haha…

I will try my best to enlighten how this all came about.

Welp, about the first half of January found me and Gio backpacking all throughout Southern Chile/Argentina. Like mentioned previously, I’m glad that I was able to be tired, lost, hungry, confused, happy, and overjoyed all with someone else that was in the same boat that I was in... a cargo ship to be exact;) After all the hiking and traveling and random adventuring that we both did, I learned so much about not just the southern part of South America, but I definitely learned just how much we all have in common with people…and yet it’s the itty-bitty differences that cause us to be separate and discriminate oh so easily.

I was guilty of this very thing. I saw it in myself. I did not like it.

San Diego. 

Returning back to SD after 6 months of separation was like being reunited with your best friends…well that’s exactly what it was. After being tackled down to the ground by my pledgebro upon entering the AGO house, I was welcomed back by all the guys and asked so much about my time away. My favorite quote upon my arrival was exclaimed by my pledgebro- Dink, you look…UGLY!- aaand he was right I guess LOL. I mean during most of the half year of being away in Brown America, I decided to not cut my hair, to not shave, and to not drink a drop of alcohol. I based it off of the Nazarite Vow- a spiritual discipline that is found in the bible and I was compelled to do it for a time until I knew that it was right for me to clean up; a step of faith that I chose to take in order to help separate myself from the effects of all the crap that happened to me while away and to gain more sensitivity to God’s Spirit and voice…

Beyond my physical appearance, I felt different. My friends noticed it too. It was a heightened spiritual maturity that I had gained. The strength behind the scars that I now bore had granted me some crazy wisdom and I just was able to speak into peoples lives easily when I hung out with them and they opened up about their problems and issues. For the first time in a long time, I definitely felt at peace; like a monk or something. Just at peace and worry-free about most everything. I just wanted to be in prayer all the time and to know what God was doing in their lives whenever I was able to. I didn’t want to watch television or play video games or do things that were simple wastes of time. I genuinely had gained a love for people- the people in my life and for meeting new people. I started going to the Rock Church and volunteered for the children’s ministry. I honestly was worried that I wouldn’t have been selected to serve in the ministry because of my thick long hair and unshaved face, but it happened! Working with those kids was a breath of fresh air. Being able to see the kids sing and play with me and be there to cheer up those sad kids and hear them out about whatever was making them sad was quite phenomenal…definitely gave me great joy to my heart and a permanent smile on my face X)

Things got interesting as summer drew near. I was elected Chaplain for the Fall semester- my first ministry leadership position ever- and it was kinda weird knowing that my-ex girlfriend was wanting to talk again and ‘just be friends’- I did not give in. I knew there was something different in store for me.

And that’s when I got the email.

An email from a fraternity friend from another chapter who had offered several others the opportunity to be a temporary leader for a youth group missions trip to Costa Rica for a week during June. I was late to reply since my passport was MIA for close to 2weeks. But when I finally did find it, I replied and got a call from the youth pastor of the church and was interviewed over the phone…a week later a 2^nd interview was done and I had been told that I was selected to go. I had such a strong mix of emotions that I didn’t know how to feel other than just thinking- Thanks, God.

            My first missions trip with nothing needed to pay for. No fundraising, no sponsor letter writing, no car washing, nada…this opportunity just literally was given to me and it could not have been clearer as to this being God’s grace and blessing. Remember tho that I was still doing doing my Nazarite Vow. So let’s just say that the night before I flew out, I had my head and face all shaved clean. The Vow was done. I lost a few pounds in hair weight…but gained so much more.

Once again I began on a trend of being sent out traveling on my own to serve others and to serve God.

Flying out to Houston, Texas was my first exposure to the Lonestar state and to the church youth group that I never met before but was now a part of the leadership within it. WEIRD. But I was game. The next day we were flying out to Costa Rica…

To be concise, the week trip in Costa Rica was nothing short of amazing. The local people I met there were like distant relatives that I got to know and work with. The high school and middle school kids all loved me and surprised me with their actually witty sense of humors that I just fed off on- never knew that ghetto rap and hiphop was so big in Texas btw. The other leaders took me in and through all the hard work and service projects that we did while there, I felt part of the group.

Going back to the West Coast, I found myself working long hard days at a children’s summer day camp as a counselor and trying to prepare the best I could to serve as chaplain in the following semester. Well, working 40hours/week with children of all sorts in elementary school burned me out and made it tough to keep serving at the children’s ministry each Sunday. I suppose my ministry service was transitioning from kids to the college guys that I lived with in AGO. Starting the Fall semester and getting together with the exec guys was not bad. My main concern was with serving the spiritual needs of the house though it was tough to separate myself from the fact that I was not 100% in favor of certain standards/regulations that were set in place before me entering into that position- specifically in regards to drinking and smoking. I had to swallow my pride and bite my tongue many a time in order to keep the leadership unified. I did as much as I could that semester to really challenge the house towards spiritual growth and renewal through the bible studies, times of devotion and prayer, service events, etc. I definitely felt like I had to carry my own vision and passion to the guys at times since I felt few others were carrying the weight of helping me out- but it was a taste of pastoral leadership that I greatly needed. It was times like this that I most needed my friends and those ppl that I could just vent out to with no need to keep me on that ‘holy throne’ that I felt I needed to fill.

By the end of that semester, I was just wiped out. Tired of trying to make unity happen and just let whatever issues the house was undergoing to just run its course. I went back home to visit family for the holidays. And it was hard to believe how my youngest cousins had sprouted up over the 2 year+ period that I was away. During that winter break I seemed to get closer and get along better with my younger sister, my mom and dad. I had definitely changed! To this day I don’t see my entire family much; I do keep contact with my parents, brother, and sister but I guess staying in my hometown settling down wasn’t for me. I’m different from the rest in many ways. I clearly had a longer haul as far as my future went and I could not be happier…New years involved a random road trip up to SF with random ppl (including my ex) that was all initiated by my bigbro and others. I got involved somehow and ended up driving around all the bay area and ringing in 2009 at the apartment of a friend of a friend where drink flowed out of the keg and bottle like a desert rain. Being DD keep me clean from drink but it just blew my mind to think that a year ago I was under the Nazarite vow and avoided any alcohol association possible. I was completely fine with it tho cuz I had fun just getting to know the ppl… the end of 2008 was just the beginning of my mind and view on people and life to be widened more so than what I already thought it had been.