Does This Mean I'm Baptist?

*Disclaimer- If you go to BBC in Shreveport and are reading this... skip to the end... and read the asterisked statement... Thanks. Trey's Amigos-Staff*

I'm going to share a story from the trenches now...

2 Nights ago at Barnes and Noble (apparently all my stories in Shreveport revolve around B&N) I was in a phenomenally good mood, and I was singing songs, about what I was doing at work, for example "I'm toasting a Bagel, toasting a bagel... La, la, la, la, la. I'm toasting a Bagel! WITH CREAM CHEESE!!!!" And out of nowhere a lady in line responds back "Can I get it pretty Please??!" And it just took me by surprise but... it was nice that she wanted to play along with me... She ordered whatever she ordered and while doing so she, made sure to learn all the barista’s names and find out about their lives somehow. She was VERY kind, sweet and as loving as you can be in a line at a random coffee shop. I didn't talk to her much, but I felt the slightest tug at my heart to visit whatever church this lady goes to (assuming she goes to church), but if the Lord wanted me to go to whatever church she goes to, He'd have to provide a way for me to talk to her about it... (I explained all this to God in silent prayer... :)

Immediately afterwards, I got into a very nice conversation, with a Half-Korean, Half-Japanese med student, about Vietnamese food, and the one in St. Louis we ate at (Mekong), as well as the one in Shreveport (Dahn's Noodle House). I had such a pleasant convo with that guy, that I totally forgot about the lady and the church and the next thing I know, she was gone... sad. :(

However, yesterday she came again. She was like "I was here yesterday, and now I'm back again and here you are too!!!! :)" So I told her that she was one of my fave customers and I appreciate her bubbly spirit and that her happiness is infectious. Then I told her I was looking for a church in town, and I wanted to start visiting one this Sunday... and did she go to a church nearby, because I wanted to go to a church with people like her... and she said my worst nightmare... "YES! I go to BROADMORE BAPTIST CHURCH!!!!" AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (That's the sound my heart made, when she said that Church's name...) Then she said something that must have come from the Lord... (or she had seen the look of horror and shock on my face... ;) she said "Never in a million years did I think I'd end up at a Baptist Church!" Which is what I was thinking too... especially Broadmore (which I went to for 4 weeks when we first moved to Shreveport, and I didn't enjoy an iota of it... no one would talk to us at church to try to get to know us or make us feel welcome but every Sunday after church some random Deacon would stop by our house and ask us random questions to "get to know us".) We then went to Shreveport Bible Church after a month of trying to fit our square peg into a round hole at Broadmore... and from day one at SBC, we all felt loved! They were so happy to have visitors and they genuinely cared about us, and wanted to be a part of our lives... you know? I didn't know it at the time, but that's what I imagined The Church being for each other, rather than a check list, or a numbers game or whatever...

The lady went on to say... "I never thought I'd end up at a Baptist Church... But the People there are so genuine and truly love The Lord." I've heard they've changed a lot since 1992 or 93 when we went there at first... (And I certainly have changed a lot myself...) So I guess I'll go and check it out... at least for this Sunday. Who knows, I may even go to Sunday School.

** If anyone reading this is from Broadmore, I LOVE IT. It’s the most God honoring church in the world, and has always been since it’s inception! YAY! BROADMORE!** :)

Part 2...

4) A good friend of mine told me recently that I have "so much potential, and I don't even realize it..." not an hour went by that another friend told me "Andrei, you have such a great personality, you're such a magnet for people... but sometimes you become timid and unsure of yourself, for no good reason." I can't help but think that these 2 conversations are connected somehow...

I used to think that i had a hard time making decisions... (I can't decide if that's true or not... ;) but now I've come to realize more clearly, that once I've made a decision, I struggle moreso with "did I make the right choice? What's behind door #2" type thing, even though door #1 is a perfectly fine choice.

The lesson that should be taken away from this, and the one I'd like to be able to return to again and again is our instincts are usually right. It's the second guessing that causes problems, confusions, unclarity, and systematic weakening of our own decision making process. So trust yourself more... you actually do make wise choices... it's the 2nd guessing yourself that gets you in trouble. Be happy with your choice, don't worry about what "you're missing out on" follow The Lord where He has you, and be content in that moment. You're missing opportunities for service, right where you are, if you're questioning wether right where you are, is better or worse than the place you had the choice to go to but didn't...

which brings me to....

5) Living an Adventure- I've read this book "Wild At Heart" a few times... and I know not all people are down with that book, which is okay. I know it's NOT the WORD of GOD, but what it is, is, a seemingly Godly man, sharing his insights of what God has shown him, to others. And there's nothing wrong witht that. God relates to all of us differently, and some expirences when related connect with others deeper because God wired us differently. So John Eldridge says in "Wild At Heart" and in "The Sacred Romance" people are essentially looking for Beauty, Intamcy and Adventure. Yesterday I think I grasped a smidge more, of what "living an adventure" means. In my head and heart the definition has always been something BIG! Something like starting a Bible Study for prostitute orphans in Zimbabwe, or prayer walking the Sahara Dessert with a camel and a cactus as your water supply, as you eat locusts, to be like John the Baptist. Something like that... but yesterday I was at barnes and noble cafe working, and decided to let go and have fun with people, to encourage them, not based on "what I think they want to hear" but just on my pure instinct alone. You can tell the people that want to chit chat, and the people that want to be served in a hurry and go about their business... Of the people that you're working with, you can tell the ones that are having a hard time in life, and it's burdening them. It's just instinct and we need to not only trust our instincts, not only trust ourselves that we have something worthy to say... but Trust that God Wants to use us in that place... and this is the beginning of Living an Adventure. It's not going to Calcutta like Mother Theresa, it's being the type of Mother Theresa God designed you to be, wherever Calcutta is for you at that moment. It's bold, brave, and dare I say it... adventurous to live out your life in this manner. It's the tip of the iceberg... it's the first important step in living out an adventorous life for The Lord. My time at work at Barnes and Noble yesterday was fun, lite, confident and relaxed even when it became hectic. When we stop thinking about ourselves, and start thinking how can I encourage and serve that other person, it's just a better way to live. I pray that God will allow me to live that way again today, and not get discouraged when I falter but to help me press forward, and continue on in my relationship with Him as He wants me to. Maybe in doing so I'll be moved from Barnes and Noble Cafe to an actual Starbucks!

6) Working with your friends- Movies are inspirational. There are tons of movies that make you want to fight for freedom, or take down the baddies or whatever... and there's one particular movie that inspires me... in a way most movies don't... I wish I could say it was Braveheart or The Princess Bride, or Galaxy Quest or even Beethoven, but alas it's the Romantic Comedy “Return to Me”. David Duchovny and Minnie Driver star in this very cute movie... but it's the old men that run the restaurant that have been friends for like 30 years that are the most entertaining (that and a belly dance by Jim Belushi). And it's an inspiration to want to open up a restaurant, or a coffee shop, or used book store with friends, because working with friends is the best of both worlds... it's work and hanging out at the same time... So I'm plugging Trey's Amigos Coffee Cantina coming soon to Park Street in St. Louis. Be there or be square. I promise not to do a belly dance if you come...

So I've been here for 2 hours (some chatting with Nguyen was being done too) and this is all I've got... and I'm out of quarters so there are no more continues... I have four minutes left... and I'm going to regroup my thoughts and come back later on (today or tomorrow) and play some more.

dre :)

This Whole Thing Is My Fault!!!!! (A response to Shonnie's Blog Top 10) (Part 1)

I betrayed my peeps... in Trey's Amigos... a little over a year ago... It was never Jrey's Amigos, Or Trey's Amigols... it was Trey's Amigos. (For further analysis read the post entitled "A List Before Dying" and the comment posted by Nguyen.)

Now that I know that I was a MAJOR JERK (and have been absolved of my Jerk-ness by my fellow Amigos!) I'm going to attempt a top 10 list, of "important things" (even though I've had a year to prepare for this... I'm not exactly sure what format this is going to take... but it's going to be a fun adventure).

1.) God's Love- in the immortal words of Kirk Franklin' "I can't explain it/ I can't contain it/ Jesus your love is so amazing."
I don't understand how or why God can and does love us fallen humans, weak vessels, AND on top of that He uses us for His Glory! We fail daily, often times hourly, we lose faith and don't trust Him, even when we claim to, and in return He loves us and continues to give us the best He can offer us, Himself. Furthermore, we can hold firm to His promise that he is bigger than our screw ups... He'll make "robes form our rags" and He'll do it for our good and His Glory! Yay GOD!
2.) Friend's Forgiveness- I'm thankful for my friends in general... I have been blessed with an overabundance of them... I praise the Lord for every single one of them, and I've learned SOOOO much about Him and life because of them. Sometimes you do stupid things, sometimes you make mistakes, sometimes you single-handedly cause the near downfall of the greatest blog this world has ever known! And when it's revealed that you've been a big JERK, your friends forgive you and welcome you back into the fold. It's fun! It's nice! It's how life should be! It's how God wants us to relate to one another.
Because of our sin nature we all "fall short of the Glory of God". But it's nice to know that when a friend falls short, the others are there to pick them up, to grieve with them, and t0 help them along. It's what we've all done for one another and we'll continue to do so because God calls us to, and we actually WANT to because, we're friends! Yay Friends!
3) Parent's Wisdom- every once in a while (not often) :) you get into a pickle in which you need your parent's advice, guidance, support, and past experiences to help you through a tight spot. Today I called my mom, and she and I had a tremendously good conversation. She's a super kind lady, really funny, really intuitive, and flys off the cuff and makes snap decisions... so sometimes, I take her advice or judgment with a grain of salt. However, I come to find that 97% of the time she's right on the money. She's got an intuition and a way of expressing it (and she repeats herself ad nauseum, and it kinda waters down the poignancy of the message) but her words are for the most part steeped in truth, and wise council. I'd be wise to remember this about my mom and delight in her words more than I do sometimes... Yay Mom...
.... Okay, I'm at the library and have to be back at work in 45 minutes and I have to eat too... so this is alls I got for now... but rest assured I'm coming back to finish what I started... (and at some point (a year from now... j/k) I'll respond to "Is Ignorance Bliss?") But first things first... I have to wash Shonnie and Nguyen's car for a year... and cook them stir fry and Moo Goo Gai Pan, at least 3 times... so I guess I'll get started on that too... :) Then they'll think of giving me my access back to Trey's Amigos...

Ignorance is bliss?

In a somewhat long, but very stimulating, conversation last night, Andrei and I talked about whether or not we would want to know if the government was doing things behind our backs that was illegal. Now, this all started with an episode of 24 of course...and just in case you haven't been following 24, let me give you an example from the show to lead you into the conversation.

Imagine if you will a president taking it upon himself to work with terrorists in order to help national security in the US. In the wake of doing this, he is involved in killing an ex-pres., and helping terrorist almost release nerve gas to millions of homes. At least a hundred people have been killed in the process. There is a taped recording, of course, of a conversation he has had with one of the said terrorists.

This is the question...to release or not to release the information of the conspiracy to the public.

Although I know that this information could possibly cause civil unrest, I say, as an american who trusts in the government of the United States to keep me safe, I would want to know. I would be sad, angry, untrusting, and scared at the thought of this having happened, but at least I would know that we would do everything in our power to keep it from happening again.

What do you think?

Part 2 of The Middle of Top Ten

Part 3: >>>>>

• Set small goals... just follow the link to read more.
  
  [to read more]

~nugy

Top Part of The Middle of Top Ten

another response to Shonnie's "Top 10" - posted on 04.10.06

Part 2:>>>>>

• Having an option for divorce is a good thing. Now hear me out. Commitment holds stronger if it there is a choice to not commit. Between two people, having no way out could be a breeding ground for resentment that chokes the relationship. If a problem arises and you feel that you are stuck in a relationship, you may feel as a helpless victim, removing yourself, and removing responsibility, from a relationship that requires work in the first place. Likewise, if you believe that the other person has no other choice but to stay with you, then commitment has become your leash. You may become more careless and unintentional in your relationship. You may start to take the other for granted. Instead, if you view that divorce (legally or not) is a real option, but “NOT an option that YOU will choose” you’ll begin to understand what commitment is. You begin to understand what love is. I believe that God made us this way from the beginning. He could’ve made us love Him and disregard free will. But He didn’t. Instead, He sought us and is constantly showing us that not loving Him does not make sense. All the while, we know that God can choose to leave us at any time if He wanted to. He has the ability. But He said that He won’t, and He keeps to his word. We then cleave to Him because being apart from Him is not an option that we will choose… hopefully. Our commitment is now stronger. That’s why we were given free will. So, choose to love and choose to commit... constantly and consistently give them reasons to reciprocate that commitment and love.
  

~nugy

Top part of Top 10?

a response to Shonnie's "Top 10" - posted on 04.10.06

I'’m not creative enough to conjure up some new formula or format. I don'’t mean to plagiarize. The only reason why I procrastinated this post for so long was that your post already made included a lot of what I wanted to say...… and then some. But I want to say something. I'’ll work off of your words, if you don'’t mind. By no way am I trying to change your post. I only mean for this to accompany the list you made.

I would like to post this in a few installments.


Part 1: >>>>>

1. Remember that life in no way is about how you feel or what you do. It is, however, more about who you are to others (not just what they think of you)...… if you bring them truth, service, hope, peace, support, edification, love, discipline, guidance, praise, etc. into their lives. Find a mentor, find a friend, and find someone to mentor to. I call this the trinity of relationship. If you learn to understand life this way, your life will be lived more fully and with purpose. No one will be able to say otherwise.
   
   
2. Christ came and built relationships with people, we are called to be like Christ. We are also referred to as "“brothers and sisters"”, but it is still hard for us to understand. We'’re not to just “hang out”. We don'’t need to just place ourselves in close proximity to others. We are here to get involved and get personal. We need more people who we truly treat like our brothers and our sisters.
   
   
3. Rest assured that God is all glory. You can not, by any stretch, give Him more glory than what he already is. You can, however, recognize more of how glorious He is. Fear...… and take joy in the fact that you can, in some way, effect how others view God in His glory.
   
   
4. If you seek to find purpose in life... you will be left asking. If you ask in opportunities to serve...… you will be left waiting. If you wait for the perfect moment to act... you will be left wanting. Simple. Go, live life, and serve others. It's a good start.
   
   
5. Freedom is a privilege. If something was given to you for free, would you say that you deserved it more than the next person? Freedom is a duty. If something was done for you for free, would you say that they don'’t deserve something done in return for their innitial, unsolicited generosity? Freedom is a choice. If someone lives life wildly, recklessly… are they still not slaves to their consequences? Without freedom, who can be blamed when things go sour? Freedom allows room for error and responsibility... meaning you can freely choose right or wrong. Your freedom may not be eternal. Choose carefully.

~nugy