Sunday, December 9

Moving Day



I created a new blog at http://mysanguinelife.wordpress.com/

Please join me there. 

Subscribe to my feed so you don't miss any new posts!



{This blog will be here for awhile. I have transferred all my posts to the new blog and I am working on adding older blogs from 2008 to this blog. It may take some time. :) }

27 Things to do before I am 28

Every year my friends and I create a bucket list for our birthdays. Well, I would like to share with you a bit of my list for this year.

I have divided them into different sections: physical, adventures, financial, spiritual growth, and writing growth.

27 things to do before I am 28 


  1. Complete Color Run
  2. Go to Disneyland with Jenna
  3. Visit another state that I haven’t been before
  4. Visit the Art Institute of Chicago
  5. Visit the Chicago History Museum
  6. See The Hobbit
  7. Visit CA
  8. Go to a concert in Chicago
  9. Pay off one student loan
  10. Develop a further understanding of what it means to be a Peacemaker (Yeah, this is very general, I know)
  11. Finish novel
  12. Start editing book
  13. Successfully accomplish NaNoWriMo
  14. Read 12 books // a book a month
  15. Re-design blog

Thursday, December 6

Lincoln Park, Mumford & Sons, and a bit of Great Gatsby

Tonight was splendid.

After a long day of work, I headed onto the Purple Line (a new line I have yet to take) up to Lincoln Park. I love this neighborhood. I rarely go to it because it's more north than Logan Square but when I do well, it's a treat.

I went to the Bourgeois Pig Cafe for dinner. It's definitely one of my favorite places to go. It's an amazing sandwich and cafe shop with a lot of character. Most of their sandwich names are inspired by books; for example, I have had the Hobbit before and tonight I tried the Great Gatsby.


After hanging out at the cafe with my friend Jaime, we ventured off to Lincoln Hall to watch the Chicago screening of the Big Easy Express. The cost was only $5 and it included free ice cream from a small business in Ohio. I had the drunken eggnog ice cream and it was so amazing!

Big Easy Express documents the Railroad Revival Tour, a gig I went to in San Pedro in the spring of 2011. It's was oddly hilarious to sit in a Chicago bar and watch a concert I went to in California a year or so earlier. I would have never thought I would experience that feeling.

I didn't anticipate the emotions I would experience while watching this movie either. It was hard to watch the scenes of California on the screen. I try to stay away from looking at a lot of Californian things because I do miss that state. It's where I grew up. It's familiar. It's incredibly beautiful.

Well, the movie was fantastic and I highly recommend it. It's even nominated for a Grammy. Here is the documentary trailer. I recommend watching it on iTunes if you don't have screening opportunities in your area. It's worth it.



The night was indeed lots of fun and I am especially grateful for this city. I am a lot more social than I was back in California. I am experiencing so many new and wonderful things and meeting some fantastic friends along the way. While California is in my heart, Chicago is now my home.


Photos from the Railroad Revival Tour





Tuesday, December 4

Significant Squirrel: From Ernest to Bruce

In honor of Christian, I acquiesced to her request of writing about a significant squirrel. I say reluctantly because well, it's nearing midnight and I should be in bed, but after reading her email (Write a story about a squirrel and your birthdayI was inspired. There isn't much birthday to this story other than the fact I wrote it on my birthday. I hope this suffices, Friend. 

A squirrel that did not think itself very much significant unknowingly decided that it would be known. The squirrel was named Ernest after his second cousin, twice removed. Though he never quite felt like an Ernest he kept this name until one day, this very day, when he decided to change his name.

You see, he did not believe his name accurately reflected his character. Although most people believed this squirrel to be a serious sort of fellow, an ernest of sorts, he saw himself as a wild beast, ready to take on the world. So, he decided one inconsequential day that he would change his name to Bruce. If he knew that the singular change of a name would alter his destiny, well then, he would have done it much sooner!

While walking down the path that led to the Social Security Office he came upon a young woman listening and trotting to a song aptly named "Winter Winds." It was aptly named because it was a windy, chilly morning and it was nearing the winter season. She seemed to be in a determined mood which mirrored his own desire to get to his destination.

He wondered what Bruce would do in this situation. He knew Ernest would take the long way and walk the entire distance. But Bruce was cunning and he would use all of his resources to his advantage. So, he decided to hop onto her overbearing purse and enjoy the free, brisk ride.

It was a simple task to jump on her bag without being noticed. He was insignificant, after all.

After three more songs and a couple adjustments to her bag, the unsuspecting transit turned a quick left onto a crosswalk. Distracted by an unfamiliar song, she did not see the oncoming bus ignoring the Stop sign. Before she could respond to her looming mortality, Bruce began to madly scratch at her neck hoping to get any type of reaction. She quickly ran into the traffic hoping to escape her attacker. Thankfully, the bus driver -- who had been preoccupied with watching a young kid pick his nose -- caught sight of a crazy woman running across the street with flailed hands and quickly stepped on his brakes.

"Another crazy," he thought as he drove passed the young woman throwing her bag onto the floor.

Realizing that he did not quite think this through, the squirrel haphazardly jumped off the frightened and confused woman's back and darted toward the Social Security Office. His job was done. He saved a life and he would most certainly change his name. He was now Bruce, Defender of Women.

Monday, December 3

Thistles and Weeds: Insight into why I can't listen to music with lame lyris


I begged you to hear me, there's more than flesh and bones,
Let the dead bury their dead, they will come out in droves,
But take the spade from my hands and fill in the holes, you've made.

But plant your hope with good seeds,
Don't cover yourself with thistle and weeds,
Rain down, rain down on me.



I love when God talks to me through lyrics. I have listened to Mumford & Sons' Thistles and Weeds (just on my iTunes account alone) 127 times. Just like all of their songs, it's one of my favorites.

Here are my thoughts on these words tonight that seemed to knock at my mental door while I was drifting to sleep.

We are in a spiritual battle not against flesh and bones but against the spiritual forces of evil (Eph 6:12). There is more to life than what we empirically perceive. Jesus said, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead" (Luke 9:60) in response to a man wanting to follow him. There is a high cost to following Jesus. The inquirer had just lost his dad and needed to bury him - this wasn't just out of love but also out of the cultural customs and Law - but Jesus radically tells him to leave him; to pursue life;  to pursue Me. 

Why should I pursue Jesus, who is the  life? (John 14:6):"Because the dead will come out in droves."  This isn't just some post-apocalyptic analogy but it's the reality that surrounds us now: we are the dead walking around if we don't have Jesus. Jesus is life. And because of His sacrifice, death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:54-57) and we may experience life to the fullest (John 10:10). 


This allegory of agriculture continues. I ask Jesus for the spade in his hand and I ask him to fill in the holes I made. The sin I have committed has consequences. I have many holes and have broken pieces throughout my years of living fully in sin and committing sin unabashedly. God has to be the one to fill the holes but I have to be the one to ask Him and to work alongside Him through the healing process. 


There is hope in this dark world. While there are spiritual battles surrounding us, we have a savior who indeed loves us graciously. We have hope. We must plant this seed of hope well -- the soil must not be shallow, rocky, or surrounded with thistles and weeds but it must be planted on good soil (Matthew 13). We must not "cover ourselves with thistles and weed" because they will choke us and God's Word  (Matt 13:22). The small things that I allow into my life; the seemingly small sins that I allow to saunter into my life will inevitably cover me and destroy me. 

30 Questions; #16: Accomplishments

What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?

I went for a 30 Questions post tonight because I wanted to write something that was simple. Well, I did not accomplish that task. I have spent way too long answering this question.

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There is a fine line between my own accomplishments and what God does through me. I think my best accomplishments aren't really mine but they are His.

1. Discipling my cousins
2. Moving to Chicago
3. Leading the blog and magazine team at Sandals Church
4. Teaching at CBU beginning at the age of 22
5. Every day that I live in the light and following God is a great accomplishment. I let Satan win for 21 years but these past five years can be bundled into one awesome accomplishment.