Hungry.

I’m hungry, but in more ways than one. Two for now actually. It’s more than the typical Facebook status kind of being hungry for a sandwich, a burger, or whatever other things people are salivating over when they’re on Facebook. Here’s what’s been consuming my appetite lately.

1. I’m hungry to go to another social media/technology conference in the San Francisco Bay area. It’s been just short of a year that I was there for the Social Media Optimization Conference back in Spring 2011. It was at that very gathering that I was able to broaden my perspective on social media even more thanks to industry leaders who shared their insight with me and other conference attendees.

The opportunity to hear from those in the industry in the geographical center of the tech industry was extremely exciting for me. The added bonus: I’m very much a fan of San Francisco. I feel very relaxed when I’m there and would love another opportunity to rub elbows more with people-many of whom are a part of my generation- who are making a huge difference in innovation. I’d love to learn more about what they do and how they do it. It’s probably on my bucket list to experience an all-night hackathon one of these days. San Francisco is very much a collaborative environment when it comes to these kinds of things. I like that and thrive off of it. The learning never stops.

2. I’m hungry to be pushed to be a better leader, both in the church and the workplace. What I’m particularly thankful for right now is that there are friends and family who know that and are willing to be a part of the effort to help me in making an impact in the church as well as in within other areas of life for Christ. It’s one thing to realize that there are needs to be met, but it’s an extra blessing when I have the support and encouragement from others that equips me with the necessary resources to help meet those needs-with God’s strength.

Why I like root beer and cream soda.

It’s no secret that I like root beer and cream soda chilled to perfection. As a matter of fact, it was just the other day that I was drinking some A&W brand root beer that I was flooded with some refreshing memories of why I enjoy it so much.

No too long ago, glass bottles of IBC root beer and cream soda were a symbol of what brought people together- both girls and guys- in my dorm room at the Master’s College for the special occasion of Open Dorms. The day before the monthly event, I would head out to Target and buy a few six packs of the stuff-that and a pack of Double Stuff Oreos. I would stock my fridge full of them and hand them out to people who would stop by my room if they wanted one. It was certainly a good opportunity for some great conversation and breaking of the ice with random people roaming the halls of Hotchkiss.

I started doing this in my freshman year because I just wanted to meet people, get to know them, and be hospitable at the same time. To the best of my memory, I think it’s a tradition that continued into my Senior year of college. I really couldn’t put a number on the amount of people that are my friends today because of the root beer and cream soda nights in my room, but it’s something that I really would like to find out if I could.

While many of us Master’s grads have gone our separate ways today, I will say that I did enjoy the company of anyone who did stop by to say hello. In fact, as I’m writing more in this blog post, the more I’m remembering specific people that did come by regularly for my root beer nights and who remain some of my most cherished friends today. There’s some of whom that I still keep in touch with every now and then.

Up to this point, I really couldn’t put a finger on why I enjoy bottled root beer and cream soda so much. When I opened that fridge the other day to take a sip, however, something must have clicked in me. So the next time someone asks me why I enjoy the stuff so much, I now have a solid story to tell them and possibly another friend to gain in the process.

Listening.

Listening. It’s at the heart of what I do for my job as a social media community manager. I won’t bore you with the details of what my daily routine entails, but will say just enough to provide a context for a lesson in life I’ve been learning as of late.

To say that I just post content to Facebook is underplaying what I get paid to do. That’s where the listening aspect comes into play. What shapes the content I post online is to monitor what people are saying about a certain subject on the internet. Then I respond to what I “hear” with relevant words of my own, strung together to call and guide people in the direction where they can make a difference on a particular issue.

Here’s where it gets interesting: While many people try to keep their work and personal lives separated, I’m finding more and more that what I do professionally is spilling into the personal section of my life. By that, I don’t mean that I Facebook and Twitter a lot…even if that’s something that I like to do.

What I mean, rather, is that I’ve become more of a listener rather than an actual talker in most situations that I now encounter and the people with whom I converse. I find that I actually like to listen to people talk, whether that’d be about themselves or about a particular point of view that they have on life. While I hear and process their words through my brain,  I’m formulating a precise response to engage the person or group with whom I’m talking.

This habit that I’ve unexpectedly formed has been immensely helpful for me because it’s shaped my thought pattern into one that values people not only in an online environment for work. This has also carried over into my face-to-face interactions.

It’s a work routine that I don’t mind carrying with me into my personal life.

By practicing it, I’ve learned that there’s great benefit in having ears wide open in learning about and focusing on individual people- and effectively doing so in a world full of noise.

The ironic part of this post is that I just spent about 400 words “talking” about the importance of listening.

Your turn. What’s your take?

Life is like a steak.

WordPress wrote on my Facebook wall tonight. It told me that I haven’t written here for a while. I apologized for getting caught up in the news that I almost completely forgot to come back here and write about what I’m enjoying in life apart from politics.

Sometimes it’s easy to get so immersed in the “busy” aspect of life to the point that I don’t slow down, reflect on what I’ve been blessed with, and what I’ve learned along the way. Nothing helps me better to slow down better than the activity of writing itself, whether that’d be here or on paper.

Life itself is like a steak, a blessing best enjoyed and appreciated when it’s savored. Don’t eat too fast.

If I may, I’d like to add to this analogy with a quick qualifier. As a Christian who believes in Jesus Christ as my Savior, cherishing life itself is all in vain if I don’t do so in the context of God Himself giving me the very life that I have. It’s because of this truth that I must treasure the moments that come my way under the light of glorifying the Lord in everything. It’s essentially the 1 Corinthians 10:31 principle.

So with that said, I hit some pretty awesome things in life lately. I look forward to expounding on them in the next few series of posts.

Oh yes, and in case you’re wondering, I’m alive and well.

True Hospitality.

As I’ve been back from DC about eight months now, one of the predominant questions on my mind has been how I was going to get plugged into a church given that I wasn’t headed back to G-Comm or to Sun City. About a  year before I came back from DC, my folks had started attending San Gabriel Union Church. It’s a mere ten minutes from my house in Alhambra.

To be brutally honest, I was highly skeptical of how I was going to fit into this church. Perhaps it was that I didn’t feel like getting to know new people after switching churches for the third time in three years or so (what with my move from Sun City to DC and back to Los Angeles ). Maybe it was something else. Either of which was a horribly bad excuse. Whatever the case, no sentiment on my part stopped the Lord from working in my life through these past few months of my return to the Golden State and the City of Angels.

I have been tremendously blessed throughout my time here thus far with everyone who’s reached out to me at San Gabriel Union. For one thing, I’ve learned fellowship with the body of Christ is a two way conversation. While there have been numerous people that have reached out to me at the church to make me feel welcome, one of the biggest lessons that I’ve learned when attending is that I shouldn’t be coming to look for people to pursue me. That’s passive on my part and it’s wrong. As a Christian, I myself am to take an active part in pursuing Christians for their edification, both young and old. I’m to look for ways to serve the body with the gifts that the Lord has given me and to use them to bless others for the building up of Christ’s bride (The Church).

Speaking of blessings, I’ve been splashed with a refreshing example of this in my life recently at San Gabriel. The word “hospitality” pretty much sums this up in two ways.

For one, my folks have really taken it upon themselves to host people from our church on  a weekly basis as a group of believers who eat, gather around the Word, and to pray for one another. Their inspiration for doing this is the church as exemplified in the book of Acts. Throughout the whole time that this weekly fellowship with the saints has taken place, many (including myself) have been blessed as we’ve all seen prayer answered and the willingness of the saints to minister to one another in practical ways. Everyone comes ready to give of themselves, a true Christ-like attitude.

For another, there is a certain couple (good friends of mine) at my church that have really taken it upon themselves to host some of us young people at their house to spend the day after church in some relaxation and good conversation at their house. This was my second week hanging out with them and it was a blast. The servant attitude in feeding a bunch of young guys chili with cream soda and edifying each other is something that I want to replicate in my home, both now and in the future when I have my own family.

What I’ve learned in my first eight months at a new church is that the Lord’s body is the ground zero of true hospitality. If more non-believers saw this side of Christians, they’d have a harder time of finding “legitimate” excuses to reject the gospel. It’s time for Christians in churches everywhere to step it up a notch and to go back to the drawing board of hospitality.

Moneyball. [Money]-must-see.

As a fan of baseball movies, I will be headed to the theater to see this film when it’s released. Even though the Dodgers hold a richer legacy than the A’s, I can always appreciate a classic baseball story and this definitely smells like one. I’m also looking forward to to downloading Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game on my Kindle, the book upon which this movie is based. Fascinating concept. Props to you, Billy Beane.

Who wants to join me?

My dear friend Hailey

My dear friend Hailey Frantzen, whom I met during my time at the Master’s College, passed away almost a week ago. It’s taken me some time to find the words to express how I feel about the whole situation, which is why I decided to sit down tonight to ponder and to finally crank something out.

I found out the news of her passing in the last possible way that I wanted to learn it (via my Facebook news feed on my Blackberry). I was up in the San Francisco Bay when it streamed to my feed, walking along Fisherman’s Warf to get on the electric cable car back to my hotel. From the time that the news came to me to even now, I am speechless at the reality that she is no longer with us on this earth.

At the same time, there’s an abundant peace flooding  my soul that she is in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is also the assurance that the Lord has been sovereign during this time. She is no longer suffering from her sickness. No more back and forth trips to the hospital that took a toll on her. No more pain and exhaustion that her sickness unleashed on her. Hailey is now refreshed, she’s reinvigorated, completed with a perfect body in Heaven. Before myself, she gets to see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face.

What’s more is that her sweet memory lives fresh within me, for, she was the loyal friend that everyone should have had. From my time at the Master’s College, to the time that I went to Washington DC (in both 2009 and 2010), she filled my life with immense encouragement and joy. Hailey was the epitome of the loyal friend: She offered support when I needed it. Pushed me onward when I was aiming for a goal. And called me out when my stupid immaturity kicked in at a particular point in my life. I know for a fact that many besides myself were blessed by her short time here on earth.

The last time I was supposed to see Hailey was at my graduation ceremony a little more than a week before she passed. By the Lord’s sovereignty, I don’t understand why He allowed for us to miss each other in the midst of all the chaos on the football field. But the last sweet memory that she left for me was in the form of a Facebook post that perfectly reflected who she was to me.

I look forward to seeing her again with the Lord Jesus Christ along with other believers. Until then, I will be faithful until the end with the people in my life in the here and now.