First Letters to Justin

Hello Bobby,

Thanks for your words of encouragement!
It's always great to hear from you.

For nothing good comes out of us and every
good comes from God, we must be able to
see that one's desire of wanting to passionately
live life for God is something God has started in one
from the beginning. And that good God promises to
be with us wherever and be our provider in this journey
of life. What a faithful God!

And yeah! I clear those moments when we were sharing
many things and talking on a weekly basis. How can
I forget those times? Even my car remembers
because we talked until the car got all steamy!

I've started reading the book, too. I was so busy
doing my school work and haven't had the chance
to read other books. It's interesting how you
mention the part about Miller mentioning how
we're all living a story. Definitely, I'm living
a story. So are you. And as of now, I'm conscious about
the story I'm living, all the choices which will write
the future story.

Because I want to live an extraordinary story, I
almost want to fake it and eventually want a storyline
that is amazing and thrilling. However, the
fallacy in that desire and wanting to chase after a
self-motivated life is a beginning which is acknowledges
the fallacy and moving on from that point.

No matter what my desires and longings are in
living this story, I think I must also consider the
fact that my life story must flow out rather than
trying artificially make up the story. I pray that I
live a good life, not living to make my life look good.

About my Vietnam trip...
It's a trip that I'm going as an educator, and for the
past few months, until you sent the email, I
wished that my trip was something more directly
God-related. But now that I think about it, it is
God-related. As you implied, everything that has
happened in my life allows me to write a story in
Him by making choices, a story that is His.
And for that, I am thankful.

I want to bring things that are worthy and uplifting.
However, I will not be sad when nothing "big"
happens. Although I may not be able to see the
"amazing" things, at that moment, I know He will
use my experiences for His glory somehow,
someday.

I also know that He wants to use you to shine the
love of Christ to others. Let's be more faithful and
connect to God in prayer. Remember, mother
Teresa said, "to prayer better, you must pray more."

Again, thanks for many things. Hope to talk to
you soon. God bless!


On Jul 3, 2010, at 1:11 PM, Robert Santana wrote:

Well im writing to you because your half-way around the world and i wanted to mention to you something before you left. But i have been thinking about all the times we talked when i was younger and all the dreams and desires i had as a teenager. But you know better than me things change from those small dreams into big dreams. Well i have been reading Donald Miller's book A Thousand Miles in a Million Years and i got to say it just crazy how much this book reminds me of myself and of you when we spoke all those times. So i dont know if you remember the book well, but i bet you do because of its strong impact. So what i am trying to say is dont forget all the times we spoke. I remember you talked about your dreams of going to a third-world country, traveling, starting a band, doing so many things. Yet, look. You have struggled so much to get where you are. Even though we dont talk as much as we use to and now we get older we become a bit more locked to our lives, you are living a story. Donald Miller talks about how life is all about telling a good story in a sense. So, what, its been almost a year since you started your grad program. All that hard work. All the people you met. All the situations you faced. All the trials with school, church, and family. Does undergrad years look like a piece of cake now? But man you are living a awesome story. So while you are there for a month, go for it man. You there. Your where you mentioned years ago. You are still the young person inside and those passions should be active and not passive. As i keep reading this book, it makes me want to start off like you did and just start a challenge now. Start a story. Start a testimony. Start to live life with the intention of showing the light of the Lord. So i hope you bring something back. Cuz i surely do want to hear. I need to be re-energized to move. To not be still. So bro i hope you surely have a great, crazy, troublesome, tough, funny, joyful time. That makes everything that much better.