omg. i wished i had the time right now to share more with you about what's been going on in my life the last few days. but i can't even start to go into the details at this time because i needed to be in bed about 2 hours ago!
so here's a quick little glimpse. i'm currently in LA for a public health management conference, and IT. IS. AMAZING. our schedule's been super-intense and packed, but every single second has been so worth it, and i'm loving every moment of it. (the introvert in me is screaming quite a bit... it's definitely been a challenge and draining me a ton... but the business school student in me is also loving the networking and new relationships that are being formed around me.)
i got in late saturday night, and i'm not going to lie-- sunday was a bit intimidating. actually, no, it was SUPER intimidating. i visited a new church called Evergreen Baptist Church, and i'm not going to lie-- it was kind of scary to go to step into a completely new church community! (yes, even as a christ-follower! i can't even begin to imagine what it's like for a pre-christian how intimidating it could be...) i almost skipped church because i was too scared to be vulnerable and identityless in a new group of people. but, i knew i needed it-- and the message spoke right to me: the pastor talked about the sinful samaritan woman and hit on issues of self-worth. had i heard this same message while i was still back in michigan, i don't think i would have felt that it was relevant at all. but since i was in a completely new surrounding, i needed to hear every word of that sermon. spot on, p. ken fong.
fellowship time after the service was even harder. for the first time after a sermon, i didn't feel like i could just turn to the stranger standing next to me and strike up a conversation with them. (back in aa, befriending strangers has almost become a new hobby this past year.) this shocked me quite a bit to see how a new surrounding could throw me into paralysis where i didn't know how to be the cathy that i knew in michigan.
luckily, this really awesome girl named annie befriended me, and she even took me to lunch, and showed me around the area. wow, her small act of hospitality to spend the afternoon with me (and also make plans to hang out wednesday evening) REALLY spoke volumes to me. i was truly humbled-- back in ann arbor, at times i've started to wonder whether those one-time efforts of hanging out with a newcomer after church service really was worth it. but annie showed me how far hospitality could go-- even with someone who wasn't a pre-christian, and this is something i'll remember forever. every effort is SO WORTH IT. thanks annie, for teaching me an amazing lesson on hospitality.
i'm gonna skip over the future and profession stuff for now. it'll get too late, and i'll bore you at this point. remind me to share later. also remind me to talk about the relationships here later. TBU. love you all who are back in the mitten!
No comments:
Post a Comment