TOFU happenings

Listening: "Titanic Suite" - James Horner

Boy did we have a handful tonight. We had a guest pastor today, and hrm, should I mention my derailment of thought? His voice was bassy and he had an Australian accent, yes, I'm a seiyuu fan, c'mon, you can't NOT expect me to go "ooh" at good voices! Sermon about the prodigal son nearly made me cry because I was thinking about my friend the entire time. It really eats at me, waiting for her to realize what she's doing and come back to me. The waiting is so painful, and I think what hurts me most is that I think it's intentional. I felt better talking about it later, thank you, you know who you are, and I will continue to pray for her to "come to herself" as the parable describes.

After potluck, we went to a homeless shelter in Whittier and passed out clothes and food. Mostly clothes, actually. It was a really good experience for us: some of us spoke to the people there and learned about their stories, some sung songs for or with them, but most importantly of all, all of us realized just how fortunate we are. I'd like to believe that we all saw the good we were doing for the shelter and also see that we should cherish and be thankful for all that we have in our lives when there are so many people out there in need of things that we take for granted. I believe there are many take-home lessons to be learned here, but in personal reflection, I think that one is what called to me the most. Especially in times when I feel pain and loss, like in the situation with my friend, I realize how fortunate I am to have friends and family who care about me. Sure we blunder, but ultimately, I'm not alone anymore. The gift of love is more than I expected to get, and I hope I never ever take that for granted. I also have a roof over my head and I don't have to worry about not having enough money to pay my bills - I have all that I need to survive, is that not enough? None of this I will take with me when I die anyway, as long as I can survive, it's good enough, but I also have enough to live comfortably. How can I not be grateful for what I have!

So after accomplishing our mission tonight, we ran into a scary thing. One of our cars was involved in a pretty bad accident, and while nobody was hurt, the car is very badly damaged. The two backseat passengers hit their heads and one threw up later, but there seems to be nothing serious. THANK GOD. Accidents happen, but THANK GOD that nobody was seriously injured! Whew, what a relief I had when we saw with our own eyes that everyone was indeed okay. Tonight, I ask for prayers for all those that were involved in the accident, may the matters be cleared and injured, however lightly, folk be fully well as the new day approaches.

As we heared from a recorded sermon in our bible study today, our time in this world is limited. So let us use our time wisely, and may God grant us the wisdom to make decisions and do things that will put a smile on our Lord's face! With that off my chest, I can sleep better tonight. I have lunch with Audrey tomorrow and a little get-together at Uncle Dominic's afterwards. I hope it'll be fun!