Monday, April 29

i went to help a church friend today. he is a fourth year in dental school, and needed a particular type of patient for his last board exam. a type 2 cavity, whatever that means. so i turned out to be the ideal candidate for this procedure. i was sad to discover that i had cavities...but at least i can help this dude out. he was a little worried about not finding the right person for his boards, so i'm glad i was able to put his heart to rest. plus, i guess it's better that i find out that i had cavities now, then later, when it gets worse.

the area where i got checked was pretty cool. it was like a factory or workshop. there were all these workstations set up, maybe 20-30 of them, all like mini-dentist's offices, and you could hear all the metal and drills whirrling and buzzing away. it sounded like a car factory. i'm not afraid of dentists, mostly b/c they've never hurt me, and the sounds don't bother me. i like the sound of the drills. what an interesting place.

i spent most of the afternoon chatting with my youth group kids. such interesting things they go through. i'm trying my best to not give advice, and just listen. this is maybe the biggest lesson i've learned from my friend, joe chen. (you reading this, bro?)

joe chen taught me: ppl don't really want to hear your advice. they just want you to sit quietly, and listen. when they really want advice, they'll ask (and even then, it may be rhetorical..) he taught me this not by stating the above, but by getting extremely agitated in that way of his when i would point out this or that. i was constantly giving him advice, telling him what he was doing wrong, etc. (b/c at the time, there seemed to be SO much that he was doing wrong... haha :) sorry, dude. jk)

i know now that it is extremely arrogant of me to act in this way. and hypocritical. moreover, though i used to say i was doing it to "help him," i realized that he never listened to what i said. not b/c he was thick-headed or anything, but b/c of the way i was saying it. though i loved him, i was not saying it in a loving way. i was judging him, and criticizing him. i've since lightened up a little, and so has he. i think our friendship is a lot healthier now. we are close, but we were always arguing. not so much anymore. :)

but anyway, it was good to talk to the youth group kids. i'm so happy that God put me here, in this place. i'm thankful for all the relationships i have with each one of them, and the many things God has shown me through them.

and now? now, i have to study, because i got little work done today. argh!

yakob at 10:21 PM

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