School, Ministry and a Few of My Favorite Things

Hey everyone,

I know that I mentioned in previous blogs that I would keep you updated on school, work and other things. Well here I am about to share with you all the awesome news from the past few months.

School
I am taking 5 classes and the semester is ALMOST DONE! I am getting decent grades in all the classes (I have never been an "A" student) but I do have an A in one class. Here are the classes and what grade I am getting in each one.

Math - Algebra - Yes we all know I am no genius when it comes to math, so this class has been tough on me. The teacher is the Basketball coach, God bless his heart but he has no desire to teach this class. It has basically turned into a math lab and we are teaching ourselves. I just need to pass so I can take stats next semester.
Current Grade: Just Barely a "B"

Contemporary Discipleship - This class is all about discipleship. Jim Crain is the teach and he is pretty awesome. But this stuff is pretty elementary. We have gone over 9 different dimensions of discipleship.
Current Grade: "B"

Organizational Behavior and Management - This class is pretty cool. It can get boring sometimes, but it has increased my knowledge on org. behavior. It has also challenged me. The tests have been pretty intense and I had to do a presentation on an organization of my choice. I like this class and am excited to take more business classes in the future.
Current Grade: "B"

Personal Development - This is, in my opinion the worst class I have. The teacher is not really a teacher at all, she is the career counselor. The class consists of all freshman sports players except for 3 of us. This class reminds of jr.high classes. I feel bad for the teacher because you can tell she doesn't like teaching the class all that much and gets frustrated with the unruly sports players. I however am getting a great grade in the class so it makes me feel better!
Current Grade: "A"

Old Testament - This has been my favorite class of the semester. The teacher is really knowledgeable and teaches the OT with some serious passion and insight. She lived in Jerusalem for a few years, lived with a Jewish family and learned Hebrew while she was there. I have learned so much from this class its not even funny. I have taken what I have learned and used it in small groups and just random dialog with others. Its been a great class.
Current Grade: "B"

As you can see I'm pretty much a "B" student and I'm okay with that. Next semester is gonna be a kick in the butt. I foresee next semester being my hardest semester yet.

Ministry

Ministry has been going well at The Bridge. Of course it has it faults and hiccups but overall things are going good. As of right now, my favorite part of being apart of the high school ministry is small groups. I go to Loomis every Monday night and get to hang with 14 of the coolest guys I know. I look forward to it every single week. I would take this time with the students over Wednesday night program and Sunday morning program in a heart beat. Also, I had the chance to lead/teach out student leaders in our weekly Student Leadership meeting - this was both challenging and exciting. We are still working out some organizational kinks but things are finally getting smoothed out. People are getting into their roles and are doing what the do best.

This month of Decemeber is packed full of fun stuff for students. We are teaming up with Herold Presley (former kings player) and his non-profit organization called "Treat Them Like a King." For this event Harold is renting out "Hardwood Palace" in Rocklin and is bringing over 100 kids and young mothers from the inner city for a few hours of fun - our students are gonna help Harold with basketball and volleyball games, a few of the girls are going to be doing manicures and pedicures for the young mothers and at the end we are giving a Christmas gift to each one of them. It should be an awesome experience for our students.

We also have PJ's, Pancakes and Peanuts. we are gonna be hanging with the students at the Boies' house. Making them pancakes and watching some sweet Christmas movies.

Then there is "Let it Snow" This is an overnight trip to Truckee with the students. We are staying in a church and then the next day going and playing in the snow, snowboarding, tubing and all other kinds of fun snow things. I however will not be able to spend the night. I am house-sitting for my uncle until the 2nd of Jan.

A Few of My Favorite Things
Well I haven't had a ton of free time to do a ton of fun things but I have done some things. I was able to go to see Mute Math at the Filmore in SF a few months ago with my buddy Steven. Went to Disneyland for Halloween with a group of my friends (I surprised them, they thought I wasn't going) Played a grip of golf this semester and just been enjoying some time with friends and family.

Till next time.

Thoughts from a photo album

I took my nighttime cold meds after a day of school, Monday Night Football and House I found myself laying in a bed unable to sleep. I sat there for a while and stared at the wall, the light switch (glows in the dark), then to an odd shaped glass filled with sand, sea shells and a candle and finally resting my eyes on a bookshelf with about a half a dozen photo albums lying on the bottom shelf. I easily pull myself out of the bed and gently take a photo album from the lower shelf. I opened and to my surprise I see my parents, aunts and uncles, and a few of their friends from when they were right out of high school. While viewing these pictures I found myself making fun of my Dad’s wavy Johnny Estrada hair and my mom’s interesting choice in footwear. They had been married for about 1 year in these pictures. I put that photo album down and began looking through all the others.

I started to think about something. What did my parents do that defined themselves back in the day? Was it what they did? Did they accomplish things, have a high status amongst friends or was it a sweet job where you made lots of moola? Or, were they defined by who they were, their character, what they did for others and how they loved God? This got me thinking about myself. Am I defined by the things that I have done or accomplished? Or do others see me for who I am and what my character is like? I know if I think back, I have made some decisions based on how people will look at me, they will like that I have made this decision because it is makes me “look” successful. Let me state that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being successful. I am merely tackling the heart and mindset of the issue of being defined by the things we do and not who we are. I will be the first to say that I am a mess, I let things, people, situations, greed and selfishness(to name a few) occasionally define who I am. I am asking myself and you, the reader, this question. What defines you? are you ok with that/those things? If not, why? Would your friends say the same thing?

Here are my answers.

I tend to let my accomplishments/status define me. I have worked really hard to get where I am at and I feel like I should be rewarded. I have a hard time saying no due to the fact that I need to accomplish more to please more people and feel better about myself, I feel accepted. In the end I tend to get burnt out and feet like I have been used.

I am not ok with that defining me.

God looks beyond our sinful nature and if all I want to do is feel like I did something for a title or status then I need to check my heart and my motives.

I think my close friends would say that I work hard. They might not realize that sometimes I do it because I need to gain that acceptance from others.

God does not want us to define ourselves in the things of this world. He wants us to have our identity found in Him. I hope that this sparks some thoughts inside you. I know it got me going enough to type all this out at midnight. Goodnight and farewell till next time!

New page in my life...

Hey guys,

So I'm now in a new chapter of life. God has opened some doors for me to continue to work at Bayside church as a part time staff member. He also opened doors for me to go to William Jessup University. With this new chapter comes changes. Some awesome, some not so awesome. The awesome things include: actually going to school with a purpose, not freaking out about whether or not I will have a job after my one year was up. Also, I have a great resource with Bayside. They give me an incredible scholarship for being in the internship at Bayside. The not so awesome things include: the fact that I will be very very busy with homework and Bayside. If I am about to drop 35,000 bucks in the next three years for school, I am going to make sure I take it seriously, get good grades and be the best student I can along with balancing work, family and friends.

On a personal level. I would like to say something to all my friends and family. I will be busy. I'm sorry if I seem out of touch with you or if it seems as if I don't care. This is NOT TRUE. I am just trying practice what I preach (see above). I will definitely make time for friends and family because I think its an important part of keeping myself healthy(mentally and spiritually) and accountable. So please try not to take it personal if you don't hear from me for a few days/weeks. I will try and keep this blog updated a little bit more this semester while in my hours of study so I can at least let you know whats going on.

P.S. This is how I have plotted my schedule this semester.

Monday
- School: 8am - 2:30pm
- Homework 3pm - 5pm
- Small Group 7 pm - 9pm (Starting October)

Tuesday
- Work 9:30am - 2pm
- Homework 2:15pm - 5pm

Wednesday
- School 8am - 2:30pm
- Homework 3pm - 3:45pm
- Work 4pm - 10pm

Thursdays
- Mantastic 7am - 8:30am (breakfast with the dudes)
- Mentoring 9am - 10am
- Homework 10:30am - 2pm
- Work 3pm - 10:30pm

Friday
- School 8am - 8:50am

Saturday - Off

Sunday
- Work 8:30am - 11:30am
- Homework 2pm - 4pm (make up time if needed)

Hint - Fridays and Saturdays are good days to hang or call to chat.

- Jesse

Un-comfortability

I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago and she was sharing with me about her life. She said she didn't feel like God was as close as He used to be. after talking to her about a few different things about how God is never far, we always seem to just push him to the side while we deal with the matters of life and getting comfortable with where we are. This got me thinking - I found myself asking God to reveal himself to me in a new and fresh way, so while I am around my friends and family they will know that the Holy Spirit is working through me.

A few of us went on a trip last weekend to San Francisco and spent a lot of time in Union Square and Fisherman's Warf. I thought to myself man I would love to see how God is going to reveal himself to my on this trip. Well....He did. In a way that is plain as day, but I didn't even realize till I was in the shower this morning. As all 6 of us were walking around SF enjoying the sites, food and company of each other, we missed a truck load of opportunities to see Jesus in a new and fresh way. You see living in Roseville/ Granite Bay area we don't encounter very many homeless people. And if we do, we don't usually pay any attention to them.

As we walked downtown SF I found myself avoiding these people. They made me uncomfortable. Asking for money for food holding signs saying they have nothing but there family and they cant even feed them. My thought while I was down there was "eh they are all lying or just lazy and dont want to get a job. Cruel huh? I shamefully confess that those were my true thoughts.

Matthew 25:40-43 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." ⁴¹"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

Ouch...this is not easy stuff to read - Read Matthew 25:31-46 for the full story

This is how God wanted to get my attention and reveal Himself. Unfortunately I ignored it for the comfort of the one and only...me. I was there to relax, hang out with friends and have a good time. I didn't need these people asking me for money or trying to make me feel bad. I feel safe saying that you have felt that way and if you don't want to admit it then you feel that way inside and your just ashamed to come out with it. Anyway, I neglected wanting to help these people. I say I am a follower of Christ. I say I choose to follow the path he has laid for me. I say I give up my rights for Him and the kingdom, but this last weekend - I sacrificed nothing but connecting with God and getting to known the homeless, desperate, poor, lonely people he cares for. He cares for them just as much as he cares about us. Following Christ is not rainbow's, unicorns, fairies and being comfortable. Following Christ is hard...sacrificing things you don't want to sacrifice and all for the glory of...not you...but Christ.

This was truly a wake up call. It now has me thinking about other areas of life that I am severely selfish in. Jesus talks a lot about the poor in the new testament. I do not have the excuse of not knowing this stuff. I have heard it my whole life...what areas of your life do you think God is trying to get your attention?

Lets Do This!

I have been thinking a lot lately about my health. I realized that after a few bike rides and hitting the gym last week, how out of shape I really am. So I have decided to do something about it. My current weight right now (as of this morning at the gym) is 220 lbs. My goal is be down to 190 lbs by the end of June. I know your probably laughing inside right now, but I am pretty serious about this. Both sides of my family has diabetes weaving in and out of the family tree and I really don't want to be a part of the diabetes club. Here is the plan so far...

1. Hit the gym 3 times a week (cardio and weights)

2. Work out with Gilbert 2 times a week ( kettle bells, resistant bands and other various workouts)

3. Ride my bike ( 2 times a week) and gradually work my MPR (miles per ride) up.

4. Eat healthy. no more junk food and lots and lots and lots of water (some high quality H20)


If you read this and know me personally please ask me how I am doing with it. I need as many people to keep me accountable as possible.

apology time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope your 2009 will be awesome! I would like to apologize...I know I promised a blog about 2008... but due to the amazing partying,laughing and hanging out that has taken place in the last week... I have been have been unable to finish the whole thing. I mean I could have finished it but it would feel rushed and I don't want it to seem like its rushed. So please look for the 2008 blog within the next week. 

-JAC-