Tuesday February 10, 2004

Okay, praise report:  =]

I was really blessed by what happened at Come and Pray last Saturday night.  That afternoon, I was taking my written exam for massage certification (Good thing I finished my Anatomy Coloring Book!)  After an initial fiasco with the grading which made me look like a massaging moron (insolent Osgood-Slaughter syndrome, why did you have to show up on the test?!), I was told that I passed!  Yay!  =]

Anyway, the massage exam really isn’t what I had intended to sing praise about.  I was really late to dinner, but still very grateful for the meal with Ryan and Fred and Brian.  However, I still wasn’t *that* excited about the event to come, since from the advertising, I had somehow gotten the impression that it was only going to be a little pack of alums huddling together in the little Old Union Clubhouse office to pray for faceless students in IV.  I was totally shocked to see the turnout of current students.  It was so encouraging!  The testimonies of Rene and Talah (sigh, have no idea how she spells it — someone tell me!) were just stunning; their sincerity and insights really moved me.  And of course, it was great to recognize some peers and meet new faces.  It was refreshing to be able to pray as part of this sea of believers.  I’m really glad I came!  The John Teter and Alex Gee book, “Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets”, from the raffle was really entertaining too!  =]

Speaking of books, the second highlight of the week arose last night as I nearly finished reading “Changes That Heal” by Henry Cloud.  3 weeks ago, a friend lent it to me, suggesting that maybe I might get something out of it.  By the end of the five minutes I spent “just reading the headings” I was unimpressed, suspecting that it was going to be cheesy and stuffy (“Four steps to a happier, healthier you!”), so I think I kind of snubbed it and didn’t really think I would bother reading through it.  In any case, what I wasn’t receptive to 3 weeks ago was like water for my soul last night, when I kind of randomly picked it up again after jujitsu and found myself reading it from cover to cover with a diligence and wakefulness I haven’t experienced in a long time.  (Then Brian got to talking to me about dating at 1:30 AM, so I had to finish the last 40 pages of the book this morning, hehe.)  I think I must’ve been in a weird mood too, because I definitely laughed out loud at least twice while reading this book even though it’s not intended to be particularly funny (unlike William Goldman’s “The Princess Bride”, which was darn funny, but I still don’t think I laughed out loud while reading it).

Anyway, having blasted through the book and found it fairly helpful in providing terms and definitions to mindsets and behaviors I see in my life, I am now preparing to go through it again and take some notes this time.  Yay!  I like identifying patterns and structures, and solidifying definitions.  This certainly beats paying a counselor $120/hour.  I guess I should’ve given it a little more credit, considering that Josh McDowell was even quoted, “Changes That Heal has affected my life more than any other book I’ve read” without the obligatory qualifier “other than the Bible”!  Hehe.  =P  God works in his mysterious yet impeccable timing.

So there they are — two reassuring and refreshingly bright moments (this week!) I’ve been blessed with in what was a dry time of spiritual emptiness and discontent.  Thanks.  * End Praise Report *

Other great books I’ve come across lately, but you can ask me about them yourself: The Science of Takedowns, Throws & Grappling for Self-Defense; How to Win Friends and Influence People (the classic human relations book); 101 WTF (title abbreviated to prevent some readers from flipping out, hehe.  Luckily, you will never ever guess what it stands for).  =]

I had another really extended dream two nights ago, but since it took me so long to write it down, I’ve forgotten nearly everything except for a few now-meaningless components that don’t bear retelling.  (And the crowds sighed in relief.)