Mr. Chin

Today has gone shockingly better than expected. I immediately want to take back that sentence because I think I way oversold that. What I meant to say is, Today's been reasonably better than I would have thought.

I was up late (for me) last night (10pm) packing up 60+ ebay items, and I had a storage auction at 8:30 this morning, so I planned to just sleep in and skip the gym. But when I woke up this morning, I saw that the auction was moved to tomorrow! That in itself was a blessing because today is full. (I have a Dr. appointment, a trip to the post office, a meeting with an accountant about the store, more ebay packaging & of course, work.) So having one less thing to squeeze in was a blessing!
 So I decided to go to the gym after all.

Mr. Chin (I call him that in my head because he has a crazy chin) came up to me while I was working out and said, "Hey, I just wanted to say I see you in here every day, and I noticed you've really made some huge improvements! Is is just the dedication and keeping a log of your workouts or is it your diet or what is it?"
I laughed and said it certainly isn't the diet, that if anything, I need to do more cardio.
 He said that he sees me all the time and it must be my dedication. I told him that I was in the gym probably 6 days a week, but I dont think I'm making any gains, if anything I'm just maintaining.
 Then we talked about how it's pretty much impossible for us to see progress because we see ourselves every day and can't tell any change at all. He says that his wife (yeah this guy is straight! finally!) has to tell him that he's making gains because he can't tell either. He said that we have to hear it from other people, so he just wanted to come over and tell me that he definitely sees progress in me!

I know I don't see progress, and I don't think I've made the gains he's claiming he sees. I think it mighta just been the shirt I was wearing (We Bleed Maroon. Whoop!)  But it was still an encouraging moment for me. A blessing.
I love Mr. Chin, and I do see him in there every morning. He's the kinda guy I'd like to be someday, if i ever get to be that old. Mid 40's. (oh and he also told me that I'm still just a kid, which was also nice to hear!) He's always talking to people. He knows everyone.
He's talked to me one other time before, when we were laughing about my tuxedo tshirt, but I've always secretly wished he'd be my friend.
I know that Dave Penny has a rep for being "the mayor of the gym" (but not on Foursquare, cuz that's me!) but Mr. Chin definitely has him beat! Friendliest guy ever. I wish I were that bold and friendly.
But I think as Christians we should just absorb and engage everyone around us, and that's what Mr. Chin does. He's always been a good encouragement and example of what we as Christians should look like in the world, people magnets. I doubt he's a Believer, but he's different. He's how I strive to be.  So when I went to the post office afterward, I talked to Janet (my favorite postal worker) the entire time and engaged her as much as possible.

I know I don't share many personal stories with you, but that just made my day and encouraged the snot outta me, so I wanted to tell ya.