Today is my birthday! So, as an ode to 25 I created list of 25 of my favorite things.
But before going any further, naturally, I have a short story that explains why I’m doing this first.
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You never know what you’ll encounter on a 7:00 AM walk to Walmart. Last week what I thought would be a normal errand run turned into a sweet adventure the moment I met Andrey. He’s homeless and was sitting on some steps when I walked by. As soon as he saw me, he asked if I could get him a coke from across the street.
Let’s pause.
It’s important to mention that ealier that morning I debated if I wanted to walk 35 minutes just to go to Walmart or take a bus instead. It opened at 8 and the GPS had me arriving early even if I walked, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to kill time. Andrey was clearly the reason why God had me ahead of schedule.
Okay we’re back.
So, I went and grabbed him a drink, then sat by him to hear his story and why he was living on the streets. He spoke some colorful Spanish so I couldn’t keep up with all of the slang, but I got the gist of it and I was happy to just sit with him. He informed me that he was studying English and I guess he wanted to get some practice in. Next thing I knew, he was asking me a series of questions forced out through His thick Costa Rican accent, inquiring about what all of my favorite things are. I felt so seen in that moment—by a man who likely goes days without anyone seeing him.
What made this even more special is that just minutes before we met, I was listening to the May playlist that my brother created for me. If you read my last blog, you know my brother Jonathan creates a new music playlist for me each month and May just happens to be my birthday month. On the playlist there are two songs that refer to favorite things: “My Favorite Things” by OutKast and “Favorite” by Leon Thomas III. Everything was aligning right before my eyes. This is just a simple display of God’s intentionality, He cares about what we care about and it is His “good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). This moment was truly a glance of kingdom in the most simple way.
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So here it goes, my top 25:
- Current Song: Captured- Isla Vista Worship
- Food: sushi
- Movie: Mean Girls, basic…..I know
- Color: yellow
- Flower: sunflowers!
- Bible Verse: John 15….like all of it, couldn’t pick a verse
- Country to visit: Costa Rica, Pura Vida
- Hobby: talking to strangers….*see story above*. Oh, and dancing. Oh, and eating!
- Drink: Margaritas (my roommate Joel’s Margs to be specific)
- Snack: Dark chocolate almonds from the bulk section at Kroger
- Dessert: chocolate chip cookies….or red velvet cake…or anything with chocolate
- City: San Diego
- Music Genre: neo-soulish, singer songwriteresk, chill vibes, good lyric music
- Animal: Gorillas—woah
- Memory: my brother Jonathan’s wedding in Cali last September, so frigging fun, all the right family!
- Chipotle order: burrito bowl, brown rice, fajitas, chicken, tomato, EXTRA corn, a little sc, hot sauce, I’ll pay for guac if I’m feeling myself
- Clothing article: My sunflower pants, duh!
- TV Show: no time for TV really….but This Is Us when I do
- Actor: Will Smith
- Person: my mommie
- Ice Cream: cookies n cream from UDF…or ANYTHING with brownies, really
- Restaurant: Drunken Bento (whole in the wall, half price sushi in Cincinnati)
- Starbucks order: Dirty chai tea latte
- Life Lesson: You are a lot more free than you think we are. Dare to live fully FREE and don’t live a life of regrets. And while you do that, travel. See the world.
- Word of Wisdom: Just go, don’t overthink it. Just go.
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Thank you for following along!
P.S. My brother Jonathan released an album produced by my other brother Malcolm today on my birthday!! They are extremely talented, check it out!
Much Love,
Stella
IG: @stellaagee
YouTube: Stella Udeozor
