Running

My church, Austin Stone Community Church, is starting this vision series focusing on being a church for the city instead of just being a church in the city. I feel that most Christians in America today have forgotten our purpose as the body of believers. Our sole function as followers of Jesus isn't to congregate once, sometimes twice a week in a building of some sort, talk about the Bible, and pray for each other. Yes, that is a part of what we are called to do and it is important, but we are meant for more than that. I fully believe that this series will awaken us to be who we are called to be.

I'm tired of being a Christian of just words. I have compassion on others; my heart breaks when I see people in need. I have a hard time having compassion on the wealthy who spend money on useless materialistic items while purposely ignoring the starving right down the street. But am I much better than that? Do I act on my compassion? Do I act on the love that God has overwhelmingly poured over me? I need to do more than think an empathetic thought and say a little prayer. I need to BE love and not just to the ones outwardly in need, but to the ones that outwardly look like they have everything together, but inwardly are agonizing in pain. How?

I’ve noticed that I “blame” or associate my non-dramatic, almost non-passionate way of life on my very laid back and easy going demeanor. I don’t “freak out” hardly at all at things. I usually and most of the time keep my calm during situations that would cause those around me to go ballistic. I’ve now seen how this has in a big way effected my life of being a disciple of Jesus. I guess the best way I can describe it is that I’ve strolled through life when it concerned really reaching out to the lost. I’d pray for them, do something that involved serving a few times a year, talk about my faith a few times with co-workers, but that’s about it. I want this to change.

Just recently as we’ve started this vision series, my prayer has been that I run after the hearts of the lost. That I don’t let my melancholy personality get in the way of chasing after those who are hurting and in pain and just love on them with all that God has given me. Obviously, I don’t mean running after random peeps on the streets and full body tackle them to the ground. As amusing as that may be, it probably won’t get the right point across.

While really thinking and praying about how this would look like in my life, the words of a song by Charlie Hall kept going through my mind and that’s what I would like to leave you with. Run with the heart of the One who saved you and BE love to somebody today!

Let me see the whole world through Your eyes
Let this generation wake and rise
Running with Your heart, with Your heart
Bring Your kingdom, joy and freedom
Light to all the world
Rain down heaven's power and presence
Light to all the world
Feel what You feel, Love what you love
Go where you go, that's what we want
(Running With Your Heart, Charlie Hall)

Shout out to the 80's

I absolutely love 80's music videos! The mediocre creativity, the epic acting, the gnarly attire, all over-powered by some of the best music ever to grace this planet. There's something about an 80's power ballad that takes me to a dream world where I'm front row at a concert featuring the likes of Def Leppard, Asia, Styx, or even David Bowie, and as the first electric guitar chord is strung, it sends out these powerful, magical vibrations that run through your body and you feel as though you are now actually in the song, not just listening to it. Since I was not old enough to partake in these magical phenomenons, I've found their music videos to be the next closest thing to really experiencing the radness of these bands. So I shall leave you with this video to keep you AMAZED at the 80's and all that it has given us. =) They just don't make them the way they used to anymore...

So it begins...

The time has finally come! The Office season premiere will be on NBC 9/8 central time tonight! So, to keep up The Office spirit, I shall leave you all with some of my favorite quotes from the past 4 seasons:

Dwight Schrute: Security in this office park is a joke. Last year I came to work with my spud-gun in a duffle bag. I sat at my desk all day with a rifle that shoots potatoes at 60 pounds per square inch. Can you imagine if I was deranged?

Andy Bernard: Have you checked your butt.

Michael Scott: I’m an early bird and a night owl. So I’m wise and I have worms.

Michael Scott: Dwight, you ignorant slut!

Dwight Schrute: Someone forged medical information, and that's a felony.

Jim Halpert: OK, Whoa, alright 'cause that's a pretty intense accusation. How do you know that they're fake?

Dwight Schrute: [reading from a sheet] Uh, Leprosy, Flesh Eating Bacteria, Hot Dog Fingers, Government Created Killer Nano Robot Infection.

Michael Scott: Abraham Lincoln once said that "If you're a racist, I will attack you with the North," and these are the principles I carry with me in the workplace.

Michael Scott: I drove my car into a f-ing lake!!! ... Technology told me to drive my car into a lake.

Dwight Schrute: As a farmer I know that when an animal is sick sometimes the right thing to do is put it out of it's misery. With the electricity we are using to keep Meredith alive we could power a small fan for two days. You tell me what's unethical.

Not Those!!!!

Last week, I thought I lost some taste buds. I came into a near panic. To the left you see a diagram of the human tongue. Now, the section of my tongue that I could sense some abnormalties was right in the area between both "salts" and "sweet." When I saw this, my heart started beating little faster because I was thinking of what I had eaten that day and realized that what I was eating wasn't as salty as it should have been. Same thing with something I had eaten that should have been a little sweeter. I LOVE all things salty and sweet. Of all the places on my tongue to lose taste, this would be the only section that would lunge me into misery! What have I done?!

I then tried to figure out what I did I do to send myself into my own personal hell with the loss of my salt/sweet taste buds. First, I thought it was because I was brushing my tongue too hard. But then I realized I don't just brush the tip of my tongue...can't be it. I came upon the only explanation it could be: I bought these really minty and strong Japanese cough drops because my throat was kind of sore and I may have abused them to the extent of ruining my joy in taste. Well, after a couple days of worry and stress, I realized I was getting taste back to that part of my tongue. Whew! Relief overwhelmed me.

You'll be happy to know that now I am only using mild, cherry flavored throat lozenges to subdue my scratchy throat and no longer bring torture to my tongue. Be kind to your taste feelers, friends!!!

California Love

Below are reasons why this last trip to CA was awesome:

1. Two chicken soft tacos, Cherry Coke, and fries = Mariko's Del Taco contentment.

2. I got to see my parents!!! They flew in for the wedding too.

3. I got to hang out with close friends and their new roomie from Wisconsin! Welcome, Sheena!

4. I got to see Jamie and Elaine shoot a wedding. They awesomely rock at it!!! I'm so proud!

5. And the best part...Mickey and Minnie made an appearance at the wedding!!!

Me, the **Pho-Dawgs, and the special wedding guests

It was a short but sweet trip back home to SoCal...my first time back since the move. I miss everyone already, but I shall see you next month!

**Some of you may know, I like to shorten words so it doesn't take much vocal effort to say. Example: Memories - mems; family - fam; parents - rents; vacation - vaca. What's the point of saying the whole word when you can abbreviate it and still get the same point across? Save that breath for something better and more worthy. Photographer is such a syllable greedy word. I was quickly getting tired of saying it in it's entirety. So, I shortened it to photogs. But then, I went even a step further and made it culturally relevant and hip. Pho-dawgs, my friends! Re-inventing the photographer...

60 Facts...

Everything you need to know about me in 60 facts! (Erin is always full of great suggestions!)

1. I have an addiction to coffee.
2. I have a fear of heights.
3. Japanese food is my favorite food.
4. Once in 2nd grade I deliberately peed my pants because my teacher didn't excuse me to go to the bathroom...I showed her.
5. My favorite smell is eucalyptus spearmint.
6. I have the biggest sweet tooth than anyone I know.
7. My least favorite Christmas song is Mary, Did you know.
8. I used to get Legos in my Easter basket every year as a kid.
9. I love the feeling of pet's ears...so fuzzy soft.
10. Episodes of The Office, I Love Lucy, and Psych will never get old for me.
11. I get excited thinking of the uncertainty and open possibilities of the future.
12. At times, I think I have more compassion on animals than humans.
13. I always click "Do not like" anytime Third Day comes on Pandora.
14. I had a secret obsession of 90210 even though my parents forbid me to watch it.
15. I randomly crave breakfast food.
16. My life plan from 6th grade to junior year in high school: go to UC Santa Barbara, become a marine biologist and train dolphins and live on the beach for the rest of my life.
17. 5 years ago if you would have told me I'd be living in TX, I would have laughed in your face.
18. Chocolate trumps any other kind of sweets.
19. Favorite video game of all time: Zelda on Super NES.
20. I hate figuring out budgets and finances.
21. I cringe when someone touches my feet...utterly cringe.
22. My favorite place in the world is Japan.
23. I want to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef.
24. I would like to hit up all 7 Wonders of the World.
25. My favorite sound in the universe is when a child is laughing so hard it sounds like it hurts.
26. I have gotten emotional several times over the thought of losing one of my parents or brother.
27. I find small paper clips annoying; I like big paper clips
28. I prefer black ink over blue.
29. I could probably consume an unhealthy amount of Kit Kats in one sitting.
30. Smirnoff Ice is right now my favorite alcoholic beverage.
31. I have gotten emotional during the Shamu show at SeaWorld.
32. If I had the power to do anything, I would find all the injustice of the world and make it right.
33. I don't really believe in the death penalty, but those I think that deserve it the most are those who have harmed in any way or killed: a child, an elderly, or a pet.
34. I am very disappointed in myself for not keeping up with my Japanese like I should have.
35. I think the piano is the hottest instrument for a guy to play.
36. I would shower 3 times a day if I could.
37. The movies I could watch over and over again and never get tired of are: Mansfield Park, Anne of Green Gables, and You've Got Mail.
38. I always wipe the toilet seat before I sit down even if I know I was the last one in there.
39. I wish I was talented enough to be in a Broadway musical.
40. I want to experience a white Christmas once in my life.
41. I never set the microwave heating time on numbers ending in 0 or 5.
42. I regret not sticking with playing the piano and basketball.
43. I have only truly feared for my life once: on the way to white water raft a level 4; I almost threw up.
44. I have a fearful obsession with the ocean and everything in it.
45. I've started reading Count of Monte Cristo about 8 times and never have finished it.
46. I am the only one in my family who cannot play the guitar.
47. My favorite chef on the Food Network Channel is Giada DeLaurentis.
48. I have had stitches twice: my back and hand.
49. I never write in cursive.
50. I absolutely love typing long documents.
51. I am fond of the smell of gasoline.
52. The fragrance of vanilla makes me dry heave.
53. I love skeleton keys.
54. If I could be any Disney cartoon character it would be the Little Mermaid.
55. I have a hard time believing that AIDS, 9/11 and most natural disasters are objects of God's wrath on people...it could be true, but I have a hard time reconciling that.
56. I have chased giraffes in the wild on foot.
57. Fictional places that I would live in if I could: Rivendell, Hogwarts, Neverland.
58. From kindergarten through 5th grade, my dad used to pick me up from school on his motorcycle...I loved it.
59. I wish I had longer fingers.
60. The one time I thought I was going to go home to Jesus was the last time I went surfing...it'll be awhile before I get back out there.

Word of the Day Dilemmas

I once had a subscription to receive Word of the Day's through email from Merriam Webster Online several years ago. I would then challenge myself to use that word during that day at least once in it's proper meaning. Why would one do this, you may ask...just for the simple reason of wanting to intimidate my peers by blowing their minds with my wide range of vocabulary. That got old after awhile and I became completely unmotivated to use my new words. I mean, let's be honest, the words just got too hard to use. Cancelled that subscription.

Now I'm re-motivated and ready to equip myself with new verbiage! But this time I'm going through Dictionary.com. So on the subcription form on Dictionary.com I ran into some dilemmas...

They ask "year of birth." Why, I wondered...is it to prove that I am of legal age to receive Word of the Days? What exactly would that age be? OR, my main fear is that, will it base the word to give me on my age??? Yikes! Do I put my real age and challenge myself with a word appropriate to my education level and allow them to push me to my limits? OR Do I put a few years younger so that the word won't be too difficult to my using? I compromised. I put my year of birth 4 years after the year I was born. I'll show them!

Then they proceed to ask "Primary Job Function," "Industry," and "Interests." I'm sort of taken back...Are they going to send me words that only pertain to my job and what I like to do? What if I want to learn vocabulary that applies to all areas of life? I compromised here too. For Primary Job Function and Industry, I selected what I really do, and for Interests I selected ALL of them. Now my vernacular will extend to subjects from "carpentry wood-working" to "bowling!"

I'm excited about my new endeavor because I only see postive goodness coming out of this. I encourage you all to learn a word a day and I promise you can only become a better person for it!

Impact the World!

Let's love with all we have this Christmas!

Advent Conspiracy

I Heart Fall

Growing up, my favorite season, hands down, was always summer. There were a few factors as to why during my grade school years, summer was what I looked forward to the most.
Summer meant:
1. My birthday was just around the corner (July)
2. No school
3. Endless hours of swimming (I was convinced I was a mermaid in a previous life)
4. Vacations to Japan (LOVED flying as a child)
5. Youth group bonfires at the beach
I loved summer!

Now that I am a smidgen older than grade school age, summer doesn't exude the same spirit as it used to:
1. My birthday is now just a reminder of me getting closer to 30
2. School is long gone and done
3. Heaven knows this body ain't meant to be seen in public in a swim suit anymore
4. I've realized Japan is still there in the fall
5. I live in Texas now; there are no beaches

I've noticed the past few years that there is a new season that brings warmth to my heart, a smile to my face, and good food to my tummy. I have fallen in love with fall! I love fall; I do. Hot drinks, yummy pastries, warm blankets, and the aroma of a cinnamon, spice, and pumpkin mixture intoxicating your surroundings...ahhhh... I love fall. I've noticed this past week that fall decor has come out from hibernation and has filled the seasonal sections of our stores! I walked by Bath and Body Works the other day and the aroma of their fall collection of "cinnamon sticks," "pumpkin caramel," and "spiced cider" carressed my nostrils and I literally did a 180 and walked in as tears practically came to my eyes; FALL IS HERE! So, I thought I'd do my part in speeding the process of the seasonal change by buying some Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin soap.

Embrace fall, Friends!!! ...it's the new summer.

Welcome, Friends!

I am a part of a few blogs and enjoy partaking in blog-mingling, but it hasn't crossed my mind until recently to actually start my own blog. So here it is! I will allow this to be a safe haven where I can impart my unique yet bizarre thoughts upon you, shower you with wisdom, and even amaze you with my infamous haiku's. Oh yes, those are real haiku's, folks, from a real Japanese. But let's be real here, those who are actually going to read my blog are probably those that know the most about me already. But, I do like to pretend that I am interesting enough to where the rest of this planet would care to know what's going on in my world. Enjoy!