Unexpected Blessings

Overall my weekend was very nice, maybe nicer than usual. Saturday I studied over at CSUF where it was nice and quiet. I found the perfect spot to study in this little quiet area where there's plenty of cement benches, tables and umbrellas surrounded by foliage and nice landscaping. I was surprised no one else even came through it! Then again there were only a few students studying on campus or walking around it. I think alot of students were in the library, which is open on Saturdays also. I get a little picky about studying outside because there's too much room for distraction to begin with at a Starbucks or even around the Spectrum in Chino, which doesn't help my concentration efforts very well. And being home inside all day is a bummer, since I
like to get out on the weekends, so I'll combine the two and make it a day.=) Hopefully sometime in the future I'll be spending my weekends with someone rather than studying. That would definitely be nice. The only bummer part was leaving Burger King without my Visa and driving halfway home before realizing it was gone! Thank God I was getting gas halfway home and was planning to use my Visa for that. That's when I noticed I didn't have it. I got my receipt back, but not my card. So I had to drive all the way back and get it, all the while praying that it was in good hands! When I got there and asked for it, they new already what I was talking about and asked my name before retrieving it from a small room that was locked. Those actions alone put me at ease, but I still pray that I don't see some charges appearing on it later on.

Sunday I spent some time with Isaiah at the park, then at Barnes & Noble for awhile. He gave me a 'customized' Father's Day card on paper which was nice, and later I got a real card from both Vance & Isaiah.=) I was also blessed by my mom, who's gift to me was paying the fee for the Men's Retreat in September. Wow. That was totally unexpected! But very appreciated. Then my friend Anthony called and invited me to the movies to see Star Wars (that's twice for me=) and also offered me a free ticket to the Angels game on the 4th of July when he found out I coached tee-ball last year, so that was another nice blessing. Man..I'm not used to so much at once! The Lord has been very gracious today and I don't know why, but it's not because I deserve it. It's totally by His love alone, the love of a Father to a son, and I only pray that I will bless my son that way also, out of pure, unconditional love. I came to a deeper understanding of God's love during a study in my Galatians class, when I came across the verse that says 'Not that we loved Him, but that He loved us first.' I realized that, our example and knowledge of love comes directly and initially from God, Who was the example of love first before we even knew what love was. In other words, God is the author of love, Who shows us how to love others as He loves us, in a way that is pure and holy and unconditional, even sacrificial, as His Son demonstrated to us. I don't always understand it, but I sure am thankful for it!

I forgot to mention that on Friday my mom treated me to go see Batman Begins. This batman was very different from your 'comicbook movie' with Michael Keaton yrs back. I'd say it was more intense, a little darker and some scenes were a little freaky! Overall I think it's worth seeing though. The thing I notice about these superhero movies are the fact that they are becoming more down to earth rather than far-fetched. When Superman first came out with Christopher Lee, his home and powers were not of this world at all, but from a different planet. Now, most of these movies portray superheros as your ordinary citizens endowed with super powers created through the invention of man, whether by technological advancements in robotics or nanotechnology, two very real applications that exist today. It's no longer so foreign to us, but rather...attainable. What are you saying Naasson? That we're going to be seeing these 'superheros' vying for good and evil using modern day advancements of man? Well, is it possible for a multi-millionaire to become a modern day superhero? I think the fantasy is now becoming non-ficticious.