Another rad Friday in Five Points

3am Friday night. I take a deep breath and reflect on one rad night.

It was any other Friday night. I ate my Chinese food outside Starbucks and watched the sun twist the sky into a parade of colors. The warm breeze passed me by and swept away the heaviness of my crappy week. I made my way home and almost crashed for the night. For some reason, however, I decided to head back out for a quick walk.

The night was just picking up all around me. The usual business of the Friday night crowd hurried back and forth. My Jamaican friend was on the corner playing his djembe. I sat next to him on the bench and slipped into his jam in my mind. After a few minutes, I had to grab my djembe to join. It wasn't 5 minutes later that a small group of Christians showed up with a guitar. Soon enough, we dominated the corner with praise music. Then, another group of Christians out witnessing stopped by and started singing with us. I jumped on the guitar and jammed "Those Who Trust In The Lord" with a reggae beat. A crowd of girls stopped by and started taking pictures. I was sure they were drunk at first until they requested a praise song. Wow. They had just finished a singing gig on their tour. These 6 (cute cute cute) girls started harmonizing to my guitar playing. I took my group of new friends to midnight sushi and talked about the Lord. It ended with an hour hanging out at the local 24 hour Mediterranean cafe. A gay flight attendant, a wannabe Rastafarian, and a Mexican fresh out of jail joined us for some interesting conversation over gyros.

I used to say that being a Christian was boring. Well, I changed my mind. The Lord continues to blow me away with crazy "ironies" each day I decide to allow him to direct my steps and open my heart to people. Seeds are planted, lives are touched, and memories made. This is real Christianity: loving God and loving people. It's natural, it's fulfilling, it's me. Going to sleep knowing that I walked with the Father today beats sleeping off a buzz or waking up wondering where I am.