Family Field Trip, Drunken Sailor, and Indian Joe

Uncle Fuzzy's Retirement Fiesta

Friday night, I picked up my pops and we headed to the valley to pick up my brother for our cousin's retirement party. My dad and I had a great drive up even though traffic was the typical ihatedrivinginla kind of traffic. We had great conversation and we also discovered Tapatio Doritos which should be banned from anywhere near my reach. Since I wasn't drinking, I sat back and enjoyed the show that night. Alex has these dance moves that you wouldn't believe. After an hour he was drenched in sweat and had every woman, young and old surrounding him as he wowed them with his suave moves. My dad and I were laughing because we thought he looked like an idiot but in the end, there we were dancing by ourselves because now, even the MEN were surrounding Alex. Anyway, as a re-cap from that night, I still suck at salsa dancing, really love Del Taco and forgot how loudly my dad snores.

She LOVED the water

Saturday I headed south to look at a property with my real estate agent and on my way back to check the surf in Salt Creek, I got a spontaneous phone call from sis telling me we were going on a Duffy in Newport. The trend this weekend is traffic, so let's just keep following that. It took me about 45 minutes to get from Salt Creek to Newport because the US Open brought in about 300,000+ people and their cars all up and down PCH. Once I got there, I was greeted by a drunken sailor who was dressed to impress in her sailor hat and over sized life vest. Jayme loved the Duffy and what do you do with a drunken sailor? Snuggle her while she passes out from all the fun. I love my nugget/sis/ry time. They've stepped up to a much bigger role in my life and without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

Her way of making sure I'm still singing

Sunday, Alex and I headed to the Garden for an early set up before service at 9. First thing was first- COFFEE. I don't ever really need it but I love everything about coffee. Alex and I are both pretty new to the whole coffee experience. I made it all through college without one sip of coffee and as soon as I got a 8-5 job, I was doomed. Usually I go the first 3 hours of the day without it because I'm a morning person and then about 10-11am I go into siesta mode. Anyway, I consider myself a social drinker when it comes to coffee; Sunday mornings or Saturday evenings at church, I love to have a cup of coffee with my brother. Whether we are sharing a bottle of wine or enjoying a good cup of Joe together, we always have good bonding time.

Starting the day/week with church is something I highly recommend to anyone, even if you aren't a believer. "Why?" you ask? Well let me tell you. Church is full of positive energy and that same energy gets taken out into the world to make people happy. Anyway, Alex and I parked and decided we were going to give all the cash in our wallet to the church that morning. I told him to save some for parking and he said "don't worry, God will provide." Okay, buddy sure"- I went with it.

While we were setting up, I looked into the prayer room and noticed one of our girls praying in tears. I kept quiet about it and didn't approach her but instead, I prayed for her all morning. After the pastor spoke, he asked whoever needed prayer to come up front. She did. He then asked for whoever wanted to pray over these people to come forward. I did. I put my hands on her and prayed over her and reminded her who was in charge.

At that time, I didn't know what she was going through but it didn't matter because apparently whatever I said, struck a nerve and was exactly what she needed to hear. She had a financial burden and was struggling with her tithing. She knew she was to give 10% of her income but she couldn't afford it. I reminded her not to keep from a God who has given her everything. She cried, walked away and came back to me with a smile on her face. She told me she trusted God to take care of her and in my hand, she slipped whatever cash she had left. She wanted to pay for my parking.

As we left the structure, we didn't need the $3 she gave us because it took a credit card so I told my brother I wanted to find someone else to give it to. If you've been in downtown Long Beach, you know there are PLENTY of people to give it to. After I planted my eyes on the man I wanted to give it to, Alex pulled over and I ran up to the man. I told him God wanted me to give him the money that was previously given to me. He asked why and I told him I didn't know but maybe he knew why. He held my hand with the money in both of his and said "may God bless you." I asked him his name and he said "Indian Joe; I live in the park over there on Orizaba- that's where you can find me." I smiled and said "Okay Indian Joe, I'll pray for you." As I walked away, he called out and asked my name. I told him and he said "Okay, Rebecca, I will also pray for you." That money the girl  trusted God to use went to a purpose greater than she probably would have thought.

I took the positive energy from that morning and spent the rest of the day doing whatever I wanted. And I'm sure you can all guess what that was; yup- surfed, ate pizza and ice cream, and fell asleep on the couch. It was the perfect day. 

Weekly Bible Verse:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7