yay! i had a very fun time hanging out with my dad watching the lakers/suns game at staples center tonight. our seats were way up in the top section, but it was center court (section 302) so that was nice. got a good birds eye view of all the action and it was cool seeing plays develop before it happened. the game had a bunch of highlights as the lakers destroyed the suns. many alley-oops. a couple fast break dunks (including shannon brown's statue of liberty dunk). saw kobe go to work in the post. bynum being a beast down low. i also happy because i got to see nash play. he was one of the top players i wanted to see live so that was exciting (but he didn't have a great game). and of course the crowd was hoping the lakers would hold the suns under 100 for free tacos, but with 30 seconds left, admundson dropped one in to push them over the century mark. haha. oh well... i actually didn't take many pictures because they made me check-in my camera because it was too nice. bah. but, i took a couple outside and a couple right after the game before we left the building :D
joseph received the decree from caesar augustus that all the world should be registered which meant that he and his very pregnant wife-to-be, mary, would need to travel 100 miles to the city of bethlehem because joseph was from the line of david.
they slowly travelled out of galilee, from the town of nazareth to judea, bethlehem. the journey was tiring. long. uncomfortable. they were worried that mary would give birth along the way, but they got to the town without any major problems.
when they arrived, the small town was packed with people who were also back to be registered as they were commanded to do by caesar. joseph and mary, these two teenage kids, were unable to find any room in the inns so they ended up in a manger surrounded by animals.
and it was there that mary gave birth to jesus. and it was then that the prophecy of isaiah would be fulfilled. the miraculous virgin birth of our Lord, jesus christ. the Son of God, the second person of the trinity, humbled Himself and became human, taking on the form of a baby boy. fully God. fully man. the chosen one. emmanuel. God with us. our savior. messiah.
here are some personal takeaways: - although i've heard the story of jesus’ birth so many times, it is still always amazing to be reminded of this humble entrance by the King of kings. God who created everything decides to come to become a mere man. it is not like other religions where they are striving to do good and become like gods, but it is the story of God coming down to earth to be like us to save us. - jesus was fully God and fully man. although He never sinned, He went through all the pain that we go through. He went through every temptation that we go through. He went through trails and had hardships and uncertainties in His life. He lost loved ones. He felt pain. and He knows personally exactly what i am going through in my life because He’s experienced it all Himself.
i like food. it makes me happy. and i'm glad that the people at EV like good food too :D
and these past three days i've had some pretty good meals with some EVers. on thursday for lunch, joe and i went to this place called chicken box. and what was funny was that we wanted to double-check directions so we called sam, and he just so happened to be going there too with his friend jefferson, so the four of us had lunch together. haha. anyway, what they do is deep-fry and pressure cook their chicken so the meat comes out really juicy. even the chicken breast. mmm-mmm... and then last night after fellowship, a bunch of us went out to a taco truck. it was good stuff. i haven't really eaten mexican food since i moved back, so it was good to get a couple of tacos in me. especially at 11pm. haha... and then this morning i had dim sum with some more EV folks. yummm. so yea, past couple days i've had some pretty good eats! happy am i :D
