September So Far

Here we are on September 10th and it feels like it was August just a few days ago. The past nine days have been busy for both Nicole and me. We have had an incredible heat wave over the past week. I looked at the temperature for the same day last year and there was a 30 degree difference between last year and this year. It always seems like as soon as a new school year starts that time starts flying. This year has proved no different! On a side note, it is hard to believe that it has been ten years since the terrorist attacks on the world trade center. Here are some bullet point highlights of what has happened in the month of September so far for Nicole and myself.

• My beautiful wife Nicole turned 28 on  September 5th. We had two days of celebrating. The day before her birthday we drove to Los Angeles for a Japanese dinner. Before getting there though we made pit stops to get Asian styled slush drinks that we enjoy and cupcakes from a store Nicole likes in Santa Monica. We ate at a place called the "Shabu Shabu House" in Little Tokyo. It was a new experience and the food was pretty tasty! The next day we ate at a sandwich shop that is fairly new in So Cal called "Jersey Mike's" for lunch before heading to Disneyland for the day. We almost left Disneyland after only an hour because it was over crowded and hot. Nicole got a new shirt (her shirt was too heavy for how hot it was) and we sat down for a hot pretzel with some ice water which refreshed us enough to the point where we decided to stay at the "Happiest Place on Earth" (cough cough). For dinner we both got a never-ending pasta bowl at Olive Garden which was a yummy way to wrap up the anniversary of her birth 28 years prior. When we got home I was able to put a few candles on a chocolate cake that I had baked for Nicole before we left for Disneyland. It was a pretty good cake if I must say so myself!  I am thankful for my wife!
• I am settling into a new school year with my new classes and students. Things are going well so far. I really enjoy my new subject this year British Literature. We are reading Beowulf right now and the students seem to be enjoying it.
• PIE (our evangelism ministry) has been going alright. We have gone to the Riverside Plaza the past two Friday nights. The first Friday (Sept. 2) we were met with a lot of apathy and insolent teenagers. In our flesh it is extremely difficult to pray for the teenagers of today when they behave so poorly and are so blatantly crass to see if they can get a rise out of you. In the spirit though we can remember to pray for them even if they aren't lovely and nice people. We still were able to have a few good conversations, but had some frustrating ones too (i.e. a couple that refuses to get married so they can stay on welfare). This Friday night we got a late start because I was being quizzed on the five points of Calvinism by a guy who has been coming to PIE with us for the last few months. It started with me making the comment that Calvinists have to do monkey tricks with certain verses to fit their theology which was then proved as certain verses were monkeyed around with. I like the new guy and am glad he has a passion for evangelism, but I personally try to distance myself from Calvinism or Arminianism. My pastor said "I want God and the Bible to teach me, not Calvin or Arminius". So I have adopted that attitude. The sticking point in our conversation seemed to be that I maintained that faith precedes regeneration where my Calvinist friend maintained that regeneration precedes faith. After our discussion we headed out to the Plaza again. There were many conversations, but one in particular stood out. I saw a guy in his mid 20's sitting on a bench in front of the Forever 21 store. He was waiting outside for his girlfriend to finish shopping (His name is Jay). Jay answered the question on the million dollar bill ("will you go to heaven when you die?") with "right now it is iffy". I proceeded to share the law and then grace with him. When he heard the gospel his ears perked  up and he seemed to be genuine when he said "I am going to think about this stuff" at the end of our conversation. Pray for Jay! His girlfriend came for the 2nd half of our conversation and got to hear the gospel too! Nicole got to share with a Muslim guy who had some crazy beliefs (he needs prayer too!). All in all it was two pretty good nights of evangelism in the inland empire. 

Thanks for reading my update of what's been going on over the past week and a half!

Ephesians 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

-Fei