My tea reading for today from the Tazo Tea website...

Obama Came to Town

I saw President Barak Obama when he came to USC to speak, and I figured that was an adventure worthy of sharing...

President Obama stopped on in USC's campus last month and I found it fairly dissappointing after all the hype, but all at once well worth braving the shoving and shouting. After all, when do you get to see the President of the United States speak in front of your own favorite library on your own favorite university campus? Because I was far back enough that I could not snap a clear shot of Obama in his lil' white  button down and Barbara Boxer pin, I enjoyed taking the sights of the crazy crowd around me. There were people climbing in trees, an elderly USC good ol' boy with a sticker in support of legalizing recreational marijuana, and people just waiting to get a glimpse of their modern American hero/modern American enemy. 'Twas an interesting experience indeed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"We need to be grateful for many things that did not happen." 

-Langehoven

From a flea market in Santiago

To be honest...

It's disguised as a positive thing: 
"Making a difference, 
Changing the world,
Doing your part..."
But for me, I find myself searching for self-glorification in these catchphrases:
I am making the difference, so applaud me.
I am changing the world, so recognize me.
I am doing my part, so thank me.


My on going struggle is self-glorification.
I battle with comparing myself to the world's standards and yearning for wordly approval.
I need that Gold Star.
And when I don't get that Gold Star for making the world a better place, I feel empty.
But you know what I've learned?
If I do get that Gold Star, I still feel empty.
I have gotten these glittery rewards before, all in a row, perfect 10, tic-tac-toe.
But you know what?


It kinda means, well... nothing.


Where are the real relationships?
Where is the humility?
Where is the teachable spirit?
For me, they get lost somewhere between "I'd like to accept this award on behalf of..." and the thousand dollar celebration that follows.
My purpose does not come from Gold Stars.
My purpose isn't just even in relationships, humility, or learning.


My purpose is in glorifying God, the One who deserves it, not my own self.


God's plans for me might not be big by the world's standards. 
I might never receive a single nod from a single person for serving.
People might be confused at what I'm doing, they might think what I am doing is useless.
But the reward from doing what God wants me to do will not leave me feeling empty.
God does have big plans for our lives, but I have to accept that they most likely don't look like the kind of "big" the world says is important. 
And I have to be ok with that.
It's so hard for me to give that up, but I have to.


And only then will I find fulfilling how I serve, and only then will I be doing what I was made to do.

"We are at best poor beggars telling other poor beggars where there is bread."

-Don Carson