road trip to a divine appointment

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

So..last weekend I went on a 4 days road trip with friends and my church {The Viet Lighthouse}. First stop was Mariposa. Mariposa is the Spanish word for "butterfly". Mariposa is situated roughly in the center of California and is the southern link of the "gold chain". Driving to this town reminded me of Vietnam. So much of eating, sleeping and more eating in the car, we finally reached to our destination at almost midnight. After one night's rest, second stop to Yosemite.

Sometime I think, things happened for a reason. The bible says in Deuteronomy 30:19 "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." God wants us to choose life, to me, "life" means happiness, love, encouragement, things that lift our spirit up, walking in God's ways. During this trip I learned that deeply loving others goes far beyond simply saying the words "I love you." Deeper love looks past faults and annoyances and is generous with forgiveness. God knows each of our hearts. He desires for us to walk in love. Sometime we build up walls between each other with our words, attitude, and wrong thinking toward others, but God is good, He came and healed our hearts, unite us in one and filled us with His love. He chose this trip to work on our hearts, to bring us together and ignite the light.

God has a gift he wants to give to the world through each of us, and that gift is love. Colossians 3:12 tells us to clothe ourselves with tenderhearted, mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. When we clothe ourselves with these things, God's love becomes visible to everyone around us. It was a divine appointment for all of us. Those who came with an open heart got touched by God and came home with a new heart.

After we left Mariposa, we headed to San Franciso. Mark Twain once said "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." My goodness it was cold. I love San Francisco, the city is so beautiful with its unique neighborhoods, the famous icon of the Golden Gate Bridge and breathtaking metropolis. We didn't spend a lot of time there due to the short time we have, but we definitely would come back there again. Arrivederci! {goodbye} Frisco.

I hope you all have a beautiful weekend. May the joy of the Lord be filled in your heart.
A presto! {see you soon}. ~Jennie

{image 1 ~ pinterest.com}