la. plans.

there is so much emphasis in our culture on having a plan, moving forward and reaching the goal you set for yourself. leading up to the trip and all throughout the trip when people hear we are travelling they always ask us where we are going next. after we tell them, they usually ask what we are planning to do there. relatively little about our trip has been planned out in that way, so usually my answer begins with a sort of feeble, ‘um… well…’, then either I can try to articulate what I think might happen so as not to look like a foolish roadtripping hippie or something, or I can just sort of admit that I’m not totally sure what will happen next. the first response usually leads to a comfortable conversation about travel experiences, while the latter leaves the conversation at a rather awkward standstill. its in these moments that I realize how much we want to plan out our lives and control them and how much of our validation comes from being a person who knows where they’re going and how they are going to get there. this is interesting to me right now because we have learned in los angeles that life usually does not go according to plan, and that if we are so focused on forcing it to that we might miss out on some pretty great things.

our intention for la was to spend two weeks in a school with a bunch of other people learning to work out what it means to see God's kingdom realized in your home context.  all the other places along the coast we stayed for just a few days, but we were all set to kick it for two whole weeks out in san fernando (which is barely la, if you've ever been there... seriously you are in a valley with chickens and horses).  we got there and by the end of the first night we had realized that it was not the place we were supposed to be.  first of all, it was not the same program we were expecting and second, we just had a sort of off feeling about it.  the next morning, despite the fact that it was a complete change in the plan, we packed out bags and headed off into the monstrosity that is la.  we really had no idea what the next two weeks were going to look like now, but until this point God has done nothing but show us his faithfulness, so we went off trusting that.  we contacted jason in san francisco, remembering that he mentioned in passing that he had friends in la and within a couple hours we were heading to aaron and myrrhia's house.  we were already floored that these two people who had never met us were offering to have us stay at their place the night we contacted them and we really had no idea what to expect.

after three and a half hours of public transit (thats what i mean when i say that la is a monstrosity of a city!) we drag ourselves up to this adorable house where this beautiful couple is waiting on the porch to greet us.  they come, grab our bags and have us down at their table to eat the meal that they prepared for us (oh yah- did i mention aaron is a chef!?).  insane!  it was so surreal.  as we got talking we found more and more that we had in common: we both love youth and are at the beginning of adventures in having our houses be an open space for them, myrrhia and i both danced, aaron and dave both have such similar senses of humor... the list goes on.  after dinner we went with them to a class on the holy spirit at their church (on the way to which, their super old jeep started smoking from under the roof), talked into the night and just as we were going to bed, they insisted on us sleeping in their bed while they slept on the couch.  as we were going to bed we thought about what might have happened if we had just stuck to our original plan and not been open to new ways God might want to teach us and already we knew that it was going to be a good two weeks.

over the next couple weeks aaron and myrrhia made so many sacrifices to hang out with us and invite us into their life.  we shared meals, roadtrips, conversations... we even ended up, along with their friend sarah who had aaa, pushing their broken jeep back into their driveway.  we learned so much from them.  we were so impressed by the way that aaron and myrrhia share their home with others (and not just us, but really whoever needs a space!).  there was more than one time that we were not the only people aaron and myrrhia were serving at once.  when they are not immediately caring for others with their home, they are talking about ways they can help meet their needs or are praying for them.  aaron and myrrhia are people who do not hesitate at all to help a brother in need if they have the means to.

not only did we learn a ton though, but these two people are people who we know will be friends for a long time.  sure, our plans changed over these two weeks and we might not have come away with a measurable accomplishment, but we are so convinced that God loosened our grip on our plan that first night so we could hold tighter to him and in the process he gave us an amazing adventure with a couple phenomenal people!