Unexplainable Awesomeness

My top ten playlist.

About a year ago, I started asking my friends to make me a playlist of ten songs that accomplishes two things:

First, it expresses who they are as a person.

Second, it’d be the perfect playlist to listen to when I want to think about them.

Over twenty of my friends have made this playlist for me. And I’ve enjoyed every single one of them.

I’d like to return the favor and share my top ten. Here goes.

1. Lecrae - Rebel Intro
2. Lecrae - Don’t Waste Your Life
3. Misty Edwards - You Won’t Relent
4. Bethany Dillon - Revolutionaries
5. Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
6. JJ Heller - Where I Land
7. Brooke Fraser - May Waltz
8. Hillsong United - None But Jesus
9. Jon Foreman - Again
10. Brooke Fraser - Arithmetic

There’s a reason behind every one of these song choices.

1. Lecrae - Rebel Intro
It’s not easy following Jesus in American culture. The norm is materialism, lust, and living for the unholy trinity of me, myself and I. Those are the things everyone is doing. The call of the Christian is to rebel and follow the narrow Way.

2. Lecrae - Don’t Waste Your Life
I’m not going to waste my life pursuing the temporal, small, meaningless goals of the world. I’m seeking His kingdom first to make the most of the gift of life.

3. Misty Edwards - You Won’t Relent
Some of my favorite lyrics from the song: Come be the fire inside of me, come be the flame upon my heart…you won’t relent until you have it all. The King Jesus will have it all. Every nook and cranny of creation. This God who is an all consuming fire, I’m asking Him to come be the fire inside of me.

4. Bethany Dillon - Revolutionaries
Dreaming all the time is not foolish.

5. Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
A healthy dose of laziness is ingrained in my DNA. Jack reminds me that it’s okay to sleep in.

6. JJ Heller - Where I Land
Marriage is a gift. A spouse is a gift. My biggest prayer for my wife is that I would see her as a gift. To say “….I am lost for words, you’re more than I deserve.”

7. Brooke Fraser - May Waltz
I want to dance to this song at my wedding. Brooke captures the commitment and romance of love in one song with lyrics like “morning sneaks up on us, shines on our sheets, waking me into my favorite dream.”

8. Hillsong United - None But Jesus
All my delight is in You, Lord. All of my hope. All of my strength.

9. Jon Foreman - Again
It’s no secret that the Church is broken. But Jesus is making her beautiful, and turning our hearts back to Him…again.

10. Brooke Fraser - Arithmetic
The dream of my heart is articulated in the lyrics of this song: “when the years are showing on my face, and my strongest days are gone, when my heart and flesh depart this place, from a life that’s sung Your song, You’ll still be the one want.”

These ten songs give an intimate glimpse into my soul.

Make your ten. Ask your friends to make their ten for you. It’s fun, deep…and worth it.

Making space to write.

We need to make space to write. Putting down words on paper, creating something out of nothing, expressing our inner world through the written word fits into the category of not urgent, but important. Which is why is must be done.

The ever so present steal your attention away smartphone hardly ever produces life-changing revelation or startling epiphanies that illuminate truth to our feeble brains. But, writing does.

The shouting whisper that pesters us to be available 24/7 needs to shut up.

Because we need to write. To craft beauty that paints pictures, transforms us, and creates new worlds. And we need te peace, space, and oh-so-sweet silence to make it happen.

Let’s write.

I dream of Independence Day.

The other day, I fell asleep on my living room couch for like two hours. Although this is amazingly awesome on its own, it gets even better.

I had a dream where I saw Independence Day playing on a TV in a store window. You know, that movie where Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum fly into outer space and all of humanity bands together to defeat aliens.

Being one of my favorite movies of all time, I was ecstatic in my dream that Independence Day was playing on TV. I was trying to rush home (again, still in the dream) to watch the rest of this classic American film.

Then I woke up in real life.

As I was rolling around on my living room couch awakening from my sweet slumber I heard the sweet, sweet sound of Independence Day playing upstairs in my roommate Geoff’s room.

Then it hit me…I heard Independence Day playing on TV while I was sleeping and my brain turned it into a dream.

AND

The clip I saw in my dream hadn’t played yet on TV in woken up real life.

In other words, Independence Day is so engrained into my subconscious that I can hear scenes from it while I’m sleeping and it makes it into my dreams.

This is one of the coolest things that’s ever happened to me. Hands down.

Now, if only this exact same thing happened with Ip Man, then I’d be the happiest man in the world.

But until then…I guess all I can do is dream of Independence Day.

Dwelling on eternity in my pajamas.

It’s 3:27pm and I’m still in my pajamas.

Please don’t judge me.

I’ve been doing productive things like writing book reviews, tweeting, and listening to Jordan Steele’s playlist on Rdio.

In addition to all those really cool things, I’ve been dwelling on eternity and the Kingdom and world missions and the second coming and the Millenium and the Gospel going to the ends of the Earth.

Yes, in my pajamas.

I came across a quote that is so good I just have to share it.

The eternal reign of God has dawned, is dawning and will one day dawn in its consummated fullness. The God who has reconciled us to himself through Christ will one day bring us into full participation in the grand eschatological community of his divine reign. This is the vision that should inspire us in this in-between era to seek to be a kingdom people now and to proclaim now in word and deed the good news of the coming eternal reign of God.

I got this gem from The Millenial Maze by Stanley J. Grenz. Meh title, ugly cover, but freaking good book.

It’s the kind of quote that makes you remember that there’s a real God out there who’s doing real things in the real world with a real plan leading to a real future…even if you’re sitting at home in your pajamas.

I’m moving to San Francisco.

I just bought a one-way ticket to San Francisco, California.

On July 1st, I am moving to my dream city for a fresh start. I can’t wait.

Ever so committed to answering the question of why, here are the main reasons I’m moving to San Francisco.

A really diverse population.
It’s important to me to live in a place with a multi-ethnic population. I think it leads to more opportunities to learn, understand, and appreciate the world we live in.

It’s close to the Asian side of my family.
I grew up with the Mexican side of mi familia. I’ll get to spend more time with my dad and my long lost cousins who I didn’t know existed until a couple of months ago.

Easy car-free commuting.
Besides the fact that freeways make me throw up, riding public transit, biking everywhere, and walking to places reminds me that I’m a human. I desire a sense of place and being connected to the community where I live. And in San Francisco, the car-free life is totally doable and totally cool.

Startups and geeky tech stuff.
Some of my favorite companies in the whole wide world are based in San Francisco. And there’s designers, developers, and marketers galore that call San Francisco home. I’m going to jump head first into the startup and tech scene to serve, get to know people, and make ideas happen.

Really good food.
My stomach is smiling already.

It’s a hub of cultural creativity.
San Francisco is one of the main places in the world where culture is created and spread. And I want to be right in the thick of it.

My Father wants me to take a risk.
I was praying on a couch at 3am one night on my Christmas break trip to San Francisco, and felt the still, small voice of God say to me, “Brian, I want you to take a risk and move here.”

I’m one of those crazy people in the world that believe God talks to people — including little ol’ me. I trust Him, so I’m going to give it a shot.

To acknowledge reality, I’m not guaranteed anything by moving to San Francisco. I’ll have 3ish months worth of money and the whole thing could flop. That’s life. Worst case scenario, I move back to Mesa, AZ, to live with my mom who loves me in the city I grew up in. If that happens, at least I tried.

But that’s how risk works, right? It could be totally awesome or totally fail. That’s the fun part.

In this moment, I embrace the anticipation, I embrace the fear, I embrace the unknown, I embrace the possibilities, and I count down the days till Flight #1722 leaves Sky Harbor Airport with a 27-year old dreamer on board.

It’s on.

The interconnectedness of peace and chocolate.

On Sunday, I spent four dollars on a bag of Dove chocolates. Individually wrapped, cheesy self-help sayings on the inside, and a whole lot of chocolately deliciousness.

Little did I know that this measly four dollar purchase would lead to an unprecedented source of peace and comfort for my roommates and I in apartment 67.

Geoff came home after a long day at work and the first words out of his mouth were “Can I have some chocolate?”

Nate and I traded my refrigerator space for some of his milk. He ended up not using my refrigerator space and asked for a piece of chocolate for rightful compensation. All was right with the world.

And I am thoroughly convinced that at least one roommate is stealing chocolate behind my back.

But I don’t care. If he’s stealing it, he must need it, right?

A four dollar bag of chocolate literally affected our schedules, conversations, and relationships…for the better.

Who knew chocolate could bring about this much peace?

This guy didn’t. But I do now.

So, this day, I celebrate the interconnectedness of peace and chocolate.

My inner fat kid is back.

I am the fattest I’ve ever been in my whole life.

I mean — I don’t break cameras and I definitely wouldn’t be classified as a heavyweight, but still.

I don’t feel defeated or anything. Just fat.

Growing up, my mom let me eat anything I wanted. I was in charge of my own diet! But apparently, you can’t do that when you’re 27.

Sucks.

Once again, this time for real, I’ve resolved to get my act together and live a healthy lifestyle.

My goals are simple:

• Go to the gym every other day — the way I’m actually going to follow through is I set a reminder on my phone to go off at 4:30 everyday. At which point, I will put on my shoes. Through my experience, I’ve discovered that if I put on my shoes, going to the gym is easy because I’m like “Hey, I already have my shoes on so why not?” That means I’m going to put my shoes on the days I don’t go to the gym, too. Just to build the tiny habit — which I learned from BJ Fogg.
• Eat at Sub Connection and Jamba Juice — as a campus minister, I eat on campus a lot. Last semester, my default was to eat at Mein Bowl (greasy Chinese food worse than Panda Express). To follow through with this, when I get hungry on campus, all I’m going to do is get in line at Sub Connection and Jamba Juice. Once I’m in line, I’ll just stay in line. Another tiny habit at work.
• Record what I eat in LoseIt — my biggest issue is overeating. By recording what I eat in LoseIt, I’ll be thinking about what I’m eating instead of just eating without thinking. This tiny habit will help me to get to my ideal weight over time, like a year or two. In the long-term this is a lifestyle change and not some BS quick loss diet type deal. Those never work.

I think these tiny habits will lead to for real lifestyle changes that will have big returns in the future.

Bye bye, inner fat kid. I’m putting you away for good.

The tamale diet…planet Earth’s next biggest phenomenon.

Breakfast: Tamales.

Lunch: Tamales.

Dinner: Tamales.

This is what I call “The tamale diet.”

I’ve already patented the name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

With this diet:

• you’ll gain weight
• you’ll have no variety in your diet
• you’ll love every single meal

I’ve been on it for about 2 days. This diet is what Danish psychologists refer to as “a short-term solution for happiness.”

In other words, you should be on this diet for a minimum of a week, but a maximum of the Christmas season.

If your curious about more specifics, DO NOT google “the tamale diet” — you will find nothing.

I am the only person in the world capable of answering questions about this phenomenon that will inevitably take planet Earth by storm.

Don’t email me. Instead, hit me up on Twitter. I’m 99.9999999% sure other people share your questions as well, and I want my responses to be as public as possible for the benefit of the greater good.

Have a great day…and eat yourself a tamale.

I’m just possibility perusing.

The possibilities are endless.

I love and hate dreaming of what could be, why it could be, and how it could be.

I’m not guaranteed anything. I’m not entitled to anything. I don’t deserve anything.

I could end up working at McDonald’s. And in a lot of ways, that’d be okay. It wouldn’t change anything about God. All that would change is my circumstances.

In reality, all the possibilities I’m thinking about are 19 times more appealing than McDonald’s.

Move to San Francisco. Give it a shot as a freelancer and in the startup world after I find a job that pays the bills. Be a car free commuter. Meet tons of new people. Eat a whole lot of good food. Totally appealing.

Move to Phoenix. Be close to my mama and my tata. Throw myself into the creative professional scene and see what happens. Buy a Vespa. Commit to a local church. Also appealing.

Move to _________. The possibilities. The intrigue. The romance. I might just go somewhere and figure it out — living the dream of idealistic youth.

No guarantees. No set decision yet. No closure yet.

But it’s okay. I’m just possibility perusing.

Nutella and tortillas…together at last.

Less than seven days ago here on planet Earth, my younger sister put Nutella on a Tortilla Lady tortilla.

For the uninformed, you can only get Tortilla Lady tortillas in Flagstaff. Nutella? You can get that anywhere.

Anyway, back to my epiphany.

After my sister put Nutella on the Tortilla Lady tortilla, I tried one bite and knew, just knew, that my little world would never be the same again.

Yesterday, five of us had a spur of the moment Nutella and Tortilla Lady tortillas party, I’ve officially added Nutella to my “buy all the freaking time” shopping list, and I think I may have even put on a pound or two due to the chocolaty goodness that will now be a part of my everyday life.

If you haven’t tried these two gifts from God yet, dare I say…have you not lived?

Nutella and tortillas…together at last.