and the heart of the alvinator.
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Friday, October 31, 2003 Time Flies It's been over a year since I started my new job here at Broadcom. Seems just like yesterday I was graduating from Davis. Anyways, I have enjoyed being here, and it seems so surreal that time flies by so fast. Anyways, in psychology class we learned this week about gender roles. It was quite interesting as the discussions got sometimes a little heated. A couple take aways. Personality development is more a function of culture than that of gender. For example, in China it's pretty common for guys to hold hands, in America...it's a totally different story. We also learned the importance of active listening. Active listening is a method by which you repeat back to a person what they had just said to show that you comprehend. I actually thought the activity was pretty lame when we first started as we had to practice, but in retrospect, it is a pretty good tool to show people you care. Another concept was that of the "unarguable truth." The "unarguable truth" is that of a "i feel" statement. Each person owns their own feelings. In friendships/relationships, when arguments occur, the "unarguable truth" statements should be used instead of attacking a person's actions. It's moreso expressing how those actions have made you feel. Attacking feelings is very difficult. Anyways, this taught me to use more "I feel" statements in expressing how I feel when something occurs. I don't use the "unarguable truth" statements that much, but I should, as it seems to lessen a lot of tension in conflict situations. After class I asked the teacher about overly sensitive people. Now I concede that in many situations, it's a combination of me being insensitive and the other person being overly sensitive. She said to still use the "unarguable truths," but that to deal with it in a team approach as to how together to solve the issue, and not focus on people being insensitive or overly sensitive. Easier said than done of course. =P. posted by alvin | Friday, October 31, 2003 Wednesday, October 29, 2003 Costume Ideas? So, RW on Friday is having a costume/housewarming party for fellowship on Friday, with the theme being Hollywood. I don't want to spend money on a costume, so wanted to ping some of my readers for some low-budget costume ideas. Any ideas? posted by alvin | Wednesday, October 29, 2003 Monday, October 27, 2003 Weekend Recap Had a fantastic time with Ming-Gih and Cam over the weekend in Tahoe. View pics here. We did invite over 25 Davis alums, and gave them over 1.5 months pre-notice, but alas since people are in different social communities and have other commitments, only 3 of us went. In retrospect, if we had more people there, we wouldn't have had the same type of freedom to do what we did. We did miss Calvin, Sterling and King though. Each of us had our own room at Cam's parent's place in South Lake. It's a pretty plush place for vacation home standards. Anyways, Ming-Gih and I met with Cam in Davis, and then headed to Cam's parents place in Sac. to pick up keys for the home. We had a pretty packed car, even for 3 guys. =P. Good conversation going up to Tahoe, reminiscing about college days, and sharing about what God has been teaching us lately. We arrived around 12 a.m. on Friday night in Tahoe, and after settling in, we watched "The Italian Job." Overall, I thought it was a pretty well-done movie. 1.5 eprops for Italian Job. We got to bed at like 3 a.m. Crazy. Anyways, we got up on Sat. and just chilled at the house. After my devos, I took a brisk walk outside, and enjoyed the Tahoe weather. It was a beautiful day. We ate lunch, and then went hiking to Mt. Tullac. We didn't really prepare ourselves well for this "very technical" (as described by another hiker) hike, but we ended up hiking for about 3 hrs. I think I will look into buying a Camelbak soon, as I have found that I enjoy hiking a lot. Anyways, most of our pics are from the hike. It was pretty rocky in many places, but the view of Lake Tahoe was stunning. =P. After hiking, we headed home, and I got ready for my NBA fantasy draft. It was scheduled for 6:30 p.m., so we had to push back dinner until the draft was over. =P. Thanks guys. Anyways, after the draft, we headed out to South Lake Tahoe casino's and had the seafood buffet at Harvey's. It cost over $30, but since we were on vacation, we went for it. We ate a ton of crab, sushi and shrimp. =P. Very full after dinner. We finished dinner around 10:45 p.m. We then walked around the casinos (ended up at Caesar's), and since there weren't any $5 tables for blackjack ($10 min. was too much for us), we played some video blackjack (25 cents), and then played slot machines till like 2:45 a.m. Crazy times. We got some good entertainment value for the time we had there though. We used this one slot machine that had a 10 times multiplier, where it acts like a wild, and multiples that winning by 10. We used the expression, "10 times" a lot, so that created an inside joke for us. On many occasions, the slot machine would "entice" us, where a very nice pay-line would appear, but not in the middle. On other occasions, when good things came up on the first 2 columns, I would grab Cam by the shoulder and say, "Cam, cam, cam!!!!!" He almost had a heart attack, since it was very rare that the 3rd column gave any type of match. Good times. We got back to the house at like 3:30 a.m., and Cam happened to put in "Die Another Day," and we ended up watching it till like 6 a.m. Luckily it was daylight savings, so we got to bed at 5 a.m. instead of 6. We all slept in, and woke up around 11-11:30ish, the latest each of us has slept in since college. Crazy, crazy times. We just putzed around the house on Sunday, watching football, chatting, and watching "10 Things I Hate About You," "Tremors" and "Nothing to Lose." =P. Headed back to Davis around 8 p.m., and I got home around 10 p.m. Overall, great times. Personal Thoughts: There's something special about being with people whom you have had community with for a long time. There's also something special about low-maintenance friendships, where even not keeping in touch regularly, and seeing them again, allows the special bond that existed before. And yeah, there's something special about being able to be myself and feel accepted and loved by people who appreciate me for being me. =P. Oh yeah, also something special to be with people who laugh at my jokes!!!!! =P. hahaha. Throughout the whole weekend, we laughed a ton, remembering the times in college, where we did funny stuff. I felt very comfortable, being able to let loose and be myself. It was also very refreshing to think about how God brought us together during our times in college, and how now God is allowing ourselves to be in different communities, to grow, to be challenged, and to understand more about ourselves through allowing us to interact with other communities. I am really grateful for my Davis friends, where we can "sit long, talk much," and really cherish the times we can spend together. I'm glad I can continue to journey with them in their Christian walks too. It's funny that sometimes when we think we change a lot, a lot of who we were before still comes out. It was sad to remember some of our friends who haven't been walking with Christ since college. However, we trust and hope that God will bring back His children. I also realized also how easily friendships can change over the years, and how common friendship "fallout" is. The young adult life is characterized by this "non-commitment" type of attitude. For myself, I highly value and respect people who follow-through with their commitments beit in friendships, ministry and/or life. Praise God for people you can count on. Cam, Ming-Gih: the party never dies. See you next year. Daylight savings weekend preferred. =P. hahahaha. =P. posted by alvin | Monday, October 27, 2003 Friday, October 24, 2003 Cleaning up the Hard-Drive I still haven't had time to post my thoughts from SD. Argh, and I leave for Tahoe in less than 4 hrs. too. Oh well. Anyways, last night, I didn't have Internet access at home, so since my friends have had their hard-drives crashing in their systems, I wanted to back-up all my data through the years. I didn't realize that I have accumulated so much virtual stuff. I will just copy and paste some of it into my blog so my readers can get an assessment of what I thought about 2-5 years ago. =P. I discovered so many Bible Study notes for lessons I led back in High School, college, and now. It's cool that I can actually go back and read over what I thought about before, what I felt was important and how I think differently now. I need to back-up all my photos soon too. I have over 2GB's worth of photos on my HD. A friendly reminder to my faithful readers, remember to back up important data. Data recovery services for HD's are pricey. =P. posted by alvin | Friday, October 24, 2003 Thursday, October 23, 2003 Allergy/Asthma Update So, I went to the doctor yesterday, and had a pulmunary function test (PFT) exam, along with getting my allergy testing done again. Kaiser lost my records as a kid, so I had to redo the testing. I have had the same doctor for over 15 years. The results of the testing basically came out to saying that I am allergic to the same stuff as before, nothing has really changed. Anyways, the doctor said my lungs are okay, but that since I'm maxed out on my allergy medications, I should seriously considering taking allergy shots again. In the previous couple years, I was hesitant to, because it would require a weekly commitment. =P. I used to have 4 allergy shots a week as a youngster, but stopped once I hit high school. So, my doctor and I decided that I will start taking shots starting next week. However, due to the way they can mix the shots, I only have to have 2 a week...yeah, yippee!!!!! =P. Hopefully, this will help to make my allergies more manageable. =P. posted by alvin | Thursday, October 23, 2003 Stuff from "Psychology of Personal Growth" Class Ahh...been really busy, so haven't been able to post as much as I would like, but wanted to give my readers an opportunity to do some sharing. Please leave comments. Last night, we discussed "meaning and values," and a lot of stuff that was brought up was really good. Very deep pondering stuff. Anyways, one activity we needed to do was to create our own religion. Although it could go into a philosophical discussions, we had to focus on concrete virtues/vices. a) What virtues would you have in your religion? b) What vices would you want to get rid of? Some more questions we had to ponder. c) What are 3-5 things that you have done that are not motivated by personal gain? d) What do you do to show others you care? e) What is preventing you from becoming the person you want to become? f) Name some activities in life that you feel are meaningless. I will ponder some more of these questions this weekend, but another one that got me thinking during the religion activity was that of "what defines perfection? what is perfect?" Anyways, off to lake tahoe this weekend. In our attempt to have a Davis reunion of sorts, lots of people can't go, even though we gave them a 2-month buffer. I think a lot of it deals with people being in different communities, and having different priorities in life, which is fine. Looks like it's Ming-Gih, Cam and me. yeah, baby. I look forward to just chilling in Cam's parent's cabin, and enjoying the time with my brothers. =P. posted by alvin | Thursday, October 23, 2003 Wednesday, October 22, 2003 San Diego Pics Posted Just posted pics from San Diego. 80 pics on the album. =P. See link at right to see photos. posted by alvin | Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Weekend Recap Alright, just a quick weekend recap as there is lots of stuff to do at work. This is just the stuff that happened, post-processing of events and activities will come later. Stay tuned. =P. Overall, an awesome time in SD. Visiting with Daniel, Cindy, Pam, Kenrick, Mary Ann, and Tina was great. I headed down with Calvin, my housemate from Davis. Friday highlights: So, my ongoing joke for the night, "Wall of fire." Supposedly on sat. at the Miramar airshow, there would be a "wall of fire" that would set a guiness book of world record. Honestly, I didn't care so much for seeing the "wall of fire," but thought it was funny, so that was my repetitive joke of the night. =P. Sat. highlights: Morning laughs: The movie "Serendipidity". Everyone else really liked the movie, but I had to defend myself and say that it was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. We had some good laughs out of that one. I guess it's just so unrealistic and so idealistic in my mind. =P. Anyways, we went hiking at Torrey Pines, and gosh, it's really foggy in SD. Like, really, really foggy. It was nice to hike around and enjoy nature in the fog. I got dropped off at Tina's place, where Mimi and Tilden stayed (Mimi and Tilden are from RW, and were down in SD also). Tina had to study, so it was "Fun with the Fangs" for me. They took me to Rubio's for their famous fish tacos. I also got a lobster burrito. I ended up eating lunch at like 3:30 p.m., on the pier on Ocean Beach. There was some person that had a hook caught in their hand. Pretty gross. Tilden got in the way of the car that drove on the pier to help that person. Too funny. Anyways, besides the annoying fog horn noise that occurred every minute, Ocean Beach was nice, except it was foggy. =P. After Ocean Beach, I went with Mimi/Tilden to check into their hotel. Kinda' sad that as we looked out of their room at the outdoor wedding occuring at that hotel that it was foggy. So sad, to have a wedding in the fog. Anyways, we picked up Tina and headed to "Gaslamp Quarter." We ate dinner at Sushi Deli Too. Very affordable Japanese food. I had dinner very close to when I finished lunch, so I was so freaking full. We walked around the "Gaslamp" area, and then went to Extraordinary Desserts. Note to self: A fantastic date place. =P. After desset, went back to Tina's place where her roommate Sherry was having a b'day party. There were like 30 peeps in her 2-bedroom apartment. Crazy. We went to hide in Tina's room for a bit, and then Mimi/Tilden dropped me off back at Daniel's place. Sunday: Church in the morning, and lunch at "El Pollo Loco." Window shopping with Pam/Kenrick and Calvin at Fashion Valley. Then, dropped back off at church to go with Calvin to Mary Ann's parents place for dinner. We basically made fresh Vietnamese spring rolls for dinner. Very good, and very full. I out-ate Calvin. (2 eprops for me). Ended up very full from dinner. After dinner, headed back to Embry house (where Pam, Cindy and Mary Ann live), and although I wanted to go "play" some more, we just ended up hanging out there. Ended up playing "Bop It" and chilling, looking at pics and stuff. I was watching "Alias" in the beginning, but it got pretty noisy, so I stopped watching. Monday we slept in, well sort of. Daniel's mom needed to use the computer in the morning, and I stayed in that room. So, I woke up at 7:45 a.m., took my sleeping bag and pillow and went to Daniel's room to sleep. Mary Ann called at 9:30 a.m., and woke all 3 of us up. Oh well...so much for sleep. Anyways, after lunch at Sushi Deli Too (yes a 2nd time), we headed to the World Famous San Diego Zoo. I think I like water animals better, as a zoo, there is not much going on. The highlights were the hippos and the panda bear. We ate dinner at Shanghai Delights with Cindy, then had pearl tea, and then got on our flight home. A good, deep talk with Calvin on the plane ride home. Next entry, my thoughts through the weekend. I took 170 photos from the weekend. =P. posted by alvin | Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Friday, October 17, 2003 2 eprops Alright, I'm pretty surprised with people who keep giving out 2 eprops for xanga postings. From xanga: "Give eProps eProps are a currency of good will. Give them whenever you read something you enjoy, but reserve a double dose for exceptional posts". The key word here is reserve a double dose for exceptional posts. First off, I don't think xanga should default to 2 eprops for comments. I think they should default to "comment only" and then allow 2 eprops to be changed later. I think a lot of people don't think about eprops and go with default, thus giving everything they read 2 eprops. I feel that people are overly generous with their eprops, like it's some feel good ego stroking type of thing. To earn 2 eprops from me requires a lot. =P. Or maybe, I am just stingy with my eprops. posted by alvin | Friday, October 17, 2003 Update... I took a MT in Mandarin class yesterday. It's interesting that although I took the same curriculum at De Anza 4 years ago, how quickly that material has faded. I should have done okay. I'm only shooting for a B...=P. Anyways, I was taken aback by this statement from Christ from Mark 13:13, "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." I don't like people hating me. Heck, who does. I'm just reminded that being Christian, God never promised that the difficulties of living life would disappear. He does promise us that He carries us through those difficult times, and for that I am super thankful to Him. Alright, thought I would give a brief update on life for me. My post work schedule on weekdays is pretty set these days, and I actually enjoy the consistency of my schedule. Mondays: every other week, SNAP, weeks with no SNAP, work-out at 24 hr. fitness. Tuesdays: run errands, work-out at 24 hr. fitness Wednesdays: pscyhology of personal growth class at mission college, homework for mandarin class Thursdays: mandarin class at mission college, workout after class Fridays: RW fellowship Weekends: Packed...=P. Ahh, the joy of a consistent schedule. yippee!!!!! This weekend, off to San Diego with Calvin, to visit Tina, Mary Ann, Pam, Kenrick, Cindy and Daniel. Also wanted to sync up with my cousin, "pretty" paul, and selisa, but they haven't got back to me yet. posted by alvin | Friday, October 17, 2003 Wednesday, October 15, 2003 A Hundred Times I have been going through Mark for my devotionals, and came to Mark 10:29-31. Mark 10:29-31 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." I was encouraged that Christ gives a promise that He blesses sacrifices made for Him and the gospel. However, what got to me was the "persecutions." I was reminded again about the RW retreat, and the concept that suffering is necessary for character development. Christ already knows that persecutions will happen. Makes me wonder that when persecutions aren't happening if we are walking close with Him. =P. posted by alvin | Wednesday, October 15, 2003 Tuesday, October 14, 2003 Issues Hmm...during SNAP last night, I realized, that yeah, dang...I have a lot of issues, baggage, etc. In the day to day hustle and bustle of life, usually, I don't think about them because there is so much to do, but when I sit and reflect on things and where God has brought me...I think...gosh, living life is sometimes very difficult and God has brought me very far. Anyways, I think it really comes down to brokenness. I don't have it all there. Character development and growth is a continual life-long journey, and I'm sure glad that God walks step by step with me all the way. Every day it's a journey, it's a process of becoming more like Christ. Yeah, I like the challenge. =P. posted by alvin | Tuesday, October 14, 2003 Monday, October 13, 2003 Weekend Recap Alright, another great weekend. Quick recap. Friday night had a good time of sharing/prayer with RW. Open microphone where people went up to share. The first 3 times Shannon was about to close the time, people said, "stop, wait, i want to share." Too funny. Good time of encouragement and stuff. I am pretty shy, and don't share in large groups. I wonder why that is the case. I'll think about it and blog on that topic later. Anyways, I realized that there are also a lot of random people who read my blog (read about cyber-stalking from christine's site). It starts me to feel a bit self-conscious. The joy of the Internet is that it is available for anybody to read. I guess bottom line, from my blog, I hope that my life can be an encouragement to people (blessed to be a blessing) and ultimately that God is glorified. Alright, so on Sat. morning, slept in a bit, and headed to the gym. It takes me about 2 hrs. to finish my total workout. Always nice to work out in the morning. Ran some quick errands at Target, and then headed home to get changed for Helen/Bobby's wedding. Calvin and I carpooled, but we ended up getting there late, when the processional was happening. The wedding started on time. Sometimes it's really hard to guage when to arrive. For Tim/Nancy's wedding, I arrived 30 minutes late, and the wedding still didn't start. For Jerry/Lily's, I arrived 20 minutes late, and the wedding was almost over. Hard to guage. Anyways, the church was pretty small, housed about 200 peeps, and we ended up standing throughout the whole wedding. I thought I would be quite embarrassed, but honestly, it was all good. We stood for a good hour. Luckily, I was able to lean on something. After the wedding, the reception was held at the SBCBC, off of McKee Rd. and 280/680. I shot the breeze with a lot of my old college buddies. I was reminded of our study during RW about the idea of the life-giving joy of the Holy Spirit. When I would ask some people how things were going, I would get "same old, same old." I was a bit sad to hear these type of responses, since I would hope that there would be some marked steps of growth. Anyways, when I asked one person about this and he gave me that response, I said, "Oh, so the same old life-giving joy of the Holy Spirit." And he went, "yeah, definitely the same living joy of the Holy Spirit." Too funny. The wedding was pretty tiring, as again, I stood througout the reception portion. They had some dancing in the church (remember...southern baptist church)...so that was a bit interesting. I danced one song of swing. =P. Forgot a lot of moves...hehe. Afterwards, headed home, and washed my car. It has accumulated a lot of dirt the past couple weeks. =P. Ate a small dinner, and then watched "bend it like beckham" with calvin, christine, iris and cynthia. We had to go to 2 blockbusters, and ended up renting the movie at hollywood video. I noticed that "better luck tomorrow" is in video stores now too. I enjoyed "bend it like beckham." Had a lot of indian culture stuff along with pretty funny humor. Some cheesy lines though. =P. Sunday...after church...headed up to play bball with RW. My right hip was bothering me a bit, so I took 2 Aleve before heading out there. However, I won't make excuses for my bball game. I can't shoot the ball outside anymore. I used to play at least 2 times a week. These days, once every 2 weeks is more like it. Overall, not too pleased with my current game. Anyways, headed home, ate dinner with fam...and then headed to Evelyn/Bonnie's b'day get together at Christine's place. I was asking when the sharing time was happening, but alas...none happened. =P. It was again good to "shoot the breeze" with peeps I haven't seen in awhile. I usually become pretty extroverted with people I haven't seen in awhile, making a lot of jokes and having a lot of fun. Another packed weekend. Up this weekend...a trip to San Diego with Calvin. =P. Thanks for reading and thanks for the answer to the trivia question. I will tell the person at the gym the answer next time I see her there. posted by alvin | Monday, October 13, 2003 Friday, October 10, 2003 Interesting Question I apologize if my during the week posts are a bit boring. Been really busy, so haven't had time to post on my internal thinkings. Anyways, at the gym last night, a lady told me this joke, but she didn't give me the answer. "A guy finds two people frozen, and know for sure that they are Adam and Eve. How does he know for sure?" I tried the "they were the only 2 people on earth," answer, but to no avail. She said to focus on distinguishing factors of telling Adam and Eve. Any ideas? posted by alvin | Friday, October 10, 2003 Happy Birthday to Evelyn A Happy Birthday to Evelyn. May God continue to bless you and keep you in the years to come. posted by alvin | Friday, October 10, 2003 Thursday, October 09, 2003 Wade Robson Project I got an e-mail from one of my former co-workers from HP. Her little sister is on the Wade Robson Project on MTV, some dance show. Go vote for her here. Her name is Noreen. You can vote as many times as you want. posted by alvin | Thursday, October 09, 2003 Tuesday, October 07, 2003 Other Retreat Ramblings Alright, I throw this idea out there to the people who have been in a similar situation. So, you are in a cabin with 6-7 other people. You realize that your sleeping bag makes a ton of squeaky noises, and you feel very self-conscious that are you disturbing others in your cabin from sleeping. You try to stay perfectly still, so as to not make any noises, but then realize you can't fall asleep because you are so freaking uncomfortable. Anyways, then you discover you need to go to the bathroom, but then don't want to get out of your sleeping bag because it will make too much noise. You try to go back to sleep, but can't, because you are so freaking uncomfortable. Anyways, after contemplating the "mind over bladder" decision, finally after 20-30 minutes, "bladder wins over mind," you just go for it and hit the bathroom, hoping that no one wakes up. =P. Anyways, I talked with a couple people about this phenomenon and they also agree about the "mind over bladder," idea. I think I have issues with "people pleasing."...please see my "issues with extraction" entry. Alright, we so had lots of fun during retreat. Ping pong After worship practice on Friday night, around 12:15 a.m., Dave and myself, Cory and Tilden decided to play ping pong. We only planned on playing best of 3, but ended up playing best out of 11. Crazy. We played all the games to 21, and we got quite a work out. The paddles were definitely not the best, so, my game was not that good. Anyways, Cory and Tilden won the first 2 games very easily, as Dave and I were still warming up. We then won 2 games, and it was tied 2-2. We took the next game, and were up 3-2. Each deciding match, it was very close, but for each tying match, Dave and I lost by 5-8 points. So, Dave and I took the lead, 4-3, 5-4, etc. Finally, in the last game, we won. However, we played a rematch the next day, and Dave and I lost 6 games in a row. =(. I attribute the loss to stellar play by Tilden and Cory. =P. Shock and Awe I use these words because Anthony used it in his blog. Mike, when doing a verse interpretation, took off his shirt in a "shock and awe" manuver to try to make Julie laugh (who was the judge of that game). It was freaking hilarious, as everybody was laughing. I was going crazy, by the pure surprise and spontaneity of the act. He redid this demo during the nighttime portion too. Pastor Paula mentioned, "there's no shame in his game," and gave him a special blessing to use his boldness for God's glory. Praise God. =P. Another fav. moment, is when the teams had to chant, "we got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit, how about you." He was on the same team, so Mike lifted Jonathan up to form the "Y" in the "YOU" word. Jonathan would close his eyes, tilt his head, raise his arms in a "Y" and go, "Yooooooouuuuuu." That was also freaking hilarious, but this incident probably is funnier if you were there. I was laughing so hard I was crying before we went on for our worship set when they redid both demos during the nighttime portion. Our team also played against this team for the "duck-duck" goose game, and I was pitted against Lynn. Lynn cleanly beat me the first time, and on the 2nd time, I had to save my dignity and yank the towel out of her hand in an all out lunge to not lose the 2nd time. But, honestly, she had me cleanly beat both times. In this same game, Cindy also did a faceplant into the grass. Later she said it looked a lot worse than it was. =P. Fun, fun, fun. Our group didn't fare so well in the games, but that was okay. It was pretty fun. On other notes, I didn't have as much chance to talk with people as I would have liked because of playing on the worship team. However, it was a super blessing to serve alongside Cory, Lynn and Dave. Each bring their own special gifts and talents to the worship team. Anyways, I discovered that I enjoy playing guitar with my shoes off. I don't memorize the songs b4 I play them, so I am hindered by always looking at the chords to see what is next, so sometimes I look and feel very "stiff" when playing. However, I discovered that playing with my shoes off makes me feel very "free". Other highlights include my 2-TD catches, and 1-TD toss in football. Again, overall, a really, really awesome time. I love RW. I will post later why I love my fellowship. posted by alvin | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 RW Retreat Photos I didn't take as many pics as I would have liked, but you can still see the pics from RW Retreat. Go to link of photo albums on the right. posted by alvin | Tuesday, October 07, 2003 Monday, October 06, 2003 RW Retreat Post-Processing One word summary: Awesome. Around 60 young adults from RW and ALCF came to the retreat held at Camp Hammer. The theme was on cultivating the character of Christ in our lives. Pastor Paula did a fantastic job as our speaker, allowing us time to process, and challenging us with key ideas of character. We had around 20 people who never been to RW b4, but joined us at the retreat. A great time of bonding and enjoying community together. A couple key points: 1. character is like a house's foundation. without character your house falls down. 2. character starts with dealing with "below the line" core issues. 3. character development requires suffereing and perseverance (romans 5:4). 4. a character study on peter (Jesus main man, showed that even Peter had his struggles, but overcame them to finish well) 5. character building is a lifelong process. 6. doing (serving) flows from being. 7. struggles/pains do not go away if we are Christian/or non-Christian, the difference is that we can have hope as a Christian. 8. a life with Christ should be a life of passion. Key questions Pastor Paula asked us to reflect on: 1. How are we doing in our relationship with Christ? Are we standing in a place of grace? 2. What are our strengths/weaknesses? 3. Are there things we need to change in our character? 4. Do we have problems accepting ourselves? If yes, why? 5. Hopes/prayers regarding character transformation. For myself, again, just as in EC retreat, I had lots of time to reflect on my life. I was again reminded and boggled that character development requires suffering and perseverance. However, some people during the times of suffering/perseverance, don't desire character development, but instead get cynical...(that spoke right to me). God spoke to me in following ways: 1. grace: need to allow myself to make mistakes, not being so hard on myself, and accepting others when they make mistakes. so...overall, allowing myself to accept more of God's grace, and being less critical towards others. accepting them as they am. =P. 2. understanding passion and how it fits with my personality temperament. need to explore this more. 3. being able to step further out in risks by being vulnerable. being okay with getting hurt from others...a tough one. 4. scheduling times of reflection/sabbath's with God. Retreat was a great time for us to get away and reflect on different things. Praise God. I will post on fun stuff we did later. =P. posted by alvin | Monday, October 06, 2003 Friday, October 03, 2003 Off to RW Retreat I apologize to my faithful readers that I haven't been blogging this week. Been pretty busy with work, school, getting ready for retreat, and working out. My sabbatical for swing dancing has officially ended. I can dance again, if I find some time to do so. Anyways, I would say that my quality of life has definitely improved since my workload has increased. I have shared with this some of you, but I have been pretty bored at work, very un-intellectually stimulated. But now, I have a couple projects, but don't worry...I still work only 40 hours a week. It's all about work, life balance...previously known as the HP Way. =P. Looking forward to the retreat and experiencing the continued ways that God will be working and using our RW community. =P. posted by alvin | Friday, October 03, 2003 |
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