It has been almost 6 months since I lost my engineering job, but I can say that the Lord unmistakeably has his hand on my life. Though that hand leads me through sufferings, I know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. As for endurance, I have moved 5 times in 13 months and the task has become less daunting with every move. As for character, I've been involved and volunteered at a church plant in Long Beach since April. I didn't know if I had a lot to give, but I gave coffee, attended a life group, volunteered at a rescue mission, and helped set up/tear down. As a result the associate pastor (and my friend from life group) told me I was the 'Set up look coordinator.' I think I asked for a job, so he saw a need and assigned it to me. As for hope, well I'm still discovering that. I am reading N.T. Wright's "Surprised by Hope" and I am blown away. I am also visiting an Anglican church that our associate pastor also attends and through that I am seeing how God has woven a thread through many denominations by His Spirit.
So, what is with the title, you might ask. Yesterday I moved to Huntington Beach. I am 10 miles from Long Beach (which I love and hope to move eventually). Huntington Beach is in Orange County and I am amazed by the difference. The neighborhoods are much quieter, the houses have porches (affordable houses I suppose and with yards), and people park their cars in front of their house. That might seem normal, but in LA every neighborhood has traffic, few people live in houses, and parking is first come first park. I am renting month to month from a mom of three kids (two in college) and the house is beautiful.
Why Long Beach? God is doing a work there that I want to be a part of. My friend Seth from Kansas introduced me to his friend Sarah from Iowa (they grew up together). I first visited her small church and met her friends in February. I also attended Rock Harbor and I was sweetly reminded by one of the guys not to judge Rock Harbor by first appearances. About a year ago, a few young people from Rock Harbor started praying about planting a church in Long Beach. They spent more than 6 months gathering people from Long Beach to pray, serve, and worship. Through the soil they tilled, a church has grown that is passionate about worship, service, prayer, the working of the Holy Spirit, and the community of the saints. I am so excited to be a part of this community. My move to Huntington Beach allows me to be more involved and hang out more often. I plan to buy a bike and work towards biking to Long Beach. I am also looking into transferring to a Long Beach or Huntington Beach Starbucks. That would save me immensely on gas and work would feel more like a ministry.
Here are a few pictures from our church in Long Beach, the Garden:
http://www.thegardenlb.org/
We spent the weekend of August 6-8 at the Long Beach Rescue Mission in which we served at
the mission, ate at the mission, and served in the community. We learned so much about homelessness through our interactions at the Mission and on the streets of Long Beach.
The Garden met weekly in the basement of a historic church from February until September. Mid September, we started meeting at a night club in downtown Long Beach. It was a night and day change! We doubled in size overnight, but most of all, everyone is excited to be a part of the Garden. We have 5 or more life groups and we are growing more.
