Trust

You would think that trusting God would get easier as you get older because of your life experiences. Yet I find that is not the case. Trusting God seems to be a life-long lesson and maybe God intends it that way. It's hard to trust God for the unknown, future fundraising, future career, and the list goes on. Yet time and time again, God reminds me to remember how He is faithful. For example, He has provided my financial support for 3 years, and so what makes me think He won't provide for the future financial needs?

I guess I'm not far off like the Israelites, who witnessed and experienced God's provision and freedom by crossing the Red Sea, but as they were in the desert for 40 years, they forgot to remember and trust their faithful God.

Trusting God = A lesson that never gets old.

Election Day Thoughts

I was sitting at "The Nugget," which is CSULB's Pub and Grill, among young anxious students. I could see on their faces screaming the question, "Who's going to be the next president?" There was even a countdown for the electoral votes of CA, WA, and OR. I could hear the chanting: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... Then there was the new electoral votes for Obama and McCain.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

I've never heard so much excitement in my life for a new president. Congratulations Obama for your victory.

BUT

What I found really interesting to me were people's excitement for Obama as President. People were calling and texting others to tell the "good" news. "YES WE CAN" chants were started. When Obama gave his acceptance speech, it was interesting for me to see people's faces and expressions. People were tearing, cheering, celebrating. They had facial expressions of hope, new change, and new life. It's almost as if Obama was their new hero or should I say their new Savior?

As I was walking home, I wondered what it would be like if Jesus was up there on the podium? Would there be as much cheering for Him as Barack Obama or even less? Or better yet, even more? When will Jesus receive the applause and accolade He rightfully deserves? I know one day it will come. I just wished it was sooner.

7 Weird Facts About Me

Apparently, I've been tagged by my girlfriend Joanna. Here are 7 weird facts about me.

1. I can't sleep with loud ticking clocks in the room. If there is one, then I'll either take it to another room or I'll take the battery out of the clock. Loud ticking clocks are my nemesis.

2. Toliet paper has to flow over, not under. If I see toliet paper flowing under, then I have to change it or else it'll bug me.

3. Dolls freak me out. I can't imagine someone having dolls. They're so creepy. Their eyes never blink and they have this fixed smile. And if I stare at it, I feel like it's going to come alive walking like a zombie towards me. I mean no offense to girls who loved playing with dolls, but I'm so glad I played with Legos.

4. I've had braces twice and my teeth/jaws/oral cavity are still messed up. Plus I've had a wisdom teeth infection that hospitalized me for 5 days. My oral cavity history isn't so hot.

5. I love maps. I don't know why, but maps are so cool. It's interesting to look at and there's so much detail. Maybe that's why I'm good with directions.

6. I won $1715 at a poker tournament. I'm not good enough for the World Series of Poker though.

7. I can't stand PLS, also known as "Parking Lot Syndrome." It pretty much drags the leaving process. After hanging out, a group of people will form somewhat of a circle in the parking lot to say their goodbyes. But the goodbyes turn into another 10 minute conversation of what we're doing over the weekend, talk about the latest movie, and so forth. Then when we're about to finally say our goodbyes this time, somehow it turns into another 10 minute conversation. I say, don't PLS and hang out some other time!

Joe "The Plumber"

There's been all this hype about Joe Wurzelbacher, or better known as Joe "The Plumber." He's famous on the media because of his views on tax cuts, mainly against Obama's future tax plans. Click the link to read more about him and the buzz.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081017/ap_on_re_us/joe_the_plumber_27


But after looking at Joe "The Plumber," I realized he looks like two people I know. He either looks like the venerable Jim Luebe without glasses and the beard OR Bryce Bouchard.

Jim Luebe

Bryce Bouchard

[UPDATE] After reading my friend's (Ryan) comment, I realized I missed another person. Joe Maschhoff. Man this is a tough competition.


Joe Maschhoff


What do you think?

A song I've been listening to lately...

Glory Bound - The Wailin Jennys

When I hear that trumpet sound
I will lay my burdens down
I will lay them deep into the ground
Then I'll know that I am glory bound

I'll be travelin' far from home
But I won't be looking for to roam
I'll be crossing o'er the great divide
In a better home soon I will reside

Hallelujah

When I'm in my resting place
I'll look on my mother's face
Never more will I have to know
All the loneliness that plagues me so

So I'm waiting for that train to come
And I know where she's coming from
Listen can you hear her on the track
When I board I won't be looking back

Hallelujah

Ahhhhh....

My roommate is obsessed with the Patriots...
And it's extremely annoying.
But hey, I like the fact Tom Brady is out for the season.
AND
They lost to the Dolphins today.
So, I guess the annoyance isn't too bad.

Jesus and the 12 dwarfs, I mean disciples.

Recently, I've been reading through Mark and something struck me in chapters 6 & 8. In Chapter 6, Jesus had compassion on the multitude and asked His disciples to give them something to eat. His disciples responded almost sarcastically asking Jesus where were they going to get this food to feed these many people? Jesus asked, "How many loaves do you have?" And the disciples answered, "5 loaves, and 2 fish." It's interesting how the disciples didn't answer Jesus' specific question. Makes me think the added "2 fish" is a way the disciples were saying, "5 loaves, and oh Jesus, here's even 2 fish. What can you do with this?" But Jesus did the impossible and He fed 5,000 people simply with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. And in chapter 8, Jesus again fed a multitude of 4,000 people with 5 loaves of bread. Everytime I read about Jesus feeding the 5,000, I focus on what Jesus did, which shouldn't be glazed over at all.

But, what struck me were the disciples. They were with Jesus when He fed 5,000 people only with 5 loaves and 2 fish. They experienced this miracle. They saw the impossible become the possible.

And yet when it came to the second time in feeding the multitude, the disciples asked Jesus again where they were going to get such a surplus of food. They didn't understand. They forgot what had happened previously. They never learned. They didn't know who Jesus was. If the disciples knew who Jesus was and remembered what He did, then I believe the disciples would have responded differently in feeding the 4,000. "Jesus, we looked around and we only found 5 loaves of bread. Surely you can use this and do what you did last time with the 5,000 right?"

I don't know why the disciples didn't understand the first time what Jesus could do. But I know reading about this incident reminds me of who I believe Jesus claims to be and what He can do in my life. And I'm humbled because I don't think I'm too far off from the disciples. If I really knew Jesus and what He's capable of doing, then I believe some areas in my life would be drastically different. For example, my prayer life. Am I praying for "elephants" - the big things that require faith? Or am I praying for "peanuts" - the small things that require no faith? I believe prayer is a reflection of my perspective on God. I some times wonder why I don't pray for big things as often. Could it be that I don't fully know who God claims to be?

Yet I'm so glad Jesus was so patient and gracious to His disciples as they tried to figure Him out and His Kingdom. He stuck with them and never gave up cause He believed in them. Now that gives me hope; He'll never give up on me as I'm trying to learn about Him, His ways, and His Kingdom.

The past few weeks...

Well, with the rate that I'm going, seems like I update my blog once a month. Hey, it's better than once every 3 months.

From Aug 9-11, I took a trip out to the bay area cause my high school friend, Josh Cheng, was getting married. I flew into Oakland International Airport from Colorado Springs, where I was doing some fundraising from Aug 6-9. I liked Oakland Airport's ticketing area cause it was nice and long. So I took a picture of it. The airport's terminals though I didn't like; it was too dark. They gotta change that soon.

Here is Josh and Rema with their first dance.

While at Josh's wedding, I got a chance to see old high school friends. Here is Justin. My favorite memory is jamming together on the guitar. He's probably one of the greatest guitarists I know.

Here is Gavin, Eddie, Me, Robert, and Henry. Henry is the next one to get married soon.

Here's Erina. She's on staff with Intervarsity at UC Berkeley. She also is very talented in music. I've always told her that she should lead praise music, and I'm encouraged that she has. Hopefully, she'll be leading music at the next Urbana.

Meet my new Long Beach Navs Staff team! From Aug 21-22, we went down to Carlsbad for a mini staff retreat. We had a great time getting to know each other, praying for the students and the school year, and enjoying the beach. I'm really excited for this school year and I'm trusting God will do great things. The reason why some of us were dressed up is cause we were going to Alice and RJ's wedding. Hence the next picture...

Alice and RJ got married at the Naval Air Station on Coronado Island. It was a great outdoor wedding. Before the ceremony started, there was a slight overcast. But right when the ceremony started, the sun peeped through the clouds at the right time. It was definitely a beautiful wedding.

It was good to see some old friends from college and the Navigators. Sam, me, Jon, Vic, and Justin. I was surprised to see Vic at the wedding. He just got back from Hawaii doing his dental residency. I noticed after the ceremony, he came back with his shoes and socks off, and rolled up khakis. I said, "You went to the beach, huh?" He answered, "Yea, I had to get my fix." Ha, that's what Hawaii does to you I guess.

Here is Joey, Ann, Katie, and Cody. Cody was my old roomie while I was in LA. Katie is his girlfriend. Ann is like my annoying sister who likes to "push all my buttons." And Joey is her stud-muffin.

I'm excited for two things next week...



One is CSULB finally starts next Monday! I've been itching for this day to come. I'm excited to meet new students and for the school year to start.



And two, Joanna is moving to Los Angeles next Saturday! I'm really excited to see her! Finally, we'll be in the same state, in the same metropolitan area, in the same time zone. Don't get me wrong, long distance has been great and taught us many things, but we're ready for a new change: Dating only 30 minutes apart! Woohoo!

John Lee

Yesterday was July 31, 2008, which marks two years after John Lee's passing. It's odd to know that John's been gone for only 2 years when it seems he's been gone more like 20 years. I can't describe it.

Dave, my new roommate, asked me if I wanted to go meet up with John Lee's parents and Pil Ho at Signal Hill Elementary School, where John taught kindergarten for 10 years. I asked,"What's the occasion?" Turns out, the kindergarten teachers pooled in money to make a bench in memory of John Lee. What a great gesture of respect.

Here is the bench in memory of John Lee.

Here is the view of the kindergarten playground. You can see the bench slightly to the right. I was told that the location of the bench is where John Lee used to always stand when he watched the kids play.

I still think about John Lee once in a while. And when I do, I wish he was here to hang out with. A fun realization: After seeing the bench and going to John's grave site, John's parents treated us out to Korean BBQ. John's mom said, "If John were here, he would celebrate with a BBQ. John LOVED food." It dawned on me that I love food too and John's love of food made me think of his BBQ's at his place. Oh those were some good times. Here are a few pictures from the last BBQ I went to at John Lee's.

Cheers John. You're surely missed.

New Adventures

I'm in Long Beach at Cha for Tea.

These past few weeks, I've been trying to find apartments in Long Beach. It's my first time ever trying to find an apartment and I must say, it takes a lot prayer, patience, perseverance, and more patience. What an experience. Yesterday afternoon, my new roommate Dave, called me up and told me he found a good apartment at a great location. There was no way I could drive down from LA cause of the horrible traffic at 5PM. Even though I wanted to see the apartment, I could only trust Dave's judgment. He emailed me the applications and I had to forward that to my other new roommate/teammate, Steven. After filling everything out and waiting for Steven to email me his application, I printed our applications, and drove to Kinko's to fax them in. Today, Dave called me and said we got the apartment. All I had to do was sign the lease. So, today I drove down to Long Beach from LA and signed it. I drove by the apartment to take a look at it cause I haven't seen it yet. After looking at it, I looked at Dave and said, "Good job friend." I'm pretty stoked about our apartment. It's about 1.5 miles away from CSULB and I'm glad I can walk/bike there. Truly a blessing from the Lord. Hopefully I can move in by next week. Here are some photos of the new pad.

My new 2 bed/1 bath apartment. It's on the second floor. In fact, the top three windows are part of my apartment.

Dave Wenzel. Caught him at an awkward moment as you can see.

Steven Crawford. He told me his staple diet is Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. That's going to change if he's living with me. Steven, you're gonna learn how to cook cause I'm all about cooking.

Colorado Time...

I'm in Colorado, though the morning at LAX was quite trying. My flight departure was 6:20AM from LAX to Denver. I get to LAX airport at approximately 5AM and I couldn't believe how many people were in line for Southwest. What's even worse was the line for the security checkpoint. The line was at least a quarter of a mile. It was insane! So here I am waiting in line with an hour left before 6:20AM. I for sure was going to miss my flight. But, I kept on praying and asking God that I would get on my plane and my luggage would be on the same plane as well. I get through the security line at 6:10AM and now I'm hauling my butt to the gate. I've never ran so hard in my life. Fortunately, I board the plane, then I look out the window to see if my luggage is being placed onto the plane as I'm walking down the aisle to find a open sit. To the delight of my eyes, I see my guitar and carry on. Whew... What a morning I should say.

For the future, I have to really think through if I wanna fly Southwest again. Because they have cheaper flights, tons of people fly Southwest. But I realize if more and more people are going with Southwest, then lines will eventually be more horrendous.

On a lighter note, Joanna and Rochelle (Joanna's Sister-in-law), picked me up from the Denver Airport. We went back to her home where I saw Jordan (Joanna's brother), Waveland (Joanna's niece), and Banjo (Jordan & Rochelle's semi A.D.D. Golden Retriever). We chilled a little bit, but then we went for a bike ride at the nearby park.

Joanna and I riding bikes. Doesn't she look so attractive?

Jordan and Rochelle rockin' the tandem bike. Waveland's chillin' in the "Burley"

The family model pose.

Group shot.

Another group shot.

Here's Waveland. She's so cute.


This was her first serious interaction with grass. Apparently, she loved eating the grass. Maybe she's gonna be a Vegetarian?

Waveland loves being on Joanna's shoulders.

I also met Jeremy (Joanna's oldest brother), Alaina (Joanna's Sister-in-Law), and Edwin (Joanna's nephew). We all ate at a tasty burger joint called Cherry Cricket. It kinda reminded me of Fuddrucker's.

Tomorrow, Joanna and I are headed down to the Glen for the June Edge Summit.

Wowzers...

I know, I know. I haven't updated my blog for almost two months. It's been a busy last few months with UCLA coming to a close just this past week. I can't believe I've been at UCLA for two years, and what an experience it has been. I have the summer now to process and reflect on what I've learned these past two years. That'll be for another future blog.

Other than processing my experience over the summer, you might be asking what else am I doing? Well, here is what I have planned so far:

June 13-17 - Joanna comes to LA (and June 13 is tomorrow!!! woohoo!!!)

June 16-21 - Colorado. Flying into Denver, and hanging out with Joanna and her brothers on June 16. Then helping out with June Edge Summit from June 17-21

June 22 - Victoria Lowe and Robert Marr's Wedding in La Jolla

June 29 - July 2 - Las Vegas. I'm helping my mother setup her showroom exhibit. (She has a silk floral arrangement business, in case you didn't know. www.jennysilks.com)

July 8-15 - Normal, IL. This isn't set in stone yet, but hopefully I get to visit Joanna and her parents in IL.

Late July - Moving to Long Beach.

August 10 - Josh Cheng and Rema's Wedding in Berkeley

August 30 - James Tsang & Liz Riedel's CA Reception in Alhambra.

So, I do have a packed summer already. It's gonna be crazy. But for the most part of my summer, I'll be fundraising. I've been given an exciting opportunity to continue on staff with the Navigators for the next two years at CSULB! Hence, that's why I'll be moving to Long Beach. With a larger budget to raise, I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed looking at the numbers. Yet, I serve a BIG God and He always provides in His way and in His timing. I agree with my friend Tim Lin, who is also raising support, that through my weakness, God's power and strength is made perfect.


But I end with some photos from this past quarter!

Spring Break trip to San Felipe, Mexico!

We caught more than 40 fish!

Navlympics, an annual Navigator sporting event against the California campuses. UCLA came in second overall for the 4 straight years...

Our end of the year party. The theme was Beauty and the Geek. Here's a picture with the staff and some of the student leaders. Don't you think we all long so handsome and beautiful?

Joanna visiting me in March. But soon, she's gonna be here tomorrow. I'm really excited to see her!

O Great God

I've come across another great hymn that I listen to quiet often. This hymn has such powerful words that I long to say to the Lord continually. It depicts truth about myself and who the Lord is. If you want a recording of the song, then let me know and I'll email it to you.

O Great God
O Great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart;
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power.
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me;
Make me Yours forevermore

I was blinded by my sin,
Had no ears to hear Your voice;
Did not know Your love within,
Had no taste for heaven's joys.
Then Your Spirit gave me life,
Opened up Your word to me;
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace

Help me now to live a life
That's dependent on Your grace;
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face.
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed;
O Great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your name through me.

A Bit Overdue...

I know, I know. I am a bit overdue in updating my blog, partly cause I've been distracted by a special someone. Yep, my girlfriend Joanna. She pretty much rocks. She's on a 10 day visit in Southern California to visit me and her friends. Here's an update of our life so far.

Before Joanna came to LA on March 12, I was corresponding with our Arizona friends about a surprise visit to Tucson. Joanna had no clue she was going to Tucson. Thursday morning, we went to Panera near LAX airport and ate breakfast. Afterwards, I started driving towards LAX. As we were driving, we were also praying. However, Joanna got so distracted by the LAX signs, she didn't know what to pray for anymore. She asked me, "Are we going to LAX???" Soon enough, I parked my car at the LAX parking lot and told her to open the glovebox. She found an envelope with 2 plane tickets to Phoenix!

The reason why we flew to Phoenix was because I found cheap tickets. So we rented a rental car and took a little "road trip" down to Tucson.

And we arrived in Tucson safely. Here are some of our AZ friends.

Ryan, me, Steven, and Mike doing fake smiles. Steven looks more like he's enjoying life and Mike is trying real hard to smile.

Our last picture with the AZ crew before we left back to Phoenix.

While I was in Japan, I really wanted to go snowboarding, but didn't have the chance. I made sure when Joanna came to California, we would go snowboarding. We went to my local mountain, Bear Mountain, and it was great! I must say, Joanna can shred the mountain.

I took Joanna to Literati Cafe, which is one of my favorite cafes in LA.

We sat near this wall and noticed there were books in the wall! We thought it was sooo cool!

We had a couple of double dates. Here we're hanging out with Eddie and Monica, who are happily engaged! We ate at Honda-Ya, a Japanese Yakitori restaurant. Oh how I miss Kirin draft beer.

We ate with Cody and Katie. Twas a fun nite at P.F. Chang's, partly cause Cody and I used our P.F. Chang's gift certificates. But of course what's more important, we were with our AMAZING girlfriends.

Oh yes. Here is Chris...enough said.

We had dinner with my parents. I'm so glad that Joanna had the opportunity to meet my parents. We had a fun time eating Chinese food and getting to know each other better.

I had the chance to meet Joanna's friends: Tim and Kimbra Noxon. They were pretty fun and really fun to get to know.

Clara loving her pink-snugged chair.

Overall, we are enjoying each other. She loves to put her finger in my nose and I love to make hideous faces. We make a fun couple.