Central Coast Yo-Yo

It is amazing the pull the Central Coast has on a person. I have left twice since graduating Cal Poly over 4 years ago and it all always pulls me back-- as if to say "Hope you had a nice break, but you are here to stay". Am I getting the hint yet? The Central Coast Yo-Yo...... I am the ball.... and the other side is the central coast. It lets me out for awhile but then pulls right back like a sling shot.

I have come home, back to California and it is amazing how quick I was used to not driving, only buying 4 days worth of groceries at a time, and the cold. For those who know me well... I hate the cold... and when I go out in 60 degrees in a t-shirt, you know something is "whack". However, there is a peace about this.... I am not sure why though. I went out to the Cliffs in Shell Beach yesterday to meet a friend for drinks (and it was free pizza night)... and I looked out to the ocean and it was just so calm and beautiful... I get to call that home. For half of this year... New York City was "home". I was working in the city, had an amazing Community Group, and was seeking to do community ministry with Hope for New York and working in soup kitchens, and also enjoy the New York experience. I was blessed. I fulfilled the dream, and then when I was not expecting it or planning on it... God said "So, let's go". Learning to trust God and always trust Him is tough sometimes, when there is so much "unknown" out there.

Right before I took my flight back to California, tragedy struck the East Coast again with the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting. NYC is just 60 miles south of Newtown, CT and to know that it can happen in one of the "safest towns in America", is not reassuring. My heart breaks for these families and I can not even fathom how they are feeling... even those whose children were not physically affected by the heartbreaking tragedy. There are no words, and I always wonder...: "Okay, God has allowed this to happen... why?" and sometimes we just don't know the answer. It is heart breaking that a proclaimed "baptist church" is boycotting funerals and saying this town had it "coming" due to their support of "same-sex marriage" that this is God's punishment to these people. That makes the wounds even deeper. I do not serve a God of violence. I do not have a relationship with a God who would kill innocent children. I serve a God who loved each and everyone of those children, teachers, and the families affected by this horrific tragedy. I serve a God who brings comfort, I serve a God who brings healing, hope, peace, and love. I also serve a God who gives the gift of free will... the same God who died on the cross for the sins of everyone-- even the shooter of this tragedy. I am not saying by any means that makes this right.... nothing makes this okay, nothing will justify this... doesn't matter what the media finds and reveals. This was the shooting that made me cry the most. I think the shooting in Colorado was terrible as well and then the small ones after including Wisconsin, Oregon, and the recent shootings in a mall parking lot here in California. I see the sin of our world only deepening and it reminds me that "no one will know the day or the hour of His return", but I have faith that Jesus will return, and I have faith that His timing will be the perfect timing (because God is the one of perfection).

I don't think it matters where I live.... in paradise on the central coast or the excitement and lights of New York City or in a bubble in the middle of nowhere.... the only guarantee I have is God's faithfulness. I am happy to be home and also sad my time in NY was short. I don't regret this move home by any means given the opportunity I have taken with the job here, and that it is a step in the right direction of a longer lasting career path I want to venture on. I am thankful for the wonderful friends I made in NY and can call friends, and spending time with family. I am thankful to come home to family, friends, and a church family I am blessed by daily.

Please be praying as I finalize housing this week and as we get into this holiday season that I remember this season is about the birth of Jesus and the life we have because of that gift. Also be praying for friends whom are dealing with depression and another who is job searching and seeking life/job direction. Prayers continued for my cousin Cody as he continues to heal from his car accident a couple weeks ago.