I got plugged in to an amazing church out here, RealityLA, and through it I have made so many friends! You could definitely say that I have formed my own family out here, and I seriously consider many of them to be very dear brothers and sisters in Christ. It's so helpful to have a group of people to keep you accountable and centered on what is most important, Jesus. I have been a regular at a small group in Toluca Lake, where most of my friends go, but I think I am also going to start attending the Pasadena small group because it is closer and I just love community group.. so sue me. I have signed up to serve as an usher at RealityLA, and started last week. I can already tell I am going to love serving for this church body, and I really look forward to becoming more invested in the congregation. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am exponentially growing and maturing in my faith, and that in itself is a good enough reason to pick up and move across the country.
My God Mother has so graciously allowed me to stay with her until I get a job and can support myself. I have been working three to four babysitting jobs in order to make some chum change, but recently I was hired on a permanent position. I will be a nanny on the weekdays, and hopefully get some other babysitting in on the weekends with the families that I have already established relationships with. God has completely blessed me by providing these opportunities, and now that I will have a steady income, I plan to move out as soon as I find roommates and a place to live. My budget will be tight, and I will pretty much be living on rice and beans, and despite the all of the hard times ahead, I am super excited. There is something thrilling about struggling to make it on your own. This might sound like the dumbest thing you have ever heard, but I have always been into the idea of living the "starving artist" lifestyle. Not only that, but I know living like this will also make me appreciate all the little things I take for granted so often, like eating out, going to see movies in the theater, shopping, etc. I look forward to being more cognizant of my blessings and constantly relying and depending on God to get me by.
In my free time, I plan to do a lot. There is so much to do in this City, and I am going to do my best to experience it all (except for the sketchy/raunchy stuff!). I have been writing a lot of music lately, and I am also putting together an album with a friend here, which I am super excited about. We are well on our way, and hopefully after a few more weeks of tuesday night practices, we'll have something to show for it. After I come back from Christmas break, I have a musical genius friend who asked me to join him on a little project, for which I am also extremely pumped about. Since I have been here, I have gone on a few acting auditions, and have thoroughly enjoyed the experiences. If more of those come my way, by all means I will go for it, and if they don't, it's whatever. I am basically just going where the wind blows me, and I have a real peace about the uncertainty. Amongst making music, doing church things, hanging out with all my buds, I am also taking college courses online. I am majoring in business and communications. I don't know where that degree will take me, but I definitely see some possibilities in the future of perhaps starting my own business, or with my aggressive nature and competitive spirit, taking on the corporate world. Even though I have a lot of thoughts about what I might do in the future, none of it is really solid yet. I am just living right here right now, and that is perfectly fine with me.
A few things that I might be looking to do in the near future are:
- Getting a Bike (to ride to work and save gas!).
- Scavenging for free concerts.
- Knitting a blanket.
- Buying furniture.
- Moving into a new place.
- Grocery shopping with a budget of $36 a month (I am really looking forward to the challenge).
- Finding a charity or organization to volunteer through.
- Writing more music/auditioning/any other creative outlets I can squeeze in.
Those are just a few interests. I am excited to see what will change on this list. I am sure things will be deleted and new things will be added, but I am really looking forward to the progress of life.
For future reference, I am going to end each post with a bible verse or passage, a photo or image I like, and a song title/artist that you should most definitely check out. Thanks for reading, have a blessed day!
2 Corinthians 5:17-19
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."
Awake My Soul - Mumford and Sons
