24 :: handwritten (Feb. 13, 2007 11:55 p.m.)

(February 27th, 2007)

My birthday’s eve. 24.

I’m not who I thought I was 24 hours ago/ But still I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with you/24 reasons to admit that I’m wrong/all my excuses still 24 strong/i’m not a coping out/cause you’re raising the dead in me/i am the second man now/ and you’re raising these 24 voices with 24 hearts/all of my symphonies in 24 parts/but i want to be one today, centered and true/spirit take me up in arms with you/you’re raising the dead in me/i want to see miracles/to see the world change/wrestle the angel for more than a name/for more than a cause/life is not what i thought it was 24 hours ago/still i’m singing spirit take me up in arms with you

If you would have told me this time last year that I would be replacing brokeness with independence, self worth, and a pursuit of Truth; that I would be replacing my place in Riverside with a suite in the Taj in Chandigarh, India; that I would be spending my 24th birthday with children at a school in the slums of India, meeting with social entrepreneurs and visiting the Taj Mahal - I would have peed.

This has been a year of renewal, faith, questions, opportunity, realizations, paradigm shifts, sacrifice and gain.

But more importantly, it has been a year of tremendous character development and an honest search to find the best use of my talents to make Jesus famous. To be a physical manifestation of His values and to bring hope to those who long for something greater than themselves.

Acts 24-(5)”We found her to be a trouble-maker, stirring up her people everywhere in the world.” (15) “I have the same hope in god that they have. The hope that all people, good and bad, will surely be raised from the dead.” (26) “You are judging me today because I believe that people will rise from the dead.”

Habakkuk 2:2-3 “The Lord answered me: ‘Write down the vision; write it clearly on clay tablets so whoever reads it can run and tell others. It is not yet time for the message to come true, but that is coming soon; the message will come true.’”

May I continue to proclaim what I know is true and may I not hesitate to invoke vision in others and wait patiently for a implement them.

This year I: left a destructive relationship, trusted new friends, was embraced, left my home church, applied for seminary, got in but didn’t get in the the other part of the program that I really wanted, uprooted, moved to L.A., road trip with my grandparents, toured California, struggled to find a job, made new friends, explored, chased adventure, worked at Starbucks by the beach, lived 4 blocks from the beach, started to appreciate myself, was hired at Chapman, flew to India for business, changed my perspective.