Settling Into Chicago

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been a little bit since I wrote, but again, moving is exhausting and SO time consuming.

Anyways, enough with excuses :)

So my dad and I got here on Thursday the 14th and I can't believe it's been 1.5 weeks already! I am very thankful that we had a community waiting for us as Jose Ramos and other men of the Grace and Peace Community Church (www.graceandpeacecommunity.com) in Humboldt Park welcomed us by helping us move our things into a garage and a temporary house that we will live in until next Saturday the 30th. Again, Jose Ramos and some church men will help us move into our new place. Praise God that we don't have to do it ourselves!

The first weekend went by quickly as we welcomed Anna on Friday the 15th and said good-bye to my dad on Sunday the 17th. In between, however, we saw 4 apartments in the Humboldt Area and we began to fall in love with 1 of the 4 places that we saw.

On Sunday at Grace and Peace, Pastor John Zayas called me up to the front and the whole church prayed for me and the ministry. It was great and I felt really welcomed and protected by people that don't know me at all :)

Monday was crazy as we began our all day apartment search at 9am and ended at 8pm. EXHAUSTING! None of the apartments measured up to the one we saw on Saturday so we prayed about our options and we felt that the LORD allowed us to have the desire in our heart as we signed a 1 yr. lease on Tuesday morning for our 3rd floor apartment :)

We really look forward to move in on the 30th! Even though we now have a place to call home, both Anna and I are having a hard transition as we miss our family and friends from the West Coast, but we have rest in that we are both confident that the LORD has called us into Chicago. However, please continue to pray as we transition into Chicago and grow roots in the land the LORD has prepared for us.

The rest of the week I spent trying to put the puzzle pieces together as I talked to my new boss Brett Hersma, Dan Hofford of Grace and Peace, and as I mingled with some donors and brothers in Christ on a Friday morning Bible Study. I worked during the day and connected during the evening as Anna and I had dinner with some old friends and some new ones as well. It's so so so good to be able to walk into a foreign place and see that the Universal body of Christ is at work and welcomes us with open arms. Praise God!!

There's lots of work to be done and I know that I need to breathe, relax, and get on my knees to see what the LORD has planned for this place and not what I want to do. Please continue to pray that the LORD reveal His vision for Humboldt Park and Hermosa.

In Him,
Pablo

Our First Day with Our Dog Paisley Otaola :)

FREE Online Streaming TV Shows!!

So I was searching for FREE Smallville Season 8 episodes online and I ran across this web site. Check it out! It's completely FREE, legal, and no strings attached!!!

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Provision

My mom read this in a Christian magazine and it reminded her of Anna and I...

"We trust that if God calls, He will provide the resources"

How true!!

Chicago Update

Okay... This is now becoming more real....

I just booked the two hotels that my dad and I will be staying in. The one in Green River, Utah will be at the Ramada Limited. It's a nice little 2 star hotel that will be right off of our path and won't give us too much trouble with parking.

The one in Omaha, NE (I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!) will be a Quality Inn & Suites which will be right off of the I80.... nice....

No other news as of now other than I'll be talking to my new boss Brett Hersma, Chicagoland Regional Director, about fundraising strategies in a few minutes :)

More updates to come...

Cell Phone Use in Cars Is All About the Brain, Not the Hands

Below is an article that my friend Dia Becchio sent to me from the web site imakenews.com.

I think that a state-wide or country-wide ban of cell phone usage while driving will never pass because of how innate cell phone usage has become in society while driving. So, that takes me to thinking about who will create the necessary "gadgets" to make driving while talking on the cell phone safer? I'm thinking along the lines of auto-pilot using GPS systems and magnets on the roads. These are things that are already being experimented and might be applicable within our lifetime. But how many people will get into accidents until then? What do you guys think??

This also reminds me of a Rob Bell Nooma video where he talks about how noisy people's lives are and how that noise interferes with listening to God's voice. I used to talk to God for at least a bit over an hour while in college since I drove from Lompoc to Santa Barbara very early and I couldn't talk on the phone. Since then, while driving I have usually either been on the phone or with Anna so that time alone with the LORD has be nixed. My wife actually called me out on it and I've gotten a bit better about that... Any similar experiences out there?

Here's the article:

Cell Phone Use in Cars Is All About the Brain, Not the Hands
Bluetooth notwithstanding, humans just aren’t wired to drive and phone.

Many states have made it illegal to use a hand-held cell phone while driving. Experts believed the danger was in driving with one hand and manipulating the cell phone with the other. That has spurred the popularity of hands-free cell phone technology, most notably enabled by Bluetooth connectivity. Unfortunately, further research is showing that hands-free phone use is no safer than hand-held talking. The hands are NOT the problem. It’s the brain!

“It’s not that your hands aren’t on the wheel,” said Dr. David Strayer, Director of the Applied Cognition Laboratory at the University of Utah and a leading researcher on cell phone safety. “It’s that your mind is not on the road.”

A recent article in the New York Times reported that Dr. Strayer’s research has convinced the National Safety Council, the nonprofit advocacy group that has pushed for seatbelt laws and drunk driving awareness, to call for a complete ban on using cell phones while driving.

The New York Times article pointed out, “Laboratory experiments using simulators, real-world road studies and accident statistics all tell the same story – drivers talking on a cell phone are four times as likely to have an accident as drivers who are not. That’s the same level of risk posed by a driver who is legally drunk.”

Researchers believe that talking on the phone requires significant brain resources, enough to hinder the ability to process all of the information required to safely operate a motor vehicle. For example, eye-tracking studies have shown that safe drivers continually look side-to-side, scanning ahead as they are driving. When they tracked the eye movement of drivers using cell phones, they found the cell phone users tended to stare straight ahead.

Studies using a driving simulator and volunteers wired so researchers could see how their brains were processing information have shown that cell phone conversations are far more distracting than other speaking (chatting with a passenger) or listening activities (music or talking book) while driving.

The Journal of Experimental Psychology published a report in their December 2008 issue presenting the findings of a comparison between drivers conversing with a passenger in the car and drivers talking hands-free on a cell phone. The drivers were instructed to drive several miles until they encountered the exit for a rest stop that they were supposed to take. Nearly every driver and passenger found the exit and entered the rest stop. Half of those drivers using their hands-free cell phone system missed the exit.

Dr. Strayer’s interpretation? “The paradox is that if the friend is sitting next to you, you drive safer. When you talk to that person on a cell phone, you’re much more likely to be involved in an accident.”

Tell that to the “wired generation” who virtually live on their cell phones, say critics who believe it’s too late to change people’s habits. In fact, the distractions of car technology are greater with every new gadget. Bluetooth enables cell phone chatter. Voice recognition gives you command over virtually every user-controlled system in the cabin. Central control joysticks encourage you to surf the car’s network while attempting to operate the vehicle. Still, cell phones pose the most dangerous distraction of all. Unfortunately, cell phones and driving seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. We’re realizing the peanut butter may be tainted.

There is room for common sense on this issue. Fact: Young people are the most enthusiastic and persistent cell phone users. Fact: Young people are inexperienced drivers who are just developing the mind/hand/eye coordination needed for driving competency. Conclusion: Young drivers need to focus all of their brainpower on processing the information related to operating the motor vehicle safely. Advice: Parents should ban cell phone use by minors while they are driving.

Chicago Update

Hi guys. Some more updates as of a few minute ago!

We got the house locked up for the first two weeks!! We are SO SO excited about this as we will have a place to stay the first two weeks! That would be from the 15th of May to the 31st of May! Praise God!!

And another thing is that some plans have changed a bit. Tony Gonzalez from San Francisco Young Life will be speaking on Friday morning (15th of May) at a men's Bible Study in Chicago and Brett Hersma (my new boss) wants me to be there. The meeting with Tony and these guys is because these guys are interested in the Young Life area and Tony will talk to them about how I will be continuing the legacy that Tony started 23 years ago. Cool! So, my dad and I will be leaving on Tuesday the 12th, and instead of getting to Chicago on Friday, we'll push ourselves and get there on Thursday afternoon. Here's what we'll be doing:

Mon May 11th: Pack the uHaul truck with the help of friends and family
Tues May 12th: My dad and I leave for Chicago (Anna will be staying in SB-read below)
Tues May 12th: We get to Green River, Utah after an 11+ hour drive
Wed May 13th: Leave early and arrive in Omaha, NE after a 12.5+ hour drive
Th May 14th: Leave early and arrive in Chicago in the afternoon!
Fri May 15th: Meet for 7:30 am meeting downtown
Sat May 16th: Pick Anna up from airport

So, I mentioned that Anna will be staying in Santa Barbara for a while longer. That's great news to us! The dentist that she works for loves her so much and needs her so much that he is willing to pay for Anna's flight out to Chicago just to have her stay for 2 more weeks! He's such a great guy! If you don't have a dentist, check this guy out as he is one of the top dentists in Santa Barbara! His name is Doctor Thomas Blake, DDS. Anna staying a couple of extra weeks also means that we will be able to have a little more money in the bank than we expected!! Praise God!

So, please be praying for all those things as well as what's below.

A few people from our church have SO GRACIOUSLY taken on the challenge of doing a fundraiser for us! Miguel and Nancy Cornejo have volunteered to head up the planning for a soccer tournament that we are hosting in the the brand new synthetic soccer field in Girsh Park. This is great as it will also help up get more money for the move :)

One last update is that Anna has a phone interview scheduled soon! So we'll keep you updated on this as well :)

Thanks for all of your prayers guys!!