I certainly have a lot of a lot catching up to do! 2012 has certainly been a gargantuan year for me, and I have made few attempts to document my journeys. So this is my first attempt -- let's see if I can cram the adventures I've had into one train of thought. The disclaimer is: there will inevitably be multiple trains and they will all crash into each other or some other obstructions along the way, but I have already accepted this fact, as should you dear reader and follower.
Let's start in the summer of 2012, since that was about the last time I updated the story of my life on this humble and very non-informational blog. The summer of 2012 opened with the realization that I would be attending San Diego Christian College, majoring in Music with an emphasis in Musical Theater. This realization was extremely surprising to me, because I was hoping to make my life the easy way -- to magically get discovered with my musical abilities, get famous, make lots of money, marry my dream woman, and get the heck out Dodge. I know, I know, you can shed a tear or two at my naivete, but that was my legitimate thought process as a recently graduated high school student without a clue about what it meant to become my own man and branch out in the world. My life and thought process really did change when this college opportunity arose from out of nowhere. The opportunity to visit the campus and see what it was like was made possible by a family that is really close to me, the Thuerbachs. They invited me to join them on their road trip and tour the school. And that's exactly what I did. I toured the school and saw a vision of myself schooling there -- walking here and there about the campus, hanging out with new-found friends and doing my studies. So I made the commitment to apply to the school and do everything I could to be there by fall. It seemed to happen like magic, because the next thing I knew I was walking across the parking lot of SDCC towards the registration desk on August 23rd.
Since that time, I've made lots of new friends here on campus and have had the opportunity to be part of several music performance related things and I have also really sharpened and honed my music writing skills and my knowledge of music theory -- which is very exciting, I will admit. The topic of music and the mystery of what music is enthralls me. And I get it. It's not often that I get things, but music -- I just get. I am so grateful to God for that gift.
In the fall semester I auditioned for an international missions team called VISION, and was accepted into the team a few weeks later. This particular missions team evangelizes by performing music in both English and the respective country's language, and also stages pantomime plays that convey the gospel message without even considering language as a barrier. It truly is a beautiful thing to be a part of, and I am so excited to see what God does through the VISION team and through me while I am a part of it.
At the close of this semester, VISION is travelling to Spain to preach the good news of Jesus Christ, and I will be with them! At first, I thought it was just going to be a really cool experience for me, and that I would take the experience with me in my heart for the rest of my life journeys. But now, this opportunity has grown into this massive idea/vision of something so much bigger than anything I have ever dreamed. I shall explain what I mean momentarily.
I think it was about 2 weeks ago that I was contacted by a really close friend of mine, Misha, who currently lives back in Tucson. I'm proud to say that she is the friend I have had for the longest time, and therefore knows me the best, I'm sure! During a Skype conversation, the topic of living abroad came up. I've always loved the idea of that and entertained until I was tired of the encores, but I guess never took into full seriousness. If I were to travel abroad or live abroad, it would be because I was part of a sweet rock band or something and was on world tour. Or maybe I was a famous playwright/music composer and had several meetings and conferences over in China or London or something like that. That was as far as my thinking went when it came to that sort of thing. So world travel = great! But I was stuck in the thinking that the world travel would be solely something beneficial for me. I was missing the big picture.
How God works is amazing, however. Two days later, SDCC hosted a conference called the International Outreach Festival. During this conference...God punched a hole in my heart. Maybe even several holes, I have yet to calculate the entirety of the damage that was done to it. To shorten a much longer story; God showed me during that conference how much of a fool I had been when it came to figuring out my life. He showed me that I was self-absorbed, that I dwelt to long on what I wanted to do with my life and that I dwelt little on what He wanted to with other's lives through mine. I also saw that in my whole life I have never made any sacrifices for the kingdom of God; that I had never put my plans on the line to further the plans God may have for me. I had never thought that my plans may not line up with God's. Until that moment -- until that sermon in the IOF that I am sure has changed my life forever. I am now certain that God wants me to take the opportunity to study abroad in Quito, Ecuador this next fall semester, as a start to the journey that God has for me to bring his kingdom on earth. I have never thought so deep into this topic until the last few days, but I just know that I have been living my life wrong, and that I have been missing the bigger picture that God has been trying to show me. The big picture is a question really, and that is: what else matters when it comes to spreading the gospel? What else matters? As it says in Matthew 10, if you lose your life, you will gain it. And I now plan to lose my life in Jesus Christ completely. To lose my life in Jesus and in the people that He loves so dearly. What right as a Christian do I have to neglect the people that God longs to love and bless through me. God has broken me down, raised me up, educated me, and now has inspired me to take a step of faith and spend a semester in Ecuador. I'm going to get such a good glimpse of what the missions world is like, and I just know its going to start a fire that could burn through the rest of my life. And I am willing to take that risk. I am now willing to abandon all the plans for an American Dream that I had before, because I just can't seem to find the 'American Dream' in the Holy Bible. But I do see an awful lot of sacrifice, and desperate faith. With faith, there will always be fear. And I am nervous, scared, and wondering how this is all going to work out. I remember the Scriptures though, which state... "God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline." (2 Timoth 1:7)
So this post's purpose was to catch you up, and to also let you followers know that your Jake has changed, and he's ready to go!
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)
"Christ came into the world to save sinners -- of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life."
(1 Timothy 1:15-16)
