Praises

I am so glad for it to be a new week. Last week was a tough one for me for a variety of reasons. It was one of those weeks where you just think…it couldn’t get much worse, but then something else would happen that completely threw me off. I think some of it was a result of spiritual warfare. Here are some exciting things that God is doing around me…

I am the coordinator for the Single’s teams at my church. We have small groups called teams where 6-12 people gather regularly. These groups bring the individuals in the church into a community for fellowship, Bible study, prayer, sharing and accountability, social events, and ministry opportunities. I have been excited to be a part of this ministry. When I came, there was a team for singles aged 35+, but it consisted of 2 single adults and a married couple that led the team. That team is currently being led by the two single adults who were a part of that team and now has eight people coming regularly. My team started in January of last year and was set up for singles aged 25-35. We had choppy growth, but then at the beginning of the year, I had a couple people come alongside to help with the ministry. Since that time, we have grown and our team recently multiplied. Our little team spawned a team of single parents, mostly divorced, who are a part of the church. Our first meeting after multiplication was on Sunday. The thing that amazes me about this whole process…we had 12-16 on an average week before multiplication. In the first week afterwards, we had 11 and 8 people attending the two teams. Where did they come from? This ministry has brought a lot of joy to my life. I am so excited to see people in a Bible Study for the first time, asking questions, and reading their Bible at home. Is all this happening because I am a great leader?? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I often feel inadequate in my place of service. Despite my weaknesses, God is working to bring people to know and love himself, I am just a willing person involved in the process.

On Sunday afternoon, I also heard about a church plant that I am praying towards joining. It would be with one of the interns at my church, who is also a student here at the seminary. After graduation, he and his wife are looking at starting an international church in the area – probably Arlington or Frisco. He was asking me about my thesis and we had a great discussion. It is exciting to find people who have the same heart as I do to reach the world through the internationals in our community. He will graduate in December and the church will be planted soon afterwards. The timing is amazing because I also finish in December. I do not know yet if this is the direction that I should go, but I am excited about the possibility and I can’t wait to see what comes next (a lot depends on when and where I find a full-time job)

Speaking of jobs…my dad accepted a job yesterday. He has been looking for a long time and yesterday accepted a position with MDOT in Missouri. It is a small department and far from the corporate world. It will be a lower paying position, but it is close to home and does not include the extra hours and stress that existed in his previous position. This is a great praise!

Happy Birthday McDonald's

Today is the 50th anniversary of McDonald's. It's not my favorite place to eat, in fact - I only get there once or twice a year, but I have many fond memories of going to McDonald's as a child. I also enjoyed stepping into a McDonald's when I lived in Asia. It was a nice familiar place to go on those days when everything there seemed unnatural. In fact, McDonald's in Hong Kong is far better than what we have here. They had great marketing and a better variety in food. It was also one of the cheapest places to eat in town. You can see visit the website . If you have a few minutes play the Fast 'n' Fresh Trails game. Maybe you can beat my score (9900).

Watch out Snoozers

I'm sure many of you saw one of the newest inventions coming out of MIT. If you are one of those people who hits snooze over and over in the morning...then shows up late to work or class, then this may help you. Clocky will allow you to hit snooze once, but then it will roll away to a random place in the room. Who wouldn't wake up when they have to hunt down the alarm clock every morning?

Modern Day Miracle

About a month ago, one of my classmates brought up a prayer request in class. His son was hospitalized because of his asthma. He has a rare form of asthma and while in the hospital, his health slowly declined. He had a lung collapse and was being given oxygen. When his father was in class last Tuesday, the situation did not look good. The son's lung collapsed further and he was not responding to medicine. It was predicted that the son would be in the hospital for months before he could get better and go home. The next day, Wednesday, a large group at the school prayed for him. Over the next twenty four hours, the son's health steadily progressed. The amount of oxygen he needed decreased throughout the day. On Friday he was allowed to go home. It was amazing for me to hear how quickly this little boy recovered. God is definately alive and active today.

Tribute to the cookie maker

Yesterday, a friend pointed out to me that if I had a blog, I really should put some words on it. That has been my plan from the beginning, but in the past week since I signed up for my site, I have been kinda busy and I really didn't expect my site to be linked to two other people's sites so soon! This post is in tribute to that friend, a daily blogger who is known for his cookies and cookie cakes. (though I have never tried the latter)

So, why did I set up a blog anyway? I first heard about blogs almost five years ago. I didn't know much about them and didn't think anything of it. In the last two years, many of my friends have set up blogs. For a while, it seemed like the popular thing to do. It was partially for that reason that I didn't set one up a year ago. Who really wants to be the same as everyone? In the past month, I read a book for class called The Internet Church by Walter P. Wilson. In this book, the author looks at the Internet as a new tool to share with other people in the world about the story of Jesus Christ. He even went as far as comparing the Internet to the invention of the printing press with movable type. The printing press took the Bible from a labourously hand copied book to one that could be easily reproduced and shared. The Internet is a tool in which the Bible can be read at any time in many languages - from Chinese to Czech and Tamil to Urdu - by a person who is connected to the Internet. If you want to check out an online Bible, click here. The author also talked about using the Internet to communicate between believers in times away from the church building and fellowship. Wilson is definately a visionary and though his book is a little outdated (c 2000), so many of the things he predicted the Internet being used for are happening now.

To answer that question - Why am I doing a blog? Well, why not? I don't know that I have anything that interesting to say, but I hope by putting my words into cyberspace that God will use them to touch people who are hurting and trying to find peace.

Me, 2004 in LA

new blogger

this is my first post. We'll see if it works.