God has a sense of humor...

I've been compiling a list of the different restaurants in the area that I plan to visit once I secure a more stable income and am again able to afford "going out." Temecula is a cesspool of fine eateries which is a luxury I've really never been afforded. Try not to laugh, but recently I've had a craving for the Olive Garden. I've always been a fan and have been looking for an excuse to go back, but because I'm watching finances VERY carefully I've held off.

This morning upon arriving at the church office I hada peice of mail waiting for me from a dear friend from college. Inside was a check and a gift card to the Olive Garden. Her attached note said "Olive Garden lunch menu-Soup, Sald, Breadsticks...All you can eat $6.99....Enjoy :)"

I am so blessed by her gift and equally amazed at Gods sense of humor. I continue to be made more and more aware of Gods attention to detail. The countless childhood dreams I've had fulfilled since coming here, Gods provision through the support of friends and family and countless other opportunities the Lord has blessed me with.

A lot has been going on as of late so here is a breif summation: I'm now riding a new quad as the team is sponsored by Polaris. I'm officially a member of the Bomb Squad Freestyle Motocross team which is something I've dreamed about since I saw my first ATV film in probably the 5th grade, but never once thought would actually happen. I'm beggining to book shows for the coming months which is exciting and a bit nerve wracking at the same time. I continue to practice almost daily and work to get more and more comfortable on the quad.

An encouraging piece of info is that I've been spending some time riding with one of our other team riders from Costa Rica. He's been very encouraging about my riding and is confident that I'm ready to do shows. That has been a huge boost coming from someone who has been a member of this team for over a year.

Lastly, I've met a group of young adults from the local bible college here in Temecula and they have welcomed me with open arms. Some great relationships are being formed and I"m SO blessed to have people my own age and in the same place in life as me to spend time with.

At last

At last, an update. I’ve been on the go none stop since arriving back in sunny southern California and things don’t look to be slowing down any time soon. The first few days back were spent fixing the driveline in my truck, again big thanks to my buddy Adrian for all his help, working on quads and learning my new task as a web administrator of sorts for H Bomb Films.

I’m currently interacting with fans, posting blog updates and have even created a press release or two for. Additionally I maintain the company’s Face Book page. I’m having a blast and slowly getting the opportunity to answer fan questions and essentially act as a liaison between the fans and the company.

Riding has been going well. I’ve only ridden twice since I returned but both sessions went exceptionally well. I managed to learn a few new tricks but have no photos yet to include. Basically two of them involve coming completely disconnected from the quad in mid air and then pulling yourself back on just in time to land. It’s a CRAZY exciting feeling to land one of those for the first time. I have a few exciting things in the works in terms of riding but I’m going to keep that under wraps for a little while longer.

I continue to serve with the youth at Life Church and have begun leading worship on Sunday mornings. Additionally I had the opportunity to teach last weekend and shared a message about how events in life can leave us scarred, but how we choose to heal from those injuries determines how bad the scar will be. We can choose to wear those scars as reminders of injuries we’ve sustained from the past that we’d much rather forget, OR as examples of Gods grace and forgiveness in our lives.

That's it for now...I'm working on a more thought provoking update but its not quite coming out right.

Reflections

I love coffee shops. The atmosphere, the people, the sounds, it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. I found a cool new one in Gresham Oregon called Café Delirium. It’s the perfect setting and brings in quite the diverse crowd. There are students working on homework, girlfriends chatting away about life, friends back for the holidays catching up, and more than one “couple” out on a coffee date. I love the diversity and atmosphere that it creates. I think what I love most is that nearly everyone has a smile on their face because most everyone that comes here wants to be here. Like me, they simply enjoy the atmosphere or they have an opportunity to catch up with special people in their lives.

I’m here because this is my office. I love to come to a coffee shop and sit and get work done. Thankfully for once in my life I’m self employed (if you can call it that), and praying that I can continue on this path. I’m also meeting a friend to catch up on life. This entire break has been nothing but visiting and catching up with people that have, in some way shape or form, impacted my life. It started the night I flew home with dinner with the fam and then vising with my small group from my church. What a blessed time of hugs, fellowship and crazy stories about this new life of mine. It was such a joy and one of my highlights was Janet Clark, one of our leaders, telling me “This is what I love about Seth, he knows how to eat.” How does one respond to that except to smile and dig in. Their family and so many others in my church came into my life at a time when I was hurting and needing fellowship the most. It was such a joy to go back and visit with them.

I had an opportunity to visit Jake, my best friend and partner in crime from the glory days of highschool. Its always a joy to hang out with him and it’s a blessing to see the continued progress he is making at his goal of walking again someday.

I got to visit my co-workers from the bank. What a FANTASTIC time that was. It took me at least two hours to make my rounds between the various offices and buildings to catch up with everyone that has been such a support of me over the last months and years.

On to Portland I visited with friends and family’s that have graciously taken me in and fed me, invited me on family outings and seemingly consider me one of their own. Its been such a blessing to see familiar faces catch up on life. The best, most humbling part of it all is to receive the love and support of people that are truly excited about what I’m doing with my life. Everyone is excited for me and I continue to be so blessed by the support of friends and family that want to see me succeed in this calling that God has placed on my heart.

As I finish up here and prepare to fly back home to California I’m excited but somewhat scared at the same time. Things are happening. I’m beginning to get asked to do ATV shows, things are in the works for me to begin speaking at various events and seemingly all the things I’ve ever dreamed of are beginning to come true. Its nerve wracking but awesome and I continue to cry out to God daily asking him for peace, perseverance and strength to continue on this road that he has laid before me. While its sure to be an exciting ride, I’m trying to live and trust Him one day at a time…I don’t have enough in me to look any further than that!