Many of you know that I have a love/hate relationship with facebook. I love that I can connect with old friends that I would have never talked to nor seen again. BUT, there is a staggering amount of junk on that social network. And on a personal note, someone once hacked into my fb account and spammed all my "friends" with an ad about winning a free ipad. yuck. I don't even believe in ipads.
However, facebook is not what I want to talk about. You know I always start off talking about something that has little to do with my main point. I was looking up old middle school crushes on facebook one day, just because I was curious. No, I'm not unhappy with my marriage. I love my husband mucho, and I have my eyes on the prize. For goodness sakes, I was 12 when I liked these kids.
One crush, CM, was the middle school sweetheart. He had a babyface, and knew how to befriend all the girls. I spoke with him on occasion, but we were world's apart--I was a total geek and he was part of the Asian cool crew that had slouchy khakis and oversized polos as a dress code. Then, we went to different high schools. He went to the local DB high and I went to an outside district magnet school (further perpetuating my geekiness). And I forgot about him. So when I discovered his facebook profile, it was a shock to see how we were worlds apart. From what I gather, he is still living in DB, went to a local college, studied econ, and has a party harty life.
And for some reason, I am sitting here reflecting on how God has completely changed my life. I went to college on the east coast because I wanted to get out of my bubble and find out what was happening on the other side of the country. Then, God led me to see the broken people and the social disadvantage that created an unfavorable environment for them to rise up out of their inequity. God showed me that medicine was the avenue through which I could reach those people and bring physical, emotional, and spiritual healing into their lives. I decided that I would try following Jesus. The more I walked with Jesus, the more things that used to be fun like partying just wasn't fun anymore. Next, I followed Jesus to Philadelphia for med school where I joyfully got my butt kicked in school ;) I married my college sweetheart that loves me like Jesus loves his people. And let me tell you something. Since I decided to follow Christ, words cannot describe the mind-blowing experiences I've had that no drug, thing, or earthly desire could ever allow.
What if I had stayed in DB and not been challenged to grow beyond my comfort zone? Perhaps God would have changed my life and taken me in a different yet equally fulfilling direction. However, I took some chances and risks for God, and He has surprised me time and time again. This trajectory has allowed me to meet people from Kenya who taught me Swahili, play with Puerto Rican immigrants in the streets of Philadelphia, pray for women who lost their children to drugs in South Philly, and meet some other really awesome people along the way.
So.
Thank you Jesus for the ride. And I cannot WAIT to be shaken up some more.
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