I'm in a glass case of emotion

SO much has happened since I last wrote. One week goes by and oh my... reflecting and meditating is a must in order to move forward. Maybe I should really discipline myself to do it daily. Okay so, first of all- my finances. My memory verse for the week was Colossians 3:1-3

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on the things above, where Christ Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

I love this truth. There is an image I learned from my WIW study that helps me to visualize the concept of how God sees me. Imagine God is above looking down on the world and you are holding an umbrella. That umbrella is Jesus, therefore God does not see you the way you look at yourself, He sees Jesus. So then, I think of the concept "be Jesus with skin on." I love that thought. To relate back to finances, Colossians is telling me to "set my heart on things above" --so not on money. That goes back to what I learned previously in Matthew 6:21, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." During this week I came across the book of Ecclesiastes, which told me that money, materialism, things of this world are all meaningless. Pastor Jeff Manion spoke about this in his MoneyWise series, saying "money is an important thing, but its not the only thing."

It was incredible to learn this while I was negative $400+ in the bank, on top of the debt and bills. All of last week I was just trying to get out of the red before I moved to San Diego. In one week, I received so much love and generosity from loved ones, close friends and family as well as complete strangers! It is bone chilling and extremely humbling the generosity of people, and from everyone of them came the message, "God loves you. Remember that always. God loves you!"
God totally loves me... there are so much more important things than money.

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Such as, the impression my family, my friends, my church has left on my heart. People love me. I am not trying to sound vain, by any means, but I left Michigan full of joy and love and peace. I love people and they love me. When I said farewell to my Grandma she said to me, "I will miss you, but as long as you are doing good things I am okay." That night two of my best friends reconciled a four year fight/argument/disagreement/love triangle/whatever you want to call it- to throw me a good-bye party and make sure I had a good time. That was amazing to me!!! Good things are happening with this move.

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San Diego... I love it here! I woke up today and still feel as if I am in a dream. I had a four hour interview yesturday, after a full 24 hours of traveling. I gave the Hyatt everything I had in me. I was so completely raw and real. I realize I do love hospitality, I got to talk about the greek orgin of the word is "love of strangers" (I learned that from Jeff Manion). My first interview, the HR manager stopped me in the middle of sentance to write down what I said so he could but it on his special board. He asked me what upsets me, what gets me angry. I told him, "people who take advantage, especially people who complain and get angry at hotels just to get free stuff. This happens all of the time, and it really is just apart of the job, so I try to remember that I am not here to judge, I am here to serve." That last part is what he wrote down. ... Yeah, I totally learned that principle from the Bible.

That same manager looked at me and said, "I love that you are on a journey. It takes an incredible amount of faith to come here and be so positive after an early morning flight like that." I hear those types of comments about many things in my life, but I always just view it as, "no big deal." I am really beginning to see how I am so different that the people around me... I like it.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." -Romans 12:2

The third manager I interviewed with was so encouraging. He looks at me and sees so much potential. He said to me, "I want you to be honest with us about your dreams and goals, so that we can help you get there." I love that, "let's make it happen" attitude. I have visions, I have dreams, but I don't have a map of how to get there... this guy does! I feel a huge commitment coming on here. I could spend some years in San Diego. Sometimes I look at my dreams and say, "I just want that now!" Lately, I definitely look at my life and say, "I want my degree over with.. I don't want to go back to school." I have to remember I am only 22... I know I am exactly where I should be in life right now.

P.S. I love when I talk to people who are not from San Diego, about San Diego they automatically start quoting Anchorman

And the picture above.. All of the electrical boxes in Pacific Beach are painted. I love this one! "Come, Sit, Stay in PB!!" That's what I'm doing.