expectations

What a crazy night. Prom, the once in a lifetime night everyone has been chatting about, getting excited for was today. To be completely honest, i wasn't excited and i dreaded it, the past two days, it got to the point where i felt like it was a chore, a tedious chore that needed to be completed. But surprisingly, once i put on my outfit for the first time, something came over me, and those prom jitterbugs came flocking. And after tonight, i must say that i did have a wonderful, amazing time. It was fun, I was content.

Many people had crazy expectations about it, how it was the perfect night, i know so many people were going crazy, and the news has reported that teenagers are spending hundreds of dollars on this simple night, on make up and dresses, and its just been so hyped and people have had such high expectations. Tonight, i felt like those with such expectations were disappointed. Sometimes we create these expectations for things in life, but they end up disappointing us, whether it may be an event, person, or relationship, we can get disappointed.

But, thankfully, there is something we can have great expectations of and i promise and know that it won't disappoint. That is heaven, eternal life, and our God. Heaven, streets of gold, rooms made with us in mind, eternal life, a life without pain, suffering or tears. We cannot even begin to imagine the love God has for us, and what he has in store for us when we get to heaven. Im excited, and i cannot what to see what he has prepared for me.

Are you expecting something great? 

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;     my hope comes from him.

Psalm 62:5 

there's a plank...

Who am I to judge?

Who are you to judge?

We are equal in sin.

One of the biggest qualities i look in a friend is that they aren't judging. That I can be my 100% self around them, ask the stupidest questions and not get a glare, or a "really? you didn't know that?" or a "do you live under a rock?". Sarcastic or serious, it hurts. And who are we to judge each other. We are equal in sin, equally at fault, and have all fallen short of God's glory.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
³ “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? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

We tend to judge others a lot, whether its shown obviously or just judging another on the inside. I know that I most definitely do, especially with first impressions. I think the root of it is pride. Thinking you are higher above, or better than others, but the truth is we are all equal. The one that stole is no better or worse than the one who committed murder. We constantly are looking for faults in another person, trying to compare ourselves to make us feel better about ourselves.

I know many times, especially at church, judging others is an issue. I think its because many of us that attend church have been there for a while now, know all the "standards and expectations" as Christians, and once a flaw is noticed, its immediately beaten down. It develops a negative atmosphere, and people don't feel welcomed. God made people, friends and community so we can feel loved and build each other up and not tear each other down. When we judge, we look at others and not ourselves. Like it says in the passage above, why are we talking about the speck of dust in another's eye when we clearly have a plank in ours.

Don't judge, but love each other. We all have faults and we all stumble, but we should be there for other, to help each other up, not to cast stones to keep others on the ground.

⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

John 8:7 

Journey: Guangxi

This summer, I'm heading out Guangxi, China for a short terms missions trip and tonight we had our first training session, where each meeting revolves a specific theme, from expectations, to love, to unity, to the actually lessons we're teaching.

At the end, one of the veterans came up to share with us and he talked about the journey. Not just for this specific trip, but for missions trips in general. We're going for two weeks to teach english, but thats not the only thing. That's only one small portion of the entire journey. He challenged us to reflect and think about this process. It starts now actually, or even before. As he said, when you first start praying about it. Thats what I intend to do with this series, i'll try to update myself and y'all on my journey. From today, the first meeting, the ten weeks of training we'll go through, the two weeks of execution, the the debrief afterwards. Its a long process for a short term missions. He also challenged us with two questions. "So What?", "What's the next step?". These are things we need to answer after the trip (which i will eventually, as long as I remember). He said that many people usually get a spiritual high from these missions and once they return, it just drops back.

Going along with the theme of tonight, expectations. They really talked about preparing ourselves personally, for the change in environment, the change of lifestyle, from the living conditions, the food, and the people. And because we're going with a bunch of people, we focused on unity as well, and prayer.

There were so many new faces there although more than half of the people were from my church, RHCCC. It was interesting to get to know new people, and i could already feel myself being pushed out of my comfort zone. Im excited to interact with this new group of people, knowing that God brought us together for a reason. How i'll mesh with them? That's a whole other story. Im praying that I can be open to them, and just be able to have peace and unity with our whole group.

Personally, reflecting on everything so far, i can say that I'm not that excited for the trip. Im giving up so many things for this trip, my OJ missions, day camp, overnight camp, and i know I'm really going to miss them. I hope they don't forget me! But as i journey into this new realm, of new people, and new experiences, i pray that i'll keep my eyes and heart open to new ideas, new cultures, and new encounters. May I learn to be willing to take in what God wants to teach me. May all of it be for God's glory now and forevermore.

¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17