and the heart of the alvinator.
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Friday, February 28, 2003 Pressing Into Pain This has been on my mind today for some reason. I think since my arm is still hurting I have been thinking about this. MN had a thought on this before. I remember an analogy that PH had in one of his sermons. He gave this illustration of a child who had a splinter. When told the momentary pain getting the splinter out would cause, the child said he would rather live with a small amount of pain for the rest of his life. However, his parents knew better, and took out the splinter. I think in the same way, God knows what's best for us. In the times of suffering and pain, sometimes it gets much worse before it gets better. Work through the issues, get to closure. We need to have hope and trust that God knows what's best for us. =P. posted by alvin | Friday, February 28, 2003 Thursday, February 27, 2003 Sup... Just came back from a quick one-day trip down to Broadcom in Irvine. It was a nice break from the normal day to day work stuff. Anyways, SJ airport has this new security screening thing that took 30 minutes to get through. Based on past experience, I timed my arrival at the airport at 8:25 for a 9 a.m. flight, knowing before that when I arrived at 7:45 a.m. I was too early for that flight...so I tried to time this one better. I didn't know they started this new security screening procedure. It was a weird feeling hearing the last boarding call while I was still in this security line. Once I heard that announcement, I was already near the front of the line and asked this TSA employee what I should do. I was hoping that she would call the employees at the boarding gate and hold the plane. Instead, she goes..."Sorry, hopefully you'll make it." She said I was supposed to arrive 90 minutes before my flight departure...however, i remember, on the kiosks at the ticketing location it said, "Minimum arrival time is 30 minutes before departure." Anyways, I didn't want to get into an argument, and took my chances and got back in line, and started processing worst case scenarios, which would to arrive late, which wouldn't be so bad. So, I felt peace in my heart. Anyways, as I finished security (8:55 a.m.), I started sprinting to the gate...It happened to be a gate fairly far away. This is where exercise paid its dividends. As I come running down the hallway (isn't this suspenseful...) the lady at the gate calls out to me, "Mr. Wu?" I go, "Yep, that's me." She quickly put the "position closed" sign up at the boarding gate. She didn't even check my ID and briefly looks at my boarding pass and lets me on the plane. Exciting adventure...next time...lesson learned...arrive at a good time...a compromise...60 minutes before departure. =P. And...check this out...on the way back from Irvine I got to sit first class...that was the first time for me. Exciting. =P. posted by alvin | Thursday, February 27, 2003 Wednesday, February 26, 2003 Identity in Christ ET gave me this book, Victory Over the Darkness by Neil Anderson last year before I headed out to China. It talks about realizing the power of your identity in Christ. It made a huge impact in my life. pg. 43 "Many Christians are not living free and productive lives because they don't understand who they are and why they are here. Who they are is rooted in their identity and position in Christ. If they don't see themselves the way God sees them, to that degree they suffer from a poor sense of identity and poor sense of worth. They don't fully understand the gospel and the dramatic change that occurred in them the moment they trusted in Christ." pg. 53 "The more you reaffirm who you are in Christ, the more your behavior will begin to reflect your true identity." The book talked about "Who I am in Christ." I am accepted, I am secure and I am significant, not because of anything I can do, but because I am a child of His. Very powerful, life changing stuff. I would definitely recommend this book. If you would like to borrow my copy, please contact me. posted by alvin | Wednesday, February 26, 2003 Tuesday, February 25, 2003 Temperament SK had this link posted to her page that I thought would be good to share. This is free . Granted it's not the official one, this could give a good idea of personality temperament you are...Kiersey test. posted by alvin | Tuesday, February 25, 2003 WCC, Recap Part II I wanted to provide some thoughts from JL's workshop called "Quarter-Life Crisis." I was going over the notes last night, and thought it would be good to post some of the good stuff that came out of there. What is the 1/4 life crisis? People near the 1/4 life age where they are examining what's next in life. A couple challenging questions he posed..."What question am I trying to answer in my life? Why have I been made? What did God make me for?" Many of us live under expectations. Question to ask ourself...which expectations are appropriate and biblical? He then talked about the Leadership Emergence Theory, talking about how leaders go through stages in their development. He then examined the life of Abraham, Moses, Paul, and Christ and showed that they hit their stride in their 40s...some even later. The point made here was that we don't need to rush ourselves. Importance of perspective Give yourself grace and time to grow. This season is to prepare and form character. Good things take time. Most of us are in a influential preparation period of our lives..."preparation and clarification of call, preparation of character, preparation of completeness, preparation of community." We have many questions. He encouraged us to zero in on calling and vocation. He then proceeded to draw two circles..."Who I am" is one circle (with genetic inheritance, personal history and culture, natural gifts, acquired abilities, spiritual gifts, temperament). The other circle is "Needs of the World." (spiritual, physical, emotional, historical/cultural perspective and global perspective). Here is the CLINCHER...God's destiny lies in the intersection of "Who I am" and the "Needs of the World." Couple practical suggestions: 1) Discernment (desire to hear God's voice in life) 2) A deep prayer life 3) Consistent quiet times 4) Make your heart go slow in this journey 5) Resolve questions in your life. Overall, extremely challenging stuff. I was very encouraged that I don't need all the answers, and allow myself room and time to grow. posted by alvin | Tuesday, February 25, 2003 Awesome Weekend I'm still recovering a bit from the weekend. I think I caught a cold from swing dancing on Sat. night at the Doghouse in SF. AL, TC, NW, MC, and WC and myself went. It was a blast to have so many RWers there. We stayed from like 8 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. I think I caught a cold because I go outside to cool down. Hot, cold, hot, cold...is not the best. NW noticed that outside, I had steam coming from my shoulders. Yeah, who's the over achiever!!!!! She also wrote an e-mail afterwards to us that stated, "this was definitely the most fun i've had at the doghouse in a long time". Going in a group is fun. Recruiting girls is usually pretty easy, but we need more guys. Any takers? Don't worry, even if you dance, you can still be a "guy guy." Just remember this simple ratio...4 times bball, 1 time dancing. A "guy guy" who can dance...(so I've heard from girls)...is very attractive...=P...better caveat here that I don't dance for that reason. A discussion centered around "why do guys like to dance?" It started at the Doghouse, and was supposed to continue post dancing, but we didn't come to any conclusion. Any thoughts? On Sunday, I saw Swing! The Musical in San Jose after playing Ultimate Frisbee with RW and HOC5. I thought there would be some plot, but it was all dancing, singing and instrumentals. Overall, it was fun, but I definitely enjoyed Mamma Mia more. =P. posted by alvin | Tuesday, February 25, 2003 Photo Albums I have added some links to some photo albums. Please feel free to browse through them. Hopefully I can add some captions soon. posted by alvin | Tuesday, February 25, 2003 Monday, February 24, 2003 Comments I just added a comments link. If you want to leave me feedback, please feel free to do so. posted by alvin | Monday, February 24, 2003 Friday, February 21, 2003 Fast Food I sometimes wondered before why I would pray to bless fast food when it would definitely be unhealthy for me. I asked myself, "Why am I asking for God's blessing on this Big Mac?" Yeah, sure there are probably better choices for food, but any food at all is better than nothing. I thank God and ask Him to bless it as He is the provider of all things. posted by alvin | Friday, February 21, 2003 Props... My props go out to BL for playing after dislocating his pinky last night during bball. He didn't sub out for that game, and played with his hand clenched for the rest of the night. That guy is a man with heart and plays for the sure love of the game. He came up big in the last game, combining his size and speed to dominate the open court. Good job BL. posted by alvin | Friday, February 21, 2003 Thursday, February 20, 2003 Follow your Dreams Hmm...3 incidents at WCC where I remember the theme of following your dreams/passions came to life. Marilyn shared how some of the people from her tribe came to the US and met some of her friends who weren't happy with their job. They couldn't understand how people could go into a job (9-5) and knowing that they don't like what they are doing, still went. To them, it was as simple as just quitting their job and finding something else to do. Totally makes sense...so why do people do something they don't enjoy doing? It's an interesting question. The expression of how we work to live instead of live to work reminds me of how important that perspective is. I think you should enjoy your job, no matter what. Do something you love...life is too short. Wow...this sounds very idealistic. hehe....tough for an INTJ to think this way. Anyways, during the final testimony time, one sister shared about how she loves anthropology, but due to parental expectations, had to give up that major and pursue chemistry. She is currently a high school chemistry teacher, but committed to following her dream of studying anthropology even though it goes against her parent's wishes. As she was sharing this...she was tear-ing up...Powerful testimony as I could definitely relate. Final example...BL's testimony. His father empowered him as a youngster telling him to live life never saying, "I could've." God took him on a wild journey through life. He testified that in his 30 years of life, he can look back and say he has never said these words. Powerful stuff. Bottom line take-away: Discover what your passions are...and go for it. Follow your dreams. Follow your passions. Empower yourself and encourage others. God can do anything. posted by alvin | Thursday, February 20, 2003 Wednesday, February 19, 2003 Mystery Spot I went to the Mystery spot in Santa Cruz for the 2nd time on Monday. Hmm...check out this link...Mystery spots explained. As JC put it, the real mystery is where your $5 goes to. posted by alvin | Wednesday, February 19, 2003 Rubbish "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." Phil. 3: 7-9. Wow...Lee spoke about these verses at WCC. Although I have read and studied this verse many times, it has become fresh again for me. Extremely convicting. Consider that Paul wrote this. He had it all, yet everything is a loss for him. Also, the Greek word for rubbish...is actually translated "dung." It really challenges me to live life with kingdom values and not the worldly values. Everything is a loss compared to knowing Christ Jesus. Success, power...everything a loss. Powerfully convicting stuff. posted by alvin | Wednesday, February 19, 2003 Tuesday, February 18, 2003 WCC Thoughts...Still Processing....Part I WCC rocked. Every time I go there, man, I always get so freaking humbled. I prayed to God and asked that I would come back changed, and definitely He has answered that prayer. So much to still process...=P. Two big takeaways... 1) "The Word of God is here...The Word of God is here." Man, the power of the Word of God. One of the main speakers was from Wycliffe, and boy...she really loves the Word. Her enthusiam was very clearly communicated. When the tribe that she was working with received the Word of God, they had a huge ceremony and chanted the above words. So excited to have the Bible in their own language. I was challenged because I take for granted my Bible...dude...God's Word rocks. My prayer...that I would definitely love God's Word more. 2) "Secular work can be spiritual if is has an eternal focus. Spiritual work can become secular if is has a temporal focus." The other speaker was a lay person although he has a M.Div from DTS. The majority of people who come to Christ, come through lay believers. He challenged us to incorporate the spiritual into our work lives, something that the concept seems simple, but the application of it is difficult. I was definitely challenged in making my workplace more proactively a place of ministry. Summary: On Thurs. night, when I picked up MN and SC from the airport, there flight arrived at 12:30 a.m. instead of 8:40 p.m. I ended up getting about 6 hrs. of sleep and went into WCC a bit physically tired. I arrived at JC's place around 3:05 p.m. and we waited for JC's car to arrive. JS was feeling a bit sick, and I think is still sick, and he brought all this food for the car ride along with 64 oz. of Gatorade. So, we arrived at the campsite around 4:45 p.m. This year, the conference hit the max number, 417 people. An all time record, eclipsing last year's of 382. From RW, there was JC, JC, AC, SP, JS, KL, NL, EB and me. One of the knocks of WCC is that some people think it is a meat market. There are many like-minded people around who are on fire for God, many quality guys and girls. However, honestly, with that many people around, it's really quite difficult to go up to some random person and shoot the breeze, and even if you are introduced to someone from someone else...it's difficult to start conversations where people would feel comfortable to continue building the friendship. I didn't even have the chance to even reconnect with friends I haven't seen for many years, let alone get into deep conversations with others that I don't know outside that of my small group. The conference schedule is very packed. Anyways, on the first night I was greeting people with JA, a college buddy from AACF, and after getting most of the people seated, JA and I took our seats in the back. A highlight during opening ceremonies was Yoda coming out to help Christiana Jones to give her some advice. EY, who plays Yoda, is hilarious. Yoda...who doesn't like Yoda. Anyways, the conference got off to a wonderful start and I was excited to hear what God was going to teach me. Marilyn Laszlo took the pulpit. She was with Wycliffe Bible Translators and for 23 years worked with the Sepik Iwam people in Papua New Guinea. She is nearing her 70-year old b'day and she is a tremendously gifted story-teller and presenter. She basically shared her testimony of how she brought the Word of God to these people. CC is a hilarious announcement guy. He is currently finishing up his seminary and is working with SFCAC. Anyways, one big laugh. Someone accidentally took Marilyn's Bible from the back of the Tabernacle room. This person went so far as to take out the notes in the Bible put it on the bookshelf, and use the Bible for their own reference. Anyways, as CC was making announcements for someone to return the Bible, his final statement, "Gosh...somebody is so hungry for God's Word." so funny. I was cracking up pretty bad. Anyways, I ended up talking late with BL, finally catching up with him since I haven't talked with him in a long time. I really appreciate BL's friendship, his insight and his honesty with me. So I end up only getting 2 hrs. of sleep, tossing and turning most of the night as sleeping in a new place is sometimes difficult the first night. My sister ends up giving most of the announcements during meal times, using this somewhat annoying noisemaker to get people's attention. As I was eating with this one girl and this other girl from my smallgroup who knew who my sister was, my sister was using that noisemaker to get people's attention for announcement, the first girl goes, "oh, here comes the scary lady." Looking over at the girl from my small group, who is smirking a bit because she knows it's my sister, I'm like..."hmm...the scary lady is my sister." Too funny. oh well. Many people throughout the weekend say to me, "Your sister is cool." Yeah, I agree she is pretty cool. Check out her teacher rating at Ratemyteacher.com. Anyways, wow...there is so much to share from this weekend. Part II coming shortly. posted by alvin | Tuesday, February 18, 2003 Friday, February 14, 2003 Happy Valentine's Day Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers. =P. Off to WCC tonight. posted by alvin | Friday, February 14, 2003 Thursday, February 13, 2003 Intentionality As WCC is coming up tomorrow...the word "intentionality" has comes to mind. As M's thought page has touched upon better vs. good, the word "intentionality" also comes to mind. Wherever we are at, we need to be intentional Christians living for God. Her friend's comment of "one thing they did last year at WCC that brought me a bit of puzzlement was that they put on a pedestal those that have left the country to serve Him. but just as many are serving Him even more faithfully here at home...doing what they're comfortable and know how to do. i.e. raise a family, bake cookies for hospitality...." This brings me to a thought, that those who do go out to the missions field are those who should already know what it means to serve faithfully at home. Imagine if I go "tentmaking" overseas, and expect to work in a similar type of position that I do here in the US. If I don't reach out to people here in the US, or build relationships, why should I even expect that things would be different overseas, where culture, language, etc. is different? Personally, I need to be able to show myself faithful here, before I can consider even going there. Her friend's comment almost seems that going overseas is "more spiritual," which I think a lot of people have a misconception of. Being here, being there...they can both be "better" decisions. It all depends where God is leading and calling you to. We need to live intentionally wherever we are at. posted by alvin | Thursday, February 13, 2003 Patience One of my sister's fav. songs from "The Music Machine," where this little turtle sings the song. Here is the snippet I remember..."Be patient, be patient, don't be in such a hurry, when you are impatient, you only start to worry." Patience requires an attitude of total submission to God and His timing. I like this verse: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14. Patience requires strength, an active commitment to wait and be strong. As a Gen Xer young adult, I want my future to be clear, I want God to tell me what I am supposed to do, where I am supposed to be next year, a couple years down the line...but alas...He's doesn't because He's cool. He doesn't show me everything, just telling me to chill out...trust and wait on Him. It's all Him, none of me. posted by alvin | Thursday, February 13, 2003 Clueless... I told A I was going to post some stuff on relationships almost 3 weeks ago. Here is my first post. I have read a lot of relationship/dating books throughout my life...(Passion and Purity, Quest for Love, Mark of a Man, Choosing God's Best, Dating with Integrity, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Boy Meets Girl, Boundaries in Dating, etc). They have all provided some good principles and ideas for me to think about and ponder throughout the years. Growing up in the church, I never received much teaching or guidance in this area of life. In college after gaining some good principles from these books, I thought I knew a lot. I talked a lot about the Big "R" with my CEF peers and especially with the youth group kids, to maybe provide some guidance for them as they were growing up. Honestly, I didn't and still don't know much about the Big "R". I simply spitted out what I learned in books. Anyways, bottom line...relationships are extremely complicated (duh...everyone knows that). Two broken people with lots of baggage and issues try to come together to see where God is leading them. Everyone has baggage and issues. Can you accept both the strengths and weaknesses of another person? Honesty and communication are necessary to provide a strong foundation. However, most important lesson through the years...spend more time on your knees seeking God and never let God be pushed out of being the #1 priority in your life. posted by alvin | Thursday, February 13, 2003 Tuesday, February 11, 2003 A typical day at work Alright, I post this so people can understand what I do and can have an appreciation for EE's. =P. I am a Printed Circuit Board (PCB...a.k.a. motherboard) designer. However, my identity isn't based on my occupation, but on the fact that I am a child of God...hehe. Anyways, if you have ever looked inside your computer and see that green board, that is what I help to make. Or if you have seen inside your cell phone, alarm clock, car, tv, etc...those also all have PCBs in there. Basically I would say that my job is to put together a puzzle of different Integrated Circuits (IC's). It all begins with Intel's processors, known as the brain of the computer. Then, they have the chipset, which my company makes, that communicates to the processor and to other input and output of the system, such as your keyboard, monitor, mouse, network/graphic cards, etc. Since IC designs are getting very complex these days...they need PCB designers to design a board that has these chips on it to prove to customers that the chip actually works like it is supposed to. =P. Some things I do... 1) check e-mail: =P. 2) make/update/review circuit schematics. circuit schematics are a representation of the wire connectivity of a board. 3) make/update/review board layout. a netlist (basically a listing of how the wires and ICs are connected) is created from the schematics and used as a reference to make this board layout. the layout actually places the ICs onto a board, and wires them up. 4) bring-up board. when boards come back, we have to make sure they work...so we boot them up in the lab and validate different features and test to make sure the systems are robust (you don't want your hotmail servers going down that often, right?). 5) work with customers on their designs. since we are an IC company, we need to enable customers to build their own systems. so as the PCB designer, i work closely with different customers to make sure that their design works. 6) fix what's broke. well...any time something is broken, we work with the IC designers to see what is causing the problem. a catch phrase, "root cause". finding why something is broke. you can tell a good board designer by their ability to "root cause" issues quickly. some engineers just have this intuitive sense of what is wrong, and run the tests that prove their theory. however, the most difficult aspect of "root causing" issues is to actually reproduce issues consistenly. imagine if a problem happened only once every 72 hours, or the problem only happened once every 50 times in booting a system...sometimes very randomized. if a problem is "intermittent" it is very hard to convince yourself logically that you have a good fix. that is where judgment and engineering theory comes in. you know something should work in this way...but theory...sometimes is very hard to prove correct, and when you see things that go against theory...it's quite an interesting scenario. =P. problem-solving goes a long way. alright, so that is a quick snapshot of what i do. any questions? =P. posted by alvin | Tuesday, February 11, 2003 Monday, February 10, 2003 Good laughs... On Fri. night, since not everyone at RW went skiing, S hosted a dinner party at her house. We ended up talking a lot about old sitcoms and cartoons we grew up on. Below is a brief listing. See how many you can recognize or relate to. =P. Cartoons: Transformers Smurfs Gummi Bears Ducktales X-men He-Man G.I. Joe Voltron Thundercats Sitcoms: Silver Spoons Who's the Boss Growing Pains The Cosby Show A Different World Golden Girls Saved by the Bell Punky Brewster Out of this World Full House We then proceeded to talk about movies, and S provided the biggest laugh for me of the night. I was cracking up pretty bad. He was saying that back in high school he went to go watch Back to the Future. His friends already bought tickets, but didn't buy him one. Unfortunately it was sold out when he went to the ticket window. During that time, actually having the correct movie stub for the movie was not enforced, and just getting into the theater was necessary. So, S, after being told Back to the Future was sold out...looks around to see what other movies are playing...and goes, "Umm...one for Steel Magnolias please?" I think why I find this exceptionally funny was because I would think that the ticket seller would know that kids would pull these type of stunts...but I guess not. Hilarious...It was so funny!!!!! posted by alvin | Monday, February 10, 2003 My Backpack I have had my current backpack for at least 3 years. Since it is a Jansport one, you can always exchange it in case something is broken. Typically my zipper is broken. Actually, my zipper only works in one direction and has so for 1.5 years, so I am up for an exchange soon (I have been pretty lazy in getting it exchanged). Anyways, this backpack has seen me through grad school and has traveled with me to Thailand, Hong Kong, China and made it to the base of Half Dome in Yosemite. It has been a faithful friend. =P. When I went to Thailand I brought my backpack with me as I had to carry a laptop and other supplies inside a "secure area". Security would open my backpack to check the contents and then try to re-zip it for me. When they did so, the zipper wouldn't actually fully catch (because they used the wrong direction). I had to demonstrate the correct way. They laughed at me for that whole week, as I went in and out of the facility every day and they would say, "Cheap bag". I would smile and go..."Yeah, cheap bag." Anyways, I bring my backpack with me to work everyday and quite often on weekends you will see me with my backpack. As you can tell, I really enjoy using my backpack. =P. posted by alvin | Monday, February 10, 2003 Friday, February 07, 2003 A Sunrise Wedding... Since M was attending a wedding tomorrow, we ended up discussing weddings a bit, and she came up with this idea of a sunrise wedding. Her reasoning is below... Benefits of a sunrise wedding (M's ideas): 1) Breakfast after the wedding. 2) Able to all hang out and do something during the day with all the guests. 3) By late afternoon, everyone would be completely exhausted, but at least the ceremony is over. 4) Most people would be so exhausted during the ceremony (since it's so early in the morning), they wouldn't know if the bride looked good or bad. 5) They might remember the wedding "as in a dream". 5 is by far my favorite. So...why not consider a sunrise wedding? posted by alvin | Friday, February 07, 2003 Fly... I swallowed a fly yesterday playing bball. It happened to fly in my mouth as we were checking up the ball. I tried to get it out, but it didn't come out. =(. posted by alvin | Friday, February 07, 2003 Thursday, February 06, 2003 WCC I'm looking forward to WCC...excited...yeah...a bit. =P. I enjoy being among like-minded people who are in the same stage of life as me and I can bounce ideas off of them, and understand more of where God is leading them in their own life journies. The conference helped to broaden my world christian perspective and see how God is working among other parts of the world, along with helping me to pinpoint where I am on my world christian journey. This year's theme..."Gripped by God's Glory." Read the purpose here: Gripped by God's glory. I'm excited because more people from RW are going this year, 8 total. YIPPEE!!!!! Hmm...J laughed at me with this...because of my previous entry...so, let's just say when people are on fire for God...that makes me super excited!!!!! posted by alvin | Thursday, February 06, 2003 Getting Excited... Hmm...I can't say that I get excited for a lot of activities or events these days. Maybe I'm getting old. I remember this one bible study I led back in high school about emotions and how what goes up, must come down. I believe I explained it like this, and drew a graph to illustrate my point. Imagine a X-Y coordinate system, and imagine a sine wave. The amount of your emotions that go up, is the same amount as you go down (think of the amplitude). Hmm...I wonder if that is even biblical. Where did I get that idea? I don't know. Anyways, logically makes sense to me. So, for me, If something really good happens, like I got an "A" on an exam, or a raise, or promotion, I'm like..."yeah, that's nice." And on the flip side if something bad happens, like someone cuts in front of me in line, or I get teased, or lose something, I'm like..."yeah, whatever...life goes on." Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to get super excited at little things in life...like going out with friends, playing bball, going to a warriors game, swing dancing, etc. But then I realize, you know...that's not me. I do appreciate the little things in life, and enjoy doing them, but getting super excited...well, that's just not me...and I accept that. =P. posted by alvin | Thursday, February 06, 2003 Wednesday, February 05, 2003 Lumberjack Random funny story I remembered this morning. Back on a Halloween night a couple years ago, during a scrabble sharing (s-squared) club get-together, I remember I arrived earlier than K and V and was in line to purchase a coffee. All of the employees were dressed up in their various costumes, and some customers were too. The employee working the cash register was commenting on the various customers costumes. I didn't dress up for Halloween, and was wearing black jeans, a t-shirt and a flannel. As I got to the front of the line, the employee asks me, "so, are you supposed to be a lumberjack?" i was taken aback...and stumbling for words...i don't remember exactly what i said...but i think i said, "umm...no, i didn't dress up for halloween." =P. posted by alvin | Wednesday, February 05, 2003 Tuesday, February 04, 2003 The Mind From Deut. 6:5 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." From Mark 12:30 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your MIND and with all your strength." In two other references in the New Testament, Matt. 22:37 and Luke 10:27, it makes references to the verse in Deut., but also has loving God with the mind. Only in the N.T. does the idea of the mind come about. For me, as an INTJ...loving God with my mind has always been easier than loving Him with my heart. Knowing that God loves me is easier than feeling that God loves me. God desires me to love Him with all of me: my heart, my mind, my soul and my strength. Last year, I prayed specifically to ask God to allow me to love Him with my heart and also to feel His love, and He totally answered. Being able to both know God's love and feel His love has allowed me to experience Him in new ways. posted by alvin | Tuesday, February 04, 2003 Monday, February 03, 2003 Authenticity I remember back in Hong Kong during orientation for the China Summer Program, we played the "Name Game". We had to use an adjective to describe ourselves that began with the first letter of our first name...my adjective of choice...authentic. Authenticity is one of my core values. I think what I enjoy is being able to understand and accept people better in both their strengths and weaknesses, and having people also understand and accept me for my strengths and weaknesses. When I first went to RW, during Bible Study, I was taken aback by how open people where in sharing about their spiritual lives. There wasn't a need for people to put on a spiritual mask to show holiness, but people being real with their spiritual walk and where they were at. It was and continues to be a value that I see people striving towards in RW. posted by alvin | Monday, February 03, 2003 Sunday, February 02, 2003 Chinese New Year We just celebrated Chinese New Year last night and tonight with the various relatives. My youngest cousin is so funny. I enjoy playing video games with him and he always comes through when he comes over to bring his gamecube. Personally, I like playing bball games, while he enjoys Super Smash Brothers. It is always definitely a fun time to get together with family. I had to help some of the cousins who are in high school with Trig (SOH-CAH-TOA). Ahh...the good ol' days of high school. =P. posted by alvin | Sunday, February 02, 2003 RW Basketball The RW girls today had their own 5 on 5 game going on, plus subs, pretty impressive. The weather has been very nice, and playing bball in Feb. outside is pretty cool. I think we need more rain or we might have a drought this summer. Anyways, it was pretty fun to get out and run with the folks. Lots of people came out. Cool. posted by alvin | Sunday, February 02, 2003 |
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