Justin: Week 3

Wow. I cannot believe another week has gone by. So that means time for updates. Yay

Things I've meant to share, but forgot to
So I have a couple of things to share which I meant to write before, hopefully for some laughs. If it's not funny, then it's alright. So when I first got my new apartment in downtown San Jose this summer, I thought I was done living dorm style. God has His humor because it is kind of like the dorms here, but instead of one or two roommates, I have 4 and share a shower and toilet with a lot of guys. Dorming again haha. And I was excited to get away from target for a little bit, but apparently I still miss it because I have had a couple dreams of Target since I've been here. I guess I can never really escape it.

Time for the real stuff now

Justin is 22
So for those who don't know, I had just recently turned 22 on July 8th. This is my first birthday away from home, so I was kind of sad about it. It just had to fall about halfway through the trip. But all was well as I was surprised with a cake by my team and the men in the program. And that's only the beginning. After cake, there was a pinata as well. Who would have figured that a recovery program for grown men would have a Spongebob pinata. I thought it was cool and I was speechless wanting to cry. I also got some birthday cards from some of the other BAyUPers who are at different sites. Even though I wasn't able to spend my birthday with my family, I had the opportunity to celebrate it with another family. So let's all praise God for His goodness.

Bowling
On Thursday, City Team was so gracious to take all of the interns, the staff, and the men in the program bowling. We went to Albany bowl and had a great time. It was an awesome time to fellowship with these men outside of the rehab center. And I was surprised because I bowled my best game in such a long time, a 165. I can't remember the last time I bowled over a 150.

Games and Sports at a Church Event
Today, I got really burnt. Our team had the privilege in going to a church outing with one of the guys from the program. This is the same guy that we went to church with our first week, so we had a good time. They had a competition which included volleyball, ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, and basketball. My team almost won, but lost in a tie breaker. Oh well, it was a great time to fellowship and to meet new people. Originally I was expecting to only be there for a couple of hours, but we were there for most of the day, and now I am burnt.

Relationships
It seems like we had done a lot more activities that were fun and it is true. From my birthday celebration to bowling and sports, this was an exciting weekend. This will lead to a point that I would like to talk about. Relationships. When I talk about relationships, I am not talking about a guy and a girl relationship, or dating, because there is no room on this blog for that talk. I am talking about relationships that we have with other people, as my pastor mentioned before brotherly relationships. We have been able to develop relationships with these men which is totally awesome. After my time here, I don't just want to go back and think about how good it was, but I want to have godly relationships with these men. I want to be able to stay in touch with these men and to hopefully have them come out to San Jose sometime to visit. So pray for the relationships with us and these men to deepen even more. The relationships that we form may glorify God and be lifelong relationships.

Kitchen Work
This week, I have had the opportunity to serve and volunteer in the kitchen. I have been learning about the kitchen more, with a lot more to learn, and have been able to experience more of what serving is. In the kitchen, I just ask what can I do to help and take orders of what to do. It has been a blessing to learn more about the kitchen and cooking and to hang out with the guys there.

Prayer Requests
* Pray for our times with the guys. Pray for deeper relationships and that God will be working to grow us closer to one another and to Himself.
* Pray for our time in the Word. Pray that God will continue to grow us more of a desire in His word and prayer. That He will continue to reveal more of Himself to us and we will grow in our understanding and knowledge of Him
* Please pray for my sun burn

If you have any thing else that you would like to hear about, just shoot me an e-mail and I would love to talk more about my experience

P.S. And don't forget about the visiting day tomorrow for all who want to come. for details, look at my previous post from last week

Grace and Peace to you all,
Justin