The Groomsmen

Originally posted on Feb 9, 09

I know that this is about a month over due but I was busy getting married. I wanted to give out a special thanks to the people closest to me who shared with me the biggest day of my life.

Jordan Wessling: Jordan is one of those guys that is too smart for his own good. He has a passion for philosophy. Sadly, it used to be theology but that’s another story. Every time we get into a conversation I can always count on him to tell me at some point that I’m, “sooooooooooo irrational.” Jordan is always trying to think about philosophical ideas and studies like his life depends on it. He’s the only guy I know that can study for the GRE for forty hours a week and actually feel like he’s not missing out on life. He’s an Asian in a white man’s body.

But when it comes down to it, I can also count on Jordan to give godly advice. His passion for being rational is motivated by a desire to be godly with that rationality. He honors God with his conduct and desires to glorify God with his mind. We can have deep theological and philosophical conversations and in the next minute we can talk about basketball, girls, and Boomtown. Having Jordan as a friend has enriched my life is so many ways. Thank you Jordan, for being one of my groomsmen.

Chris Hunt: Chris and I have a lot of the same desires although we have nothing of the same personality. We spent five weeks in Israel a few years back and have enough inside jokes to last us a lifetime. He has been a great example to me in how he treats his wife (Katie [Hunt] also treats him well). Chris and I were living in an apartment together when we were going through graduate school when he was dating Katie Cook. They were truly a godly example of a dating couple. It doesn’t surprise me that he is a good husband and that she is a good wife.



A side note for you girls, when you take good care of your husband their close friends notice and deeply appreciate it. I told Katie, Chris’ wife, that it was a blessing to know that Chris will always have good support from his wife. Chris deeply desires to be a godly man and to be involved in ministry. His wife Katie empowers and “makes him feel a hundred feet tall,” so thank you for being an example to me of how even a young couple can display years of wisdom.

Aaron Brown: There is something about Aaron that, I believe, is a gift from the Lord. He has the ability to look into a situation and discern exactly what may be going on and cut to the heart of the matter with good insight. I can always count on Aaron to give godly advice in any situation. Also, he is not afraid to confront people, especially me. He has called me out several times when I’m acting inappropriately or behaving ungodly. That is a mark of a true friend. There is something else that I didn’t realize until we graduated and Aaron moved back East. Because of Aaron’s gift of discernment, whenever he’s around I just knew that everything was going to be okay. I knew that he was going to give me some good and godly insight into the situation to help me understand what was going on spiritually and psychologically and allow me to be at peace with it and to deal with it appropriately.



Thank you Aaron for always being playful and fun but never compromising godly values in the process, for being a friend that would admonish and rebuke when necessary, and to be willing to do anything to support me in my time of need throughout the years.

Dominic Avila: I’ve known Dom since 7th grade. His older brother, Brice, sadly died in a motorcycle accident when we were in junior high, and that incident prompted us to start going to church. Since that time, we’ve had several peaks and valleys. Both of us grew up in a broken home. Our moms were the only ones around for us and we had to go through the school of hard knocks. But whatever it was, whether it be running around the streets of East LA, playing street fighter, playing chess into the late hours of the night, working out, training for basketball, or going to church – we did it together. There was a time, however, when Dom strayed for while and I had my worries. But he came back to the Lord and hasn’t looked back since. Both of us love studying the Word of God, playing basketball, and the Lakers. That is a three-cord bind that cannot be broken.



Thank you, Dom for being there for me. For admonishing me when necessary and pushing me to be a godly husband. I know that we’ll always be in each other’s lives and that our children will grow up together learning about all the stupid things we used to do (and some we still do) with Bryan. I know that both you and I want to stop the cycle of growing up in a broken home and be there for our family and future children. And I know that we will be there for each other.

Bryan Benavidez: What in the world can I say about this fool other then that he’s a fool! I’m just kidding (of sort). The big care-free-hairy-jolly-giant-headed-goof-ball I’ve known since the beginning of time, it seems. I bagged on him for six years because he choked Dom’s wedding speech. Here's the scene:

(Bryan was walking up to the front like he was walking to Brickhouse, all week he was saying how he was going to "rock the house" when it came to the best man speech.)

Bryan: In all the years I've known Dom, I've never seen him as emotional as I saw him last night . . .

deep awkward pause for about two painful seconds because he's trying to hold back his emotions like a broken damn. It doesn't work, his eyes begin to tear up and he couldn't say a word and ends the speech by lifting up his glass to toast and says . . . "shell we"? I said to myself, "THAT was rocking the house!?" I've been bagging on him ever since.



But when it came time for him to do the speech at my wedding, I have to admit, he came through. I was deeply touched with everything he had to say and the memorizes that were brought up. It really summed up our relationship nicely. We could be having a great time together talking about love, life, and the Lakers. Immediately though, we could also become serious, real, and transparent with each other. Bryan is a hard worker providing for his wife and three wonderful children. He’s been through some of the most trying situations but manages at the end of the day to always have a reason to smile (although that reason is probably me).

Thank you, Bryan for being the best friend you could possibly be. There is so much history between us and so many memorizes. I know that I could fill books with stories of God’s redemptive and comical journey for us. I won't forget the support and encouragement you gave me during the weekend of my wedding. Continue to laugh the way you do because it’s that laughter that reminds me, there’s always a reason to smile. And above everything else thanks for paying back the money you owe me. You forgot to pay the interest but thanks for at least paying the principle.

Devotional - 110609

Our church has a tradition that before we preach through a particular book of the Bible, we first read through it (sections of it anyway). This is known as a Reading Service. It’s quite impacting. If “faith comes by hearing” the word of God, it stands to reason that we should do this more often. During our devotional time we read to ourselves. We don’t actually hear it audibly so Reading Services are a great reminder of how powerful it is to simply hear the Word of God being read.

We are starting a new preaching series on the book of Isaiah. Lemma tell ya, I’m more than giddy. Our pastor Erik Thoennes did a wonderful job reading the first six chapters. While reading aloud, the proper intonations, emphasis, and pauses at times when it’s called for in the text, gives insight and understanding without commentating. It’s a wonderful way to learn Scripture.

During my graduate work at Talbot School of Theology, I took a course on the book of Isaiah and read John Oswalt’s commentary. I remember the course and the commentary rocking my world. In short, Isaiah demonstrates in his account that God blazes in holiness and will not overlook sin. At the same time, while God does not overlook sin, He constantly and consistently offers an opportunity to repent. Even when repentance is refused and judgment is passed, the Lord still offers hope in the form of a faithful remnant. The enormous amount of patience the Lord has for us blows me away, especially now that I am a teacher trying to teach young students how to walk straight.

There is an amazing aspect about God as I read through Isaiah. Namely, God is fully and completely merciful and wrathful at the same time. This drew me back to when I was at Biola University studying Theology Proper into the late hours of the night. A.W. Tozer says this, “The harmony of His being is the result not of a perfect balance of parts but of the absence of parts. Between His attributes no contradiction can exist. He need not suspend one to exercise another, for in Him all His attributes are one. All of God does all that God does; He does not divide Himself to perform a work, but works in the total unity of His being.” In understanding the Scriptures, we better understand the properties of God. In understanding the properties of God, we better understand the Scriptures. It's part of the beautiful cycle of sanctification and growing in the knowledge of the Lord.

It brings great comfort to know that God never stops being merciful towards us. At the same time, it’s sobering to know that God blazes in holiness and will not overlook sin. If God is not divided in Himself, it stands to reason that neither should be His people between their affections towards the things of this world or God being the ultimate objective of our affections, adoration, and loyalty.

What A Weekend part II of II

SATURDAY:

I figured that the weekend was young and so was the season. There was nothing to worry about. My Saturday morning routine is playing basketball at the La Mirada Community Center. The regulars were there but the place was thin. We had just enough people to play full-court. My team lost every single game and I played terribly. I was so frustrated that I busted a Lebron and stormed out of the gym without saying anything to anyone. Not exactly a good witness.



I didn’t give up on this weekend quite yet. After I got back from basketball, Dom called me up again to meet up at The Boat for a late lunch (or at least that’s what we called it so we could go restaurant hopping later. Note to you guys: if you were thinking about taking a girl to this place don’t. It’s strictly a guys place and the girls were complaining about the lack of food choice (burgers with chilly, lots of it – I think that’s pretty much a guys meal) and more big screen televisions playing sports, which caused Dom and I to stair into them like the little girl from Poltergeist. So to appease the ladies, we decided to go to Old Town Pasadena. The wife says, “It’s Halloween, it’s going to be weird over there.” Simultaneously, I was thinking “It’s Halloween, it’s going to be cool over there!” Go figure.

At arrival we started out at Louise’s. It was coffee around except for Dom. He had mozzarella sticks. The wife and I tried some Zabaglione. It was crap. We had some good and edifying fellowship, talking about life, and how we think the Lakers will repeat this year. We also talked about up and coming movies we were looking forward to. Dom and I wanted to see Ninja Assassin. The girls said, “That’s boy’s night out.” I guess they were waiting for an inspirational movie like Blind Side.

Afterwards, we went walking around for a bit, witnessed a car accident, and watched a fat spider-man pass out balloons while we were waiting to be seated at Cheesecake Factory. If you’re counting we’ve attended three restaurants in five hours. Word! On the way home I wanted to take a picture with the 90-year-old Green Lantern. The wife didn’t see the point. Killjoy.

SUNDAY:

We went to the early service at our church in the morning, listened to a great sermon in Isaiah, and wondered if my sister in-law-Becky was going to bring another boy with her to church and call him her “friend.” I like talking to her “friend(s)” because they make things sooooooooooo awkward I find it absolutely hilarious. Why can’t they just be normal and have a normal conversation? Why do they feel the need to try and be witty? Do they not know they are talking to the Master of Wit himself? Teenagers these days simply don’t know how to play it cool. But I digress.

After a Sunday afternoon nap I went with my buddy Andrew (Bubba) to the Lakers’ game, hoping that they would redeem themselves from the terrible game on Friday. I haven’t hung out with Bubba for a while and it was a good time catching up with him. We talked about life and how his family was doing. It was a fun game and we even got in a Sasha-hate section, which just made my night. In addition, there were a couple of drunk guys in the section scouting out, “You suck!” to anyone and everyone (they were scouting out other things but I won’t repeat them here). It always adds another level entertainment when you have a couple of drunk guys in your section. We even got on the JamboTron. I hope they were season ticket owners.



Kobe dropped 41 and we got the win. Not bad. On the way to the car, Bubba insisted I finally try the “sewer dog” his treat (he actually bought four of them, I’m not making this up). Well, since he was buying I had to try one. I didn’t have the girls telling me how gross and unhealthy they are. I KNOW how gross and unhealthy they are but what’s life if you don’t try a “sewer dog” at least once? It was great. Probably worth the months it shaved off my life.

What a weekend in deed. Just when I thought it was going to be a terrible one it turned itself around. This made me come up with a new motto: “If life gives you lemons, then make Mike’s Hard Lemonade.” Beautiful. I think I’ll start my diet tomorrow.

What A Weekend part I of II

FRIDAY:

In the afternoon I took a fitness test. All but two categories were either above average or well above average (e.g., cardio, strength – I’m flexing as I’m typing that one, etc). My body fat was only average, sad day. We’ll have to work on that but not this weekend. Overall I’m in good health. I don’t know how else to celebrate good health other than completely tanking it for the weekend.



It’s been a while since the wife and I spent any time with Dom and Jess so I decided to make a phone call and get us some Laker tickets for Friday night’s game versus the Dallas Mavericks (that’s how I roll). Dom and I decided to meet up early and eat the ESPN Zone at LA Live. This way we could really do some catching up instead of just yelling at the refs and Sasha Vujacic.



The traffic on the way was dreadfully painful despite the fact the wife and I left two hours early. It’s Friday night and people are hitting the club scene, so that’s LA for ya. Dom and I have never been to this particular ESPN Zone but they have T.V(s). EVERYWHERE playing every game you could possibly imagine. There was a T.V. at every table. Do we need to research to see if a bunch of guys thought of this idea? I think we could figure that one out (Can you imagine the meeting that took place here? A group of fat guys sitting around in expansive suits coming up with a restaurant idea and saying, "Hey, why don't we put T.V(s). EVERYWHERE and play every single game possible all at once? Guys won't even care what's on the menu!" This was definitely one of those "Why didn't I think of it first" moments for me.) They were showing the Boston/Chicago game. Needless to say that guys didn’t contribute much dialogue and the girls were slightly frustrated. I’m sorry but when you decided to marry Dom or myself, you have to know that basketball is a part of life (I’m planning to devote an entire blog to this).



After dinner and about three words between Dom and myself, we entered the game from the Star Plaza entrance. Why do I mention the entrance? The reason being, if you’ve never been to a Laker game you don’t know that entering through the Star Plaza right before game time encompasses enough scandal (e.g., drug dealing, scalping tickets, soliciting prostitutes, etc) to last about three Sopranos episode. My regular season ticket entrance is on Figueroa Street. It’s pretty uneventful on that end except for the fat guitar player at the corner jamming away with his 600-watt amp and the “sewer dogs” that they sell on the corner (more on this later).

I was pretty excited. It was my first game of the year and we’re favorites to win the Western Conference for a third straight year. Then the game started, at least for Dallas, and my Lakers rolled over with a lifeless effort, which had the entire crowd shaking their heads. I thought to myself, “Wow! I went through LA traffic, paid for these seats, and paid a drunk parking attendant an additional $10 (he was so drunk you probably couldn’t tell what kind of bill I was giving him) for this crappy game!” My only enjoyment of the night was booing Sasha profusely. Interestingly, there were a couple of middle-age Korean ladies sitting next to us. One of them leaned over to Katie and asked, “Are you guys season ticket holders?” Katie replied, “Yes, but our normal seats are on the other side.” The Korean lady says, “Good, I’m a Sasha fan and I didn’t want to endure your husband profusely booing Sasha, even when he gets on the JamboTron, for an entire season.” Well, I’m glad one of us was relieved. This on top of Boston destroying Chicago the same night. Am I heading to a 2008 repeat?

All of us went back to the car dejected, but on the way there, I smelled the “sewer dogs” (a hot dog wrapped in bacon served with grilled onions and peppers with all the fittings) cooking on the grill. I didn't bother asking how it got that name. I'm sure that I don't want to know. But it was calling my name. When I was thinking about getting one, the girls collectively voiced how grossed out they were at the very idea of eating one of those things. Well then, I can’t even comfort myself with a “sewer dog” over a loss like that. Not a good way to start the weekend.



Click here for part II.

Year two without Mom

It's been two years since my mom went home to be with the Lord. I decided that every year I would write a little something about her for those of you who didn't have the pressure of meeting such an amazing woman who had to endure raising me (that was the least of her problems, if you could imagine).

My mom lived one of the most difficult lives I have ever known. She was born and raised in Thailand; she married a man and had a son and a daughter. That same man would become an impulsive gambler, verbally and physically abusive, and unreliable at best.

She moved to America with her two young children and met another man who was even more physically abusive- not to her only, but also to her children. Since she needed his financial help, she decided to endure the abuse. But when the time came that she could afford to buy her own 7-Eleven store, she could endure the abuse of her and her children no longer. She finally kicked him out. I remember that being one of the best days of my life.

I remember my mom working long hours as a 7-Eleven clerk. She couldn’t afford a babysitter so she brought my younger sister and myself along. We would run up and down the aisles in playful laughter and come to a screeching halt in the candy section gazing in complete wonder at the beauty before us in countless forms of chocolate.

If there is one quality I want to point out right now, it’s my mom’s perseverance. There are times in my life when I’m going through something difficult and simply wanted to cash out. However, something inside me just doesn’t want to quit. First, I believe that it’s ultimately the Holy Spirit who perseveres God’s children. Secondly, though, it’s also the example of my mom who endured great difficulty throughout her lifetime but persevered because she loved her children and towards the end of her life, she endured because she loved the Lord. As a result of that endurance, she left a lasting godly legacy for her son and is now in the presence of our beautiful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.



Mom,

If you were still here, I would tell you about the beautiful wife who I married and how she’s an answer to your many years of prayer. I have no doubt that you would love Katie and her family (especially her mom, Lynn. I could see you guys talk into the night about whatever it is that mothers talk about into the night and laughing about stories of my foolishness).

If you were still here, I would take you to a Lakers game and have some good quality mother and son time. Of course, I would make you pay for parking, food, and have you buy me a Kobe jersey. If you were still here, I would find joy in the fact that you love watching your son grow into the man of God he knows he could be. I know that you would love how I take care of Katie but would demand I do a better job regardless. You would like our new dog, until he jumped on you. You would also be shocked that the dog has lived past two months under my care but then you would realize that Katie does most of the work. You would be teaching Katie how to cook Thai food and of course I would be the primary beneficiary. You would be pushing us to go to Thailand so the rest of the family could meet Katie but I would be complaining about how hot it is over there and that I don’t want to deal with the traffic, poor air quality, and the hundreds of geckos that seem to stock me every time I arrive. It’s been two years since you’ve been gone. I still feel a part of me isn’t quite whole. I don’t wonder what it would be like if you were still around, I know exactly what it would be like. And that’s what makes it difficult. But “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory” that you are now experiencing and what I will be experiencing with you when Christ returns. I’ll see you soon mom.

Your son who misses you very much,
Junior J.

Reassigned 2.1

The advantages continue as I was reassigned to an entirely different school site at the beginning of the year. Now, I have been reassigned to an entirely different classroom due to the fact that the Kindergarten class is too big and with some rearranging of the classrooms I some how ended up on the ghetto side of campus. I no longer have wireless internet access, the room is so old and dusty there were tumbleweeds roaming through it, and the beautiful work my aide did setting up the current classroom was all for not.

In addition, when I walked into the staff bathroom on that side of the campus I felt like I walked into a scene from Escape from LA. It’s amazing to me how the same campus could have such a contrast in regards to quality of facilities and equipment. In a matter of a couple of days I went from The Jeffersons, “Movin’ on up!” to Everyone Hates Chris. Sweet.



On another note, a couple of days ago I was trying to teach one of my students a simple word problem. As I was explaining what the problem was trying to ask, his eyes started rolling back as though he was being demon-possessed. I told him that it was okay if he didn’t understand the work initially and that I was more than willing to explain it to him again. He wasn’t having it. I never knew how a child would look like if his brain literally shut down but I do now, and lemma tell ya, it wasn’t pretty. Darn word problems. I don’t know how many times a typical person has the “Why Lord?” moments throughout a given week but that was one of them for me.

This past Friday we had English Language Development (ELD) training at the district office. If you’re an educator you know exactly how district training days works. If you’re not just know that teachers are the worst students. We do the same things that we tell our kids NOT to do (e.g., not paying attention, side conversations during instructional time, etc).

Let me explain the typical staff-training day. So the staff and I are in a Lotto poll. My buddy Larry did the math and if we hit the jackpot this weekend our take-home cut would be $7 million a piece. Word! While the training was going on, I decided to do something more productive and begin budgeting the $7 million I have not yet won. Here’s my running list:

$7,000,000 Take-home winnings
-1,000,000 Tithe – Got to give to the Lord first. If you don’t He might strike you down. Who wants to take that chance? I’m tithing more than 10% not because I’m spiritual but because I would feel better about myself when I spend it on superficial things.

$6,000,000 After tithe
- 20,000 Bills/loans
This would include my wife’s car loan. Bills/loans – I’m not really 20k in the hole but I want to give myself a buffer.

$5,980,000 After bills/loans
-1,000,000 Give this to my sister Vicky. After all that she’s been through these past couple of years, she deserves it. Not to mention if she came in with a lot of money she would do the same for me (or at least that's what she tells me).



$4,980,000 After hooking up my sister.
- 1,100,000 Buy some land and make a custom house.

3500 sq ft
5 bedrooms
4 bathrooms
Big yard for the dog. My buddy Larry did the math for me. The actual house would be about $535,000 – the rest would be the land. Interesting note, even though the lot cost 1.1 million, the property tax is based only on the cost of the house. So the 1% property tax is from the 535k and not the 1.1 million. I like to do my research when I'm budgeting money I have not yet won.


$3,880,000
- 300,000 Hook up Dom and Jess for a down payment for a home. Dom and Jess probably won’t be able to get a house in Santa Clarita for 300k but it’s a good enough down payment that will make the mortgage rate low. Of course I would require them to name their firstborn after me, regardless of gender.

$3,580,000 After hooking up Dom and Jess
- 500,000 Investment home Why not? I would buy one near Biola University, up-grade everything in it and rent it out to students. We’ll have a steady flow of income every month.

$3,080,000 After investment home
- 80,000 New car
I don’t know what I would get yet but this is the budget. Initially, I had put $30k away for a new car but Larry talked me out of it. The 80k would include a maintenance fund (e.g., brakes, tires, etc). Whatever car it ends up being it would definitely have a GSP system. I'm tired of getting lost. I could also verify any lame directions that Bryan gives me.

$3,000,000 After the car budget
- 500,000 Hooking up the in-laws – Serving the Lord faithfully through the years and raising six children, four of which turned out okay, I figured that is a pretty commendable job that deserves a kick-down. Since my mom is no longer around, I would help out my in-laws. This would probably be the nail in the “Whoever Becky (sister-in-law) marries will never measure up to Junior” coffin but I can’t help it if I rock.

$2,500,000 After hooking up the in-laws
-2,000,000 Conservative investments. Boring, I know.

$500,000 Miscellaneous: Vacations, Laker front seats, fine dining, Playstation 3, Starbucks coffee, an iphone for both the wife and I, a new laptop, buying all my groomsmen a cool gift of their choice, a puppy Rottweiler, training for the puppy Rottweiler so he could grow up and be a killing machine, a cruise for my entire grace group, and missionary support.


Well, it looks like another productive day of staff training. They even gave me a certificate for being ELD trained (I have no idea what that means). And we’re only two months into the school year. I wonder what’s going to happen next week. Stay tuned . . .

Reassigned 2.0

A month into the school year and my new site has been running smoothly. As I said before, the staff have been great and the kids are not so bad. I’m not sure what the Lord may have for me working at a new school but it hasn’t been bad so far. Of course I have two meetings this week with parents regarding placement for their child, hoping to receive additional special education services but that’s pretty normal. If you don’t have at least a couple of demanding/difficult parents then count your blessings.

People ask me if it’s more work. I wouldn’t say more, just different. Moving from Middle School to Elementary has been interesting. You don’t have to deal with as much behavioral problems because they are still young and uncorrupted. Of course you have less than stimulating conversations with them because they are so young.

You can’t beat the schedule. School starts at 7:55am and ends at 2:12pm. At two o’clock most people are just getting back from lunch. The wife is a little jealous every time she looks at the clock around 2pm. When she's getting out at 3pm I'm already well into my workout. Of course she makes more money than I do so she's got me there. But what do I really have to complain about? I’m sure to find something to complain about because of my negative disposition. I'll have to work out that.

During the time when I was teaching Middle School, I was sadden with the fact that many of the students did not have basic skills such as knowing how to multiply and divide for example (I’m not making this up). Being with younger students I could make a concentrated effort to make sure that they do acquire those basic skills and build a solid foundation to be able to succeed at the next level. In additional, since the students are younger you don't have to deal with as many behavioral problems that are usually coupled with their learning disability. Maybe this is why the Lord moved me, to impact young impressionable students. Or maybe He just wants me to get out earlier so I could start my workout sooner. Either way, I’m grateful.

Then again, the school year is young and who knows what's going to happen. Stay tuned . . .