Home

Yesterday, I had the day off from my office work and it was really nice just to relax. I did some laundry, reading, shopping, packing and not think about work. I did work at the coffeehouse and closed; however, I worked only few hours. Working at the coffeehouse has its advantages and disadvantages. For instance, one advantage of working at the coffeehouse is the people I get to meet and make tasty coffee or non-coffee drinks. Disadvantage of working at the coffeehouse is the rude or picky customers who want their drink right away or make not nice comments about the drink that I just made. Another advantage is all the coffee and/or non-coffee drinks I get to make myself. I usually experiment flavors of lattes or adding flavor to non-coffee drinks and sometimes I get hyper from the caffeine too much for my own good. Seeing me really hyper is really funny actually. I get really jumpy and I talk really fast. Another disadvantage is after I work at the coffeehouse for few hours, I smell like coffee and I personally do not like the smell. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like the smell of coffee little bit at a time. Last advantage is the co-workers and I have the great honor of working with them. I love to learn about people and their stories so I look forward to working with great group of co-workers. So, advantages outweigh the disadvantages and I love working at the coffeehouse. Starting next year though, I will be working three jobs. Two positions at the office and being a barista. It's going to be craziness and I just hope I will make time to hang out with my friends still. So I bet you are wondering how this has to do with the title of my blog today. Well, it does. I was thinking about home and realized that home is where my heart is. I have two home actually. One in Houston where my family lives and the other here in DC. Depending on the circumstances I am in, home is a place where I can feel like I can be myself and not worry about what people think of me. Right now, home is Houston and I am leaving DC for two weeks. As mentioned in my few blogs back, I had some tough time in DC and it'll be nice going home to my family who will welcome me back with open arms. Don't get me wrong, DC is my home since I have lived here more for two years than in Houston; however, I feel like I have to put this front right now and I hope starting next year, I can be more of myself. I am myself around my core friends in DC; however, I feel like I compromise myself with some people here and I don't want to do that anymore. This year, I was a Yes girl and it was exhausting trying to juggle so many things. Another resolution for next year is to stand up for myself and try not to be that Yes girl. I would rather spend my time with friends or people in general than busying myself with errands and other tedious tasks that I can do without. As much as I love kids and babysitting, my goal next year is not to babysit more than I can handle. Maybe like once a week will probably work but I am going to refrain from babysitting twice or more a week. So back to the topic of home, I love the verse where Jesus comforts us by saying "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:11-4) How awesome is that promise! I can't wait to be with Jesus; however, I know that my work here on earth is working progress and I think He would want me to live for Him while I am here. Life is hard and most things are not easy. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says to us, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." I don't know about you but sometimes I just wish I was not going through the narrow gate in life rather I want to blend in. However, what good is it if I go on a wide road that leads to destruction and lose my life? Hands down, I would follow Jesus than following the lifestyle that the society says that I should live by. People may think I am foolish for following Christ and living my life that goes against the norm of society. I am content and yes, I am a fool for Christ. In a "me" centered society, I try to think about other people and share the love that Christ has given me. The love overwhelms me and I can't help but to share them with other people. With that being said, I learned this year that I need to also take care of myself before I can serve other people. For a while, I think I just focused so much on other person that I forgot what it was like to treat myself to a good haircut or not being the one who makes all the effort to hang out with a friend. I learned this year that it's okay for my friend to initiate a hang out time and it's okay to take the time to treat myself to a good haircut. I also learned that it's okay to say no to a person and not overload myself to do things that will make me exhausted. I think I was afraid that people will dislike me if I say no but so far, I don't think there's many people I have offended or dislike me because I said no to them. I usually will say yes unless I have too many on my plate. So, I am so excited to be in Texas and get spoiled or at least I think I will be spoiled by my parents. I am so excited to see my friends in Texas and hanging out with them. I am excited in general about Christmas and celebrating the birth of a Savior. For me, I strive to celebrate Jesus every single day and it makes me happy to know that God loves me for me not for who I will be or need to be. Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for reading!