Jevy’s Blog

So I was going to post this on my blog first but it seems that many of the people already found out via Facebook.

I proposed to my lovely girlfriend at 8:20pm on Friday, January 4th, 2007. We had gone out for dinner at Baton Rouge, walked about for a bit. I said “hey! Let’s get these nice people to take a picture of us at the eternal flame (my dad corrected me in that it’s the Centennial Flame)”. I walked over to the other side where this lady and her husband were standing. As I reached into my jacket to get the camera the wife got really nervous. I then (quietly) explained that I was about to propose to my girlfriend and asked if they could take a picture. “Wow” she said “how exciting”. So I went back and pulled the ring and got some lovely snaps at the same time. The husband shook my hand twice and they both said how it made their evening to be part of this.

Anyways, it was fun.

My parents got me God Is In the Small Stuff: Graduate’s Edition when I graduated from high school. You know, as one of those sentimental things to help to establish that an important part (or maybe not so important) of your life is now complete.

The whole purpose is to help slow you down and to teach you to appreciate God in the day to day and not just in the “big miracles” that are less common. I think Joyce Meyer’s would have liked this book. Very much her style if that means anything to you.

With only two pages per chapter, it’s a simple read. The material though is so refreshing that it really requires some reflection. A review of the book on Amazon labels it as “Common sense that’s not so common sense”. I think that works.

I don’t read much, but when I do, they are usually very good. So I’ll try to post a couple of them.

Life of Pi is one of those books you either love it (and you get it), or love to hate it (and you maybe don’t get it). I’ve met people in both camps. When people ask: “what is it about?” there really isn’t a clear answer.

I loves stories. Especially stories that express people’s deepest emotions. This book is about Pi (actually the character’s name!), his search for spirituality and then his time on the life boat. Yann Martel has an incredible ability to describe the scene without having it be overwhelming or monotonous. I remember reading this during second year university and it allowed me to recapture the imaginative side that perhaps I was loosing among all the Calculus and Mechanics/Dynamics courses I was taking at the time. This realization came to me on the way home from a long day of classes. I can still vividly remember the whole scene. I was so lighthearted and satisfied for the rest of the day. It’s like I had found something that was lost!

I have recently realized that I naturally tend to experience and create community with the people around me. I first started thinking about this when I was walking down the university hallways with a buddy of mine from class! I literally said “hi” to maybe 4-5 people that afternoon. He was amazed at the amount of people I knew.

We are all energized in different ways. For me, I gain energy from being around people and growing deep with them. So I naturally spend a significant amount of energy creating pockets of communities in different places. Looking back, I can now see why so many different groups, organizations and activities I had been involved with were highlights of my life. There’s something about being with a group of people in a very intense environment (e.g. a musical, missions trip, sports team) that brings people close together. These were some of my most cherished times as I grew to know those I was with in a deeper and meaningful way.

Amazing how we’re all wired. I hope this wasn’t as disjointed as it seemed when I wrote it.

Thanks Chan!

[youtube 2mTLO2F_ERY]