My Comparison

Currently reading through 1 Kings made me wonder a few things. 1) New Testament is definitely more exciting and applicable (practically) that the Old Testament. 2) There are so many kings and characters how the heck am I suppose to remember all these people. And 3) There is such a huge contrast between the Old and New Testament in terms of worship style and relationship with God.

Just the sheer discipline and rules and laws would make me have to sacrifice everything I have. It only makes the coming of Christ that much more awesome. Of course the main being that he died for my sins and the sins of the world by paying the ultimate sacrifice of death not having deserved it, but also in the practical sense I don't have to follow all these rules and laws and what nots because Christ came. I don't have to go through a priest or offer a sacrifice to talk to my Father and ask for forgiveness.

Growing up as a Christian family, prayer has always been a part of my daily life. I prayed when I ate food, my mom prayed with us when she dropped us off at school and I prayed before I went to bed. And through the years I never really understood why we say "And in JESUS name I pray, Amen". Now having realized a few years back it only reiterates the fact that Christ plays a part in every bit of my life. When I go to school, go to the market, the bank, hang out with friends, etc, in some way shape or form I can glorify God or disappoint Him. As a human being and person who thinks very scientifically, it's easy to assume that a simple task like cooking doesn't really have any significance in my relationship with God. But this morning, as I was making my awesome egg fried rice and was waiting for the egg to cook, I took a moment to pause and was just grateful that I had something to eat. I reflected upon how so stinkin lazy I am sometimes that even though I have a full fridge (that my mom absolutely stuffed food with) I decide to drive 5 miles and buy a Chipotle burrito. As a first year med student we take this class called Human Context that sheds light upon being a physician and how we must take in the physical ailments and also address the emotional and spiritual as well. We write this paper every two weeks that does require a level or reflecting, and pondered on the fact how I take so many things for granted. Not just my relationship with God and the Gospel message, but little little things like my family, my friends, the fact that I have car, a place to sleep, food, etc. Yet, more often than not, I think that I don't have anything, that I need more and would only be satisfied if my desires were filled. For example clothes. Yes buying new clothes is awesomeeeeee, and I wanted to go to the PX to buy clothes that are not only at wholesale price but also tax free. I mean you can buy a La Coste polo shirt for 50 bucks! Holy snaps! But the other day as I was literally driving to the PX, I came to the realization, dude, I wear a stinkin uniform to school everyday and spend 6 out of the 7 nights a week in the library. What the snaps am I going to do with a new clothes? Then all of a sudden I just thought of the lyrics "you give and take away" from Blessed Be Your Name and just how easily God gave me the means to even consider buying new clothes, he can easily take that away from me.

More and more I hope that from the moment I wake up till the moment I check out for the night, there is not a moment where I stop thinking how in ALL things that I do, God plays a role in it.

My First Chance

Wow it has been a while since the last one. Got through Officer Basic, settled into my new home for the next several years in the city of Bethesda, and already onto the third week of school. The schedule hasn't been too bad, just had our first biochemistry exam on Friday and now another exam for Structure and Functions Exam (both a practical and written exam) so it is essential two exams put into one. I think the biggest challenge is going to be balancing between the different classes, exams and papers, whilst still trying to manage(salvage) somewhat of a social life.

One thing I do not want to fall into is the trap of putting school before everything (including God) again. I did this as an undergraduate and I can see that it was definitely not greatest idea, especially putting it before God. I've yet to find a church, I checked out this one church for about a month and half but decided to look and check out some other churches. Growing up I've been actively involved in church, and even times when I changed churches and said that I wasn't going to get involved and such, I always ended up serving in some way or another. But with the given schedule and situation I believe it is God's way of telling me to be a learner, essentially a sponge for information and learning, and then serve again when the time arises.

My parents came to visit last week and it was really good seeing them. We got to see the city and visit the National Mall and got to eat at my fav restaurant here in DC. They loved the PX and commissary and spent so much money on cheap+tax free clothes and groceries. In addition, my momma made my a stink-load amount of food, enough to last me about a month and a half. Which should be just enough to get me wanting her food again when I visit home in Dec.

School is starting to pick up a bit faster and the word is it only gets worse. Only really had about a few hours to recover from the last exam before I started to study again....

I need a vaca...