate source of consistency.

Roots: I'm a Panamexrican

Hello, my fellow bloggers.

It has been quite some time.

When I was little I was embarrassed of my background. Background meaning, ethnicity.
My dad is from Mexico, my mom is from Panama. I grew up with Spanish being my first language. However, overtime my kindergarten teacher realized how poor my English was, so she suggested I get tested.

After several test, I was diagnosed with a learning disability. It was recommended to my parents, that they speak English to me. Once this happen, my connection to my roots, my culture, slowly, faded away. Language is the key to understanding your culture.

I understood Spanish, but I dare not speak it. Even with my family from Mexico or Panama I refused to speak it. I grew embarrassed of where I came from, where my parents were from.

They pronounced words differently in English. My dad would kiss my forehead in public before he dropped me off for school. I hated that. Kids would laugh.

I felt very alone, going to a predominantly, white school I had no one to relate to. Over time, I grew accustomed to my environment. I grew further away, from my culture, my family in Mexico and Panama. To be frank, I did not have the slightest interest in getting to know them. I hated traveling down to either country.

But once I hit the latter part of middle school. My interest sparked. I decided to take Spanish classes in high school. Perhaps, it was only a matter of time. That my interest in my culture, my family history would matter to me.

After years, of catching up on my Spanish. College came around and I took advance classes. I decided to minor in Spanish. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I made.

The underline point: I struggled with my identity. I had an identity crisis. In high school, I was surrounded by people who looked like me, talked like me, had parents from other countries. It was comforting.

Now I can say I am proud of who I am. Where my parents come from, that they both speak Spanish. That my cousins and grand parents live thousand of miles away. That is my reality. And in time I embraced it.

I finally, took pride in my culture, my family, and all the other elements surrounding it.

Which begs the question. Are you proud of your culture, family background? I know a lot of people who struggle with this. We come from the same piece of land we call earth, though we may not look alike. We do share a commonality. We all have a story of family, culture, language, and experiences etc.

Remember that! This world is a diverse world. It took me a long time to see that. But when I realized it, my eyes opened up to a whole new world.

I'm proud to say I'm a Panamexrican!

Milestones

Is it just me,or do milestones bring reflection?

Perhaps..... however, milestones do come. It brings a weird sensation to the body, the psyche... your thought process the idea of accomplishment.

Which brings me to this, why the feeling? Maybe, we feel we are done and are able to move to something new?

Milestones are humbling, they allow us to understand regardless of creed or belief that there's something out there, something bigger and better. For me that bigger, stronger thing would be Jesus. Though I believe the Lord made an imprint on this milestone....

Milestones are not reached without the encouragement, love, and audacity of people pushing you.

Milestones: Many more to come and more stories to tell of how the kindness of people make a difference.

Milestones equal an opportunity to see humanity in a whole different light.

Imagine that!

The Crossroad

It has been a long time, since I can remember when so much was happening at once. Life presents unique opportunities as time goes on. However, like anything else there are bad and good seasons.

But, we still have the freedom to decide. To take a leap of faith and take the plunge.

Which leads me to this.... the crossroads. Many us have been through them, going through them, or waiting to go through them. Regardless, its inevitable.

We will be confronted with the forces of choice, anticipation, hurt, anger, separation victory, defeat, fear, love and many others. Its different for everybody and we learn along the way.

But we must take a road.
The decision is our own.


Perhaps, life is one big crossroad after another.

So, How Are You?

Often times, I think we claim to be a lot busier then we really are. God forbid we exert more effort during our daily grind of life. We get so consumed with what we are doing that, we forget about the simple things of life. For example, conversations, asking how some is doing, helping someone out.

Yesterday, I was reading for a class. I was trying to catch up on some reading. For the last couple of days I have been getting no sleep. So, I figure I read at school so I could go to sleep when I got home. However, while I was reading I was interrupted by a former classmate from South Korea. He sat down and proceed to talk in his broken english. He said hi.... he paused waiting for me to reply. In my mind I rolled my eyes and asked ... So,how are you?

He then basically talked to me for about a hour. I had lost my place in the book. I did not remember what I read,or what notes I jotted down. But Sung Sue was happy I listen to him, even though he had no idea I was sleepy and grumpy.

But the reality is I had time. I could have easily said " Hey man, I'm reading nice seeing you." Sure, there are times for that, those times are appropriate. But I was just reading, I was in no rush. The truth I just did not want to be bothered.

Sung Sue, left. I started my reading all over. But it hit me, I would want someone in my position to do the same thing. I thought of all the times people asked how my day was... or listen to me.

The principle is simple ask someone how they are doing. And you have made more of an impact then you can imagine. In many ways, its a lost art, it shows you care. That you are willing to take up some of your time. Let's face, we have down time. We are not that busy, we just claim to be.

So, how are you?

The Cost Of Honesty

I parked my car, grabbed my backpack and started to walk towards campus. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise, metal colliding against metal. A guy had swung his car door to hard and hit some one's car. The hit was minor, nothing to fuss about. However, the guy went to his dashboard pulled out a pen,notebook and started jotting down his information.

Honest, right? There are many scenarios that require honesty. The reality is a lot of times its easier not to be honest. No one was around the car that the guy scarped. He could have easily walked away. No one would have known. I bet the owner of the hit car would not even recognize the mark.

But this individual, took the liberty of making sure the owner had his contact information. Who knows what will come of it. But it cost something. Perhaps, nothing that will make the guy cringe, but he hit the car.

A lot of times we are put in a scenario where it is quite obvious that we need to be honest. Sometimes the cost is high or relatively low. Regardless, honesty is important. Honest does cost something: reputation, relationships, security, money etc.

Honesty is not about comfort or convenience. Its about, owning up to what you need to be honest about.

The question that lingers in my mind.

Will I be honest, even if it proves costly?

Scared and Excited

It appears that its only habitual to be scared and excited at the same. When we are confronted with something completely new. The only analogy I can come up with is a new boyfriend or girlfriend. You excited about the potential and what it brings like love, companionship, and a friend. However, there's the scared part... that it might blow up in your face. The unexpected elements that it brings like heartbreak, opening yourself up to a stranger, and the conflict that it produces.

In short, I am eluding to the mission field as a mate. You pour your tears, effort and time into a particular people group, country and try to assess the needs. Each situation provides different obstacles and challenges. In many ways, our time and experience is determined on how we respond. Adversity and conflict is inevitable no matter what we do.

My underline point is that we want something so bad it becomes reality. We can't help but have a whole host of emotions like being scared and excited at the same time.

As I received my letter which holds the country in which I have been picked for. Those emotions came into place. I smiled and opened it and was not surprised by the choice.

A simple stroke of the pen will commit me, to this country. I'm afraid, I have doubts... However, I have excitement of the potential and challenge it presents. This place is not my first choice, but God is pulling in a direction I never saw coming.

My mind has been spinning since. A decision must be made.

By faith....