HAPPY BIRFDAY RAY!!!
This past year on my birthday, Jesse gathered a group of friends to come to GFC. We sat in the basement and ate pizza, and he had them each prepared to tell me something about me that they appreciated. I had about 10 people take turns affirming me. That was my birthday gift from me, and it was lovely. After I got past the initial embarrassment, I realized how much it was meaning to me. By the end, I was in tears. I heard things that I had NO IDEA any one thought, things I'd longed to hear, and things I assumed people actually felt the opposite about concerning me. Additionally, I was encouraged me that Jesse had heard all my pleas and nags and whines in the past about how our community needed to be more verbally affirming and how we were NOT very much at all and that I just couldn't take it anymore and found it sinful. Apparently he wasn't just playing NBA2k10. He was listening to me. :) And not just listening, but apparently respecting my thoughts and agreeing. Even more cause to :).
So today is Mr. Raymond Chao's birthday, and Jesse and I wanted to take to my blog to tell him some things we like about HIM! So, in no particular order or rank, here they are:
Now, with a list like that, you're probably thinking, who WOULDN'T love Ray?! That's why we are glad he's our friend. Of course, we realize our friend Ray is NOT perfect. I am still grateful for him, however. Ray has flaws just like we all do. He made me late for a wedding once, and he killed my fish, but I forgave him. Because I stink too. I'm often leaving our g-chat conversations unexpectedly or just never responding at all, or bailing when I'm supposed to go to events and hang out. And I once killed my own fish.
But you know, even those who appear saintly and so close to ultimate godliness are actually harboring sin and flaws that we can't see and maybe even THEY can see. Something I've learned recently is that sin is VERY deceptive. We are extremely naive and simple when it comes to identifying and calling out sin in ourselves. Sometimes we are unpretentious; our naivete can be subconscious. We don't even fully grasp the sinfulness behind what appear to be our pure motivations. This is why Isaiah can say our even our best gifts are like filthy rags. I think back to myself about 5 years ago, and I feel like, from the outside, it was the time where I was closest to God and most fulfilled and in love with Him, but I see now that my motivations for serving Him were mixed. I had some motivation mixed in there of a kind of 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' deal. So was I more godly then? Or now, since I realize that? Can you even compare and make a 'godliness scale?' I think it's pointless. We can't measure up. We can't get CLOSE. That's the whole point!!!!
But by GRACE, we are being made more and more like Him as we are enabled by HIS power to see our sin and choose what is right. Not that I have attained, Paul says, but this thing I do....
I will end with this for now, and quit getting all theological. THIS IS A SIMPLE LIST MEGIN! sheesh.
So today is Mr. Raymond Chao's birthday, and Jesse and I wanted to take to my blog to tell him some things we like about HIM! So, in no particular order or rank, here they are:
Our Top 10 Reasons Why We Love Ray and Are Glad to Call Him Our Friend :)
(picture from his birthday in 2011 when he worked at the CC and got a bday celebration Jr. High style)
- He never thinks Megin is too harsh at the Community Center and always encourages her to be more harsh even though she's scared to be.
- He loves anything Megin cooks/bakes and always says 'thank you' and makes others say 'thank you.'
- He's got a good poker face...which keeps Jesse on his toes.
- Whenever Megin is in need and knows that she can't go to about 95% of her friends b/c they won't understand, he's part of the remaining 5% who she CAN go to and who WILL understand.
- He's very caring when it comes to his friendships, and he's a deep thinker too, analyzing what is the best thing to do for someone and how best to support a person, even if it means he may hurt.
- He fits right in because he plays dota...AND is really good at it.
- He can survive a mugging and immediately give all the glory to God and still find the courage to go home late at night by himself.
- He pet-sits for us with little repayment, picks up Jirem's poop, cleans the litter box, and gets woken up each day at 7a.m. by a well-morning-person-trained dog who is used to getting up with his mom at that time each day.
- He created the best tutoring assignment TO DATE at the CC, reading and summarizing New York Times articles while defining the underlined words.
- Last but not least, he's part of the farmer's union. (Jesse said to put this, and that Evan, Andrew, and Josh would get it. I have no clue what it means, but I take his word for it).
Now, with a list like that, you're probably thinking, who WOULDN'T love Ray?! That's why we are glad he's our friend. Of course, we realize our friend Ray is NOT perfect. I am still grateful for him, however. Ray has flaws just like we all do. He made me late for a wedding once, and he killed my fish, but I forgave him. Because I stink too. I'm often leaving our g-chat conversations unexpectedly or just never responding at all, or bailing when I'm supposed to go to events and hang out. And I once killed my own fish.
But you know, even those who appear saintly and so close to ultimate godliness are actually harboring sin and flaws that we can't see and maybe even THEY can see. Something I've learned recently is that sin is VERY deceptive. We are extremely naive and simple when it comes to identifying and calling out sin in ourselves. Sometimes we are unpretentious; our naivete can be subconscious. We don't even fully grasp the sinfulness behind what appear to be our pure motivations. This is why Isaiah can say our even our best gifts are like filthy rags. I think back to myself about 5 years ago, and I feel like, from the outside, it was the time where I was closest to God and most fulfilled and in love with Him, but I see now that my motivations for serving Him were mixed. I had some motivation mixed in there of a kind of 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' deal. So was I more godly then? Or now, since I realize that? Can you even compare and make a 'godliness scale?' I think it's pointless. We can't measure up. We can't get CLOSE. That's the whole point!!!!
But by GRACE, we are being made more and more like Him as we are enabled by HIS power to see our sin and choose what is right. Not that I have attained, Paul says, but this thing I do....
I will end with this for now, and quit getting all theological. THIS IS A SIMPLE LIST MEGIN! sheesh.
SOoOoOoOoOoOo Happy Birthday to our Ray! We hope you have a wonderful March 27th!
and that you enjoyed your LIST!!!
Love,
Jesse, Megin, Jirem, Gracie, and Abraham...(not Lucky, since you killed him).
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