0127 the weekend in review

Saturday morning was sunny and clear, but news reports said that we would have rain by nightfall. Jim Y came by after 10am to pick me up for some walking exercise. Steve K was going to join us, but something came up at the last-minute, so Jim and I headed out to Liberty Park in Cerritos. We walked along the pavement between the all-weather track and the tennis courts, up and back, for almost an hour.

After the walk, we went for lunch at The Loft. Jim had mentioned that he was longing for some Hawaiian fried chicken, so he ordered that from the menu. I had a platter, which consisted of some of the Hawaiian fried chicken, teriyaki chicken, and kalbi ribs, with bacon fried rice, ramen cabbage salad and macaroni salad. There was so much food that neither of us finished our lunches. We filled our to-go boxes and left. Jim dropped me off at home around 1:30pm.

That evening, Restaurant Hoppers was meeting at Hokkaido, a new Japanese-Chinese buffet in Long Beach, in the same location that used to house Charley Brown’s, on Cherry Avenue. I had declined the invitation, as I am not good with buffets yet; I can’t hold a plate steady enough without something rolling off into my lap. I learned this the hard way, with a bowl of piping hot soup. My decision was good as it downpoured that evening, which meant that I would have been transferring between my wheelchair and a car several times in the rain, getting soaked in the process.

So I just stayed at home, comfortably dry, and finished off the leftovers from lunch.

Sunday morning was also sunny and clear, but dark clouds could be seen in the distance. My father dropped me off at SBCC just before the 11am service. Sam met me in the parking lot, so we wheeled into the sanctuary to find a good seat near the front. Liz was the emcee for both services and we had planned to cheer her on en masse, but our cheering section shrunk one-by-one in the last few days.

Originally, it was to be Sheri, Wendi, Sam, Chris and myself, but Sheri came down with the flu, Wendi was taking her niece to the local mountains for the snow, and Chris had texted me that morning that he wouldn’t make it in time. Stephanie was at a seminar, Eric had attended the Saturday eve service, and Jen was at home sleeping after working the night shift at Kaiser. So it was just Sam and I, and we decided to just cheer since there wasn’t enough hands to hold up the letters (what letters? keep reading).

Unfortunately, when the time came and Liz stepped on stage, I was distracted by a well-wisher who came over to see me. I was caught off-guard by Sam cheering (by himself) at the top of his lungs, and everyone in the church (including me) was just looking at him. As he sat down, he gave me a “where-were-you” look. I apologized for missing the cue, but we had a second chance later (keep reading).

Pastor Gary was scheduled to be “off” until February 2/3, but he came back a week early as Pastor Ken was out sick and resting at home. He came up with a special sermon called “Gary’s Blog”. He explained what a blog was and that he didn’t really have one, but if he did, he would write what was on his heart, and he wanted to share that with us.

He talked about the word “whatever”, providing a dictionary definition of it, and how its meaning has changed as the word has become common in the vernacular of today’s youth. It used to just mean “anything or everything” or “no matter what”, but now it’s accepted as meaning “indifference to or scorn for something”. It reflects a culture of apathy, indecisiveness, confusion and non-discerning tolerance. Pastor Gary is concerned as our future lies with the youth of today, which has been dubbed the “whatever generation”.

He spoke about the apostle Paul, who foresaw this in 2nd Timothy 3, verses 1-4, which read: “You must understand that in the last days there will come times of much trouble. People will love themselves and money. They will have pride and tell of all the things they have done. They will speak against God. Children and young people will not obey their parents. People will not be thankful and they will not be holy. They will not love each other. No one can get along with them. They will tell lies about others. They will not be able to keep from doing things they know they should not do. They will be wild and want to beat and hurt those who are good. They will not stay true to their friends. They will act without thinking. They will think too much of themselves. They will love fun instead of loving God.” [New Life Version]

Pastor Gary is also concerned that time is moving forward, so we cannot wait. Psalm 39:5 says, “You have given me only a short life; my lifetime is like nothing to you. Everyone’s life is only a breath.” We have only a short time on this earth to square our lives with God, because He will be the first one we see after our hearts beat for the last time. According to Romans 14:12 “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

He also shared a birthday card that he recently received. Yes, his birthday was last week. No, you didn’t miss it in the SBCC Baywatch. You’ll never see it in print. And yes, I know how many candles there would have been but don’t ask me about it; it’s not my information to share. Let’s just say that he’s older than Cheryl, and Cheryl is younger than I am. Whatever.

He finished up the sermon with a talk about leaving a godly legacy. He spoke about John Baker, a promising young athlete, who died prematurely (in his 20s) due to cancer. He was expected to compete in the 1972 Olympics, but never made it. He worked as a coach at an elementary school in New Mexico and concentrated his efforts on the handicapped. He touched the lives and hearts of all the children and parents he met. He made a difference. He left a lasting legacy.

I find myself thinking about this as well. I see the stroke as a sort of “wake-up call”, that God is giving me another chance. I could have died a year ago. I am trying to find a way to make a difference in the lives of the people around me, but it’s a difficult task. If I die tomorrow, I don’t know if I’ve done enough. I guess I’ll never know.

After the service, I met with Eric and Sam (for our Koinonia lifegroup meeting) in the Dugout, which has a window that looks into the Sanctuary. Liz had to attend an Emcee Ministry meeting in the Sanctuary, and we knew that Sheri, Wendi, Jen and Steph would not be joining us, so the three of us just shared thoughts and reflections on today’s sermon, and we shared prayer requests.

As we were talking, we became aware that the emcees were each taking the stage for some training and peer review. We realized that Liz would be on stage, so we got the letters ready. When she stepped on the stage, we pressed the letters against the glass to spell “GO LIZ!”. We heard laughter coming from the gathering in the Sanctuary. We later heard that someone commented, “Liz, you’re the only emcee who has stalkers!”

We returned to our discussion and left the emcees alone. As we finished up, Liz joined us and commented that the Koinonia men should never be left alone in a room again.

We left SBCC around 2:30pm and went over to the Mitsuwa food court, as none of us had eaten. Chris was able to join us so we dined on rice and noodle dishes, and the discussion rambled as the subject changed every few minutes. At one point, the four of them were involved in spelling their names in Chinese characters.

When the food arrived, I wasn’t paying attention and I missed the hand signals, so I had to say grace for the group. I started off normally, then began to soften my voice intentionally. I could sense the other four lean a little closer, as they tried to listen. By the time I finished, I was whispering, and I knew they were watching the movement of my lips. I’m sure I’ll hear from them as they read this post.

While we were eating, I received a text message from Wendi. I had sent her a message to be careful in the mountains after last night’s storm. She replied for me not to worry as there was a change of plans and she was shopping in Carlsbad instead.

Sam gave me a ride and had me home by 4pm.