Friendiversary

I had basically a week and a half of free time from the time that I got the call from Amazon.com telling me that I got the job and when my first day of work would be. I was talking with one of my best friends Kari who just moved to North Carolina for a job about how we had been friends for 10 years now and how we should celebrate some how. She asked me like what...I paused and got the random idea of booking a ticket and flying down to see her. I do not know when I became this spontanous person, but somehow I have. In less than 48 hours, I had booked a flight to North Carolina, got on a plane, and arrived in my best friend's town of Sanford. We decided to name our adventure/celebration as our Friendiversary weekend. Over the weekend I got to do a lot of firsts, we got to visit Fort Bragg (which was pretty neat to see,) I ate at the Waffle House (thought it was this fancy diner, no its a fast food chain!) drove to Charleston, SC and had fried pickles, drove to Savannah, GA to see a lighthouse, Atlantic Ocean, and tour of a graveyard. Oh and don't forget the visit to the South of the Border in NC and almost getting killed by a black baptist woman (I saw this huge red hat (the ones that ladies wear in church and have a fan in their hand) and put it on my head and said out loud Hallelujah, Praise the Lord... forgot I was in the south..oops.) All of these experiences were a first. Kari was amazing to all that driving in a 36 hour period, but we did have so much fun. Here are a few pictures.

This is what I picture when I think of the south.

Butt Stop, NC, Fried Pickles

Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Lighthouse

Graveyard, Atlantic Ocean, Pedro town

Good news...NO GREAT NEWS!

I GOT A JOB!!!

I have had a couple interviews during the middle of October and was offered a job in the HR department with Amazon.com. Thank you everyone who has been praying, I am super excited for this opportunity!

Some fun things I did in October

Went to a book reading by Mitch Albom Fall in Seattle!

Sarah and I went to Snowqualmie Falls for the day. Absolutely beautiful!

Some girls I met from church went down to Portland, OR for the day. Went to a greek restaurant that served this enormous pita bread thing and the most amazing bookstore ever: Powells. That piece of paper that she is holding is a map of the facility, NUTS!

My roommate Natalie and I at Fremont farmers Market.

Some amazing chocolate in Seattle! Carmel
Passion fruit and Argentina dark chocolate truffle

Pruning

I can not believe that I have been in Seattle for 2 months now, 2 MONTHS! WOW! There has been days where I feel like I completely trust and have faith in God and know that He has called me to Seattle, and then there are days in which I have no faith, feel so discouraged, and alone. Each time I doubt, God is right by my side confirming that I am suppose to be here, to be patient, and trust Him. There are so many stories of God’s confirmation of God reminding me of His love and provision for me. I was talking with a friend one day about how I wanted to get a haircut but did not want to spend money on a haircut while I didn’t have a job. I went to a women bible study that week and they were handing out raffle prizes. One of the prizes was a free haircut to an expensive salon and I was thinking in my head “I would really like that God” and guess who won that prize…God is so faithful to provide even in the little things we desire. It was just another whisper "May, I have you in my hands, don't worry."
There is a friend that I had met on online when I first looked into moving to Seattle. She felt called to move up to Seattle around the same time I was moving. It has been neat to have here in Seattle as we both are going through the same journey. She has taught me a lot about myself, how selfish, self centered, impatient, and unable to really take the time to look around and see what God is doing….It has been a humbling, painful, repenting, and amazing time. I am truly thankful that God has given me the last couple of months to break me down more than I thought I needed and rebuild me again. There was one day that we decided to explore Seattle together and head down to Pikes Place (huge Farmers Market in the downtown area.) We walked the 2 miles down, which should have taken more than 30 minutes, but somehow took over 2 hours to get there. I have discovered that when I am focused on something, I just go for it and not really pay attention to the journey of it because I am so focused on the end result. This friend of mine on the other hand just took her time heading down…she would stop and talk to people who were selling newspapers, and homeless people. She was really taking in exploring Seattle, while in my head thought exploring would start when we got to the location. That same day, there was a homeless person who asked for money, and although my friend didn’t have any she walked the homeless person to find a hamburger and paid with her card….the closest thing we found was a gyro which we told her was like a Greek hamburger, haha. As we continued talking with the homeless person and asked how we could pray for her, she said that she has breast cancer and that she is homeless. If it wasn’t for my friend, the homeless person may not have had a meal, she may not have known that there people who care, and that she is not alone. This woman is battling breast cancer by herself with no health care! It absolutely broke my heart! I have learned so much more about the love of Jesus through this friend, and so grateful that the Lord has opened my eyes more. Each person on the street has a story to be told and if we can just take a little time to feed them and sit and listen, how much more God can shine through than just handing a dollar bill to them and walking away. I am being pruned and so grateful for it.

Free time

Since I have been unemployed, I have kinda picked up a new hobby of reading books. I haven't really been into reading for fun since I entered high school and english class kinda ruined any enjoyment of reading. Here is the list of books that I have read in the last month.

• The Beach Girls - It was a good chick book. Reminded me of the Sister Chick books that my best friends would always have me read with her.
• A Thousand Splendid Suns - Incredible book that I got for free new the trash dumpster in SB. The book was in great shape so I took it. I Cried my eyes out for sure in this novel. I had watched The Kiterunner so I was excited what the author had to write in this one.
• Blue Like Jazz - Everyone I know has read this book and I never took the time to read it. It had some interesting parts that made me think for sure about Christianity, church, and people.
• The Girl Who stopped swimming - It was a very easy book but I was super angry at how it ended.
• Redeeming Love - AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING! I could not put the book down. I started reading at at like 10pm and the next thing I knew it was 5am and I had finished the novel...oops.
• The Last Bridge
• One Foot Wrong AWEFUL! Don't read it, it is not worth your time.
• Tuesdays with morrie
• PS I love you
• The killing tree

Stay tuned to see what books I pick up next at the library.

Things I am learning about in Seattle

I know the list will grow larger.... but here is what I have so far
1) Did you know that if you do not recycle a certain % of your trash, the city will fine you. Apparently, they hire people to actually go through your trash on trash collection days and surveys what is in your trash..huh...really??? So they have a recycling bin, a yardwaste bin, and a regular trash bin.
2) Seattle residents do not use Umbrellas....apparently it is uncool
3) When crossing the street, you step off of the curb when the light is yellow (drivers light) going the opposite direction; you do not look at the cross light to tell you when to go.
4) Mapquest, Google, GPS and any other driving aide that is suppose to help you get to your destination does not work and/or apply to the Seattle area. The directions will tell you to keep going straight up 3rd ave, but there are several problems with that. Either it is a dead end, there is a highway blocking the continuation of 3rd ave, or there is 3rd ave N, W, S, E or just 3rd ave which mixes the aides up.
5) Parking in residential areas and even thoughout Seattle, you are able to park on either side of the curb in whatever direction that you would like. Weird!
6) Driving the freeways of Seattle is so confusing. They have an express lane that is only open certains hours in the day and will switch to the opposite direction on other certain times (haven't figured out what times they are.) They have carpool lanes, but some carpool lanes are for single person vehicles, others are for 2 or more, and others are 3 or more people in a vehicle. Also, the speed limit changes every two exits between 50, 60, 65, 55. Basically, the State of Washington would like to give you a ticket, so if you would like to get one, just come up here!

Home

On September 12th I walked away from church knowing that I was home. I had found a church that I can officially call home, and there are not even words to describe how relieved and excited that I am to be able to say that. It has been a long 3 years in jumping around different churches and not feeling like God was calling me to any specific church. I am still not sure exactly why the Lord led me through that path but perhaps it was for me to understand how important the church body is to support you and lift you up when needed, how much Jesus loves His Bride, and how important community is. Without this desert, I don't think I would have learned that lesson, understood His heart, and opened my eyes and heart to love the Church more than ever before.
The first week that I got to Seattle, I went to a church called The City Church located in downtown Seattle which Diana Mao had recommended. I went to the Saturday night service in which it is tailored for the young professionals of Seattle (ages 24-34.) What was interesting was that the Senior Pastor was speaking his last message that weekend and handing the position over to his son on Sunday evening....I just moved to Seattle and come across this church which is in transition and change also..ummm. Anyways, the worship was amazing, and the message was on how God called the pastor to start this church 17 years ago, in which he left and sold everything in order to buy the land because God called him to Seattle. I just sat there able to relate with everything that he was talking about. After the service, I knew that I wanted to come back and hear the new pastor before deciding. In 2 weeks, I visited 4 different churches in which one of them of the City Church again. Going into the service at the CC, I had been having some doubts about whether I was really suppose to be in Seattle or if I just jumped the gun too soon. When I felt like God told me to move, I didn't realize how quick everything would happen. The new pastor's name is Judah Smith and he is 30 years old. He talked about Ephesians 2:10 which has been my favorite verse since I accepted Christ. He talked about how we are called His "masterpiece" and that God knows beforehand what and where He wants us. Then, he seriously called out everything that I had been thinking and doubting.
He says, "Some of you God has brought you to Seattle and you don't even know why you are here. You are here for just a time as this. This was destiny. This wasn't just your decision. That was God. God was involved. You are sitting here without a job, but don't you know that God knows everything that you need, that he knows every hair that is on our head, don't you think He can take care of your little problems like a job. Your problem is that you are not trusting God." OUCH
I walked away that night convicted of my lack of trust in the One who has and will allows provide for me. I also walked away knowing that this was the church that the Lord wanted me to be in. So estatic as I drove home saying "I'm home, I'm suppose to be in Seattle, and I am really home." I never thought I would end up in a megachurch (apparently they are the fastest growing church in Seattle, and is the 89th largest church in the US) but this is where the Lord wants me and I am so thankful that He is making it so plan and clear! Here is the website http://thecity.org/ if you would like to check it out. Pastor Judah Smith really is off the hook!