Cats

Heyooooo. I would like to make a shout out to all the people that have been excited about our blog so far (or have at least acted excited). I know you all have been anxiously awaiting our next post, so here goes!

Pam and I are cuddling on my bed right now in Carlsbad, and let me tell you... This is the life. I had the hardest time concentrating in class yesterday. Don't get me wrong, Johnny Pang is a phenomenal chem lab teacher; but the entire time he was rambling on about who knows what, all I could think about was going home. It's nice being able to drive to Target in 10 minutes, while it would probably take an hour and a half to travel that same distance on a bus. Plus I missed my gifted cat, Smudge, who rides piggy back on my shoulders. He's special.

Monday night we had our weekly floor Bible study, where we studied Jesus' healing of the lame man in John 5:1-9. I love Jesus' simple command: "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." Even though our group was a little smaller than usual, God still used that time to bring up some good spiritual discussions, which always challenges our faith!


On Tuesday I had the opportunity to go down to 3rd street in Santa Monica and serve the homeless. It was neat having some sweet conversations and seeing how appreciative everyone was for their meals. It was also interesting hearing some of their stories. Interesting being a huge understatement. One woman told me I needed to find a large sea turtle so I could escape to another planet in my egg casing. Another man told me that everything is explained by physics and with a high enough vibrational energy, we can get to heaven. Trying to relate, I told him my fears about not always being energized and that Jesus came to save us from our frequent lack of vibration. I'm not sure if my metaphor worked, but I like knowing that God is sovereign. He doesn't need me! Yet he delights in using us as his servants. Mmmmmm....God is good.

-Suzanne

College is a death trap when it comes to obesity. Seriously. The healthiest items available in the dining halls come from the salad bar. (Actually, UCLA has legit salad bars. Nothing like those nasty stands you find in Pizza Huts across America.) And outside of that, sure, there’s the unbelievable tandoori chicken dish from Covel or sushi bowls from Hedrick, but these are rarities. I couldn’t help but think that buffet-style dining would be the end of me.

Thus began our 5k training journey.

Starting this week and continuing for the next eight, Suzanne and I will be running every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, increasing the time spent running, while decreasing the length and frequency of walking periods in between. Why do it, you ask? First off, I should be able to run a few miles. Right now, well… I can’t. Secondly, our bodies are temples for God. We want to glorify Him by not only strengthening ourselves spiritually, but also physically!
“So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:26-27
Lastly, exercising helps me release stress and start my day off productively. And I guess it doesn’t hurt that I get to start off the day hanging out with my roomie :)

For those of you who don’t know, I recently got a job at our dorm building’s 24-hour front desk. This last Tuesday, I had the privilege of working the midnight-3am shift. (P.S. I am NOT a night person.) All Wednesday I was afraid that the combination of 4 ½ hours of sleep and an invigorating run with Suzanne that morning would kill me. Did I mention Wednesdays are the days I have to sit through my 4 hour film class? All day I was praying, “please God, give me a supernatural ability to stay awake—I just need to survive today!” And you know what? My film professor only lectured for 30 minutes (which has NEVER happened before) and the film was so good(Best Years of Our Lives (1947)) I didn’t feel sleepy once! God is so good. He answers even my smallest requests!

-Pam

Here's a picture of us at the beach! Gotta love California in February :)