Don't kick the cactus.....

I've been wanting to update for awhile, but just haven't gotten around to it. Great things are happening here in Texas. I went to Lake Travis today with some friends from work. One guy named Tom, who I've been friends with, another guy named Trevor, who I met back in November when I interviewed, but hadn't seen since, and two new people: a co-op from U of Illinois named Rey and another co-op from UT named Yovita. They were all cool people and we had a great time. We grilled some amazing burgers and sausages and then went cliff jumping. Okay, okay, so some of us were too chicken to jump off the 40-foot cliff, so we ended up finding a 10 foot jump, which was still a bit scary not knowing what was underneath the water. But we've got all summer to work our way up to the big-daddy 40-foot cliff. I accidentally kicked a cactus, though, and those suckers will get you. I barely brushed up against it and I had like 30 pricks in me.

I love meeting new people and making new friends. I went to this new smallgroup on Friday night and met a bunch of cool people there. It's amazing how fast you can begin to feel comfortable and at home around certain people. I especially love meeting people from other countries. Tom is from Vietnam and Yovita is from Indonesia. It's so cool to me to meet and become friends with people that are literally from the exact opposite side of the world. I usually find that we're really not as different as you would think.

Last week I got to share why I follow Jesus with a friend, which was really cool. It was just two friends being real with each other and talking about what we believe and what our experiences have been. I think too often Christians get caught up in trying to convert people...trying to turn people into followers of Jesus ourselves. That's really dangerous because people are smart and usually know exactly what is going on...and that can be a big turn off. Now, I want to see my friends know Jesus as much as anyone because I know how amazing life has been for me. But, I don't believe converting my friends is the exact goal God gives. I think He simply wants me love my friends, and share the hope and joy that I have in Jesus with them. It is completely and solely up to God himself to do any convicting or "converting". As Evan Griffin would say, "I could be wrong, but I'm not!" ;-)

In other news, me and my roommate are going to try to start a Bible study at our apartment complex, which I'm really excited about (not really nervous, yet, at least). We are going to go through the book of John, and pretty much focus on Jesus. I'm hoping that people will come and see Jesus for who He really is. I also want to get to know people better here because I've met very few people who live here. I hope people show up! :-)

Work is going great and I'm slowly getting to know the guys there better. I got invited to my mentor's wedding in August. Hopefully I know people well enough so that it's not awkward!! Haha, this also means I'll have to buy a new suit or bring mine back to Texas when I go home in July.