Soul2Soul Concert

On Saturday, August 11th, I had the privilege of attending the last leg of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's Soul2Soul Concert at the Honda Center with 3 fellow country gals.

The night started out with a great seafood dinner at Market Broiler, one of my favorite not-too-expensive seafood restaurants. The server was not exactly on top of things, but as Hui put it, "He's nice to look at." The food was good, but we were all stuffed without even finishing our entrees. And since we were going to the concert afterwards, we couldn't pack up our leftovers.

Getting into the arena was a lengthy process. There was traffic on the exit ramp off the 57 freeway. Parking was rather chaotic and expensive. And we all got checked with metal detectors at the entrance. Even though outside beverages were not allowed, I snuck in my water bottle because I was too cheap to buy a $3.00 bottle of water. I was very sneaky about hiding it under my denim jacket. (Bad girl!)

Anyway, about the concert... I LOVED IT!!!! Faith Hill is great with the audience, but her songs are too mainstream for me. Tim McGraw is not as good with the audience, but his songs are much better. However, if you ask the ladies with whom I went, they will disagree with me. They all enjoyed Faith more than Tim. I guess I like Tim more because his songs are more "country" with a stronger southern drawl. My favorite song was "Last Dollar" when some little kids went up to sing the last part with him. So cute! But, I was disappointed when he used the word "bullsh-t" on stage, especially when there were so many children in the audience.

Even though we all loved the concert, we left before the it was fully over. We left shortly after midnight, but from what I understand the concert went on until about 1:00AM. Since we were so close to the stage, we didn't even stand up like most of the audience. So, why were we so tired? It is yet another reminder of my age. =) Haha.

Random sidenote: I don't like that many concert-goers tend to glorify the performers. It's sad... and wrong.

"And God spoke these words: ... 'You shall have no other gods before me.'" (Exodus 20:1,3)

Vacation Bible School 2007

The first time I taught VBS, I was 14-years-old. I'd rather not mention my current age, but I'm significantly older now. This becomes more and more obvious each year. This year, I knew I was old (1) when I had a very tough time singing AND doing the hand motions at the same time, and (2) when the other teachers looked to me for advice.

Like in past years, I taught the Bible stories to the youngest children (kindergarten to 2nd grade) on August 6-10, 2007. This system requires me to teach the same Bible story three times each day. After only 3 hours of VBS each day, I was truly exhausted. Again, this showed my age. =(

Each year, teaching VBS tires me out. But, I still continue. The reason is because of the kids. It's amazing to watch them comprehend Bible stories and theological concepts. When that little light in their heads flicker on, it's actually possible to see it through their expressions. This is something you rarely see in adult students who have a tendency to appear bored. Also, it's such a joy to Iisten to the kids memorize Scripture... if only I could memorize Scripture with the same enthusiasm.

The youth are great at being teachers and helpers at VBS every year, but it is my hope that more of the older adults will join in. It's physically tiring, but it's a way to really affect the spiritual lives of children in our community. Many of these children are from non-believing families and they may actually be the ones to minister to the older generations in their families. So, if it's possible for you to take mornings off of work for one week during the summer, I believe you will find it very rewarding to teach VBS... and try to see if you can sing and do hand motions at the same time!

Lesson 1 was Trust: "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him." Jeremiah 17:7

The other lessons were Unite, Train, Follow and Lead.

Is There FREE Wireless Here?

I am currently sitting in the Honolulu airport after a week-long cruise with my extended family. On the ship, internet access was $0.75 per minute.... and it was really, really slow. And like any good Chinese girl (especially one in the Chung family), I refused to pay that much.

Therefore, at every port, my brother and I lugged our laptops off the ship in search for free wireless internet. We found that it's best sitting in the middle of a shopping center/mall, where you often have several to choose from. Everytime I walked into a shopping mall, I was sure to ask someone, "Is there FREE wireless here?" Please note: Emphasis is on "FREE." It almost became a game for me to find the best free wireless connection at each port.

FYI, if you ever go island hopping in Hawaii via a cruise, here is where you can get free wireless internet access:

• Maui: Queen Ka'ahumanu Shopping Center (free trolley shuttle every 20 minutes from the port, but the driver is a bit annoying with the bad jokes.)
• Kona: Bad Ass Coffee Co. near Hooters (about 0.25 miles from the port so you can walk it.)
• Kauai: Harbor Mall (free trolley shuttle every 10-15 minutes from the port. Also within walking distance from the port.)
• Hilo: Sorry... can't help you with this one because we had to skip this port due to Hurricane Flossie.

Anyway, I think it's safe to say that I'm a little addicted to the internet.

(I will blog about the cruise when I find the time and motivation to write more.)

Wanted: Cardboard Boxes

While I was cleaning my house this past year, I considered cardboard boxes to be my enemy. Despite being labeled by Sharpie markers, items stored in cardboard boxes tend to go unseen and forgotten. Therefore, in the mass cleaning project, I threw away many cardboard boxes.

I guess I have very little foresight. As it turns out, I NEED cardboard boxes now. I don't need a whole lot of them, but I do need some large heavy-duty ones to move some items up to Vancouver. I went to Staples to buy some, but the Chinese side of me refuses to pay so much for "mere" cardboard boxes... it's ridiculous how much they're trying to charge for boxes. Therefore, if anyone has any large cardboard boxes in good condition, I could really use them.

Also, I was hoping to move up my computer printer. I must have thrown out the original box and styrofoam inserts, so I'm not sure how I can properly pack it up to be checked in on the plane. Does anyone have any good ideas?

Added on August 21, 2007:
I currently have far more cardboard boxes than I actually need. Thank you for all the kindness from everyone!

Learning Empathy

Empathy (noun): the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

When I filled out my application form for the missions trip last year, I intentionally did not mark the "empathizing" box for the things I'm good at. I've never been very good at understanding others' feelings... often wanting to say, "Just get over it," when I think people are getting too emotional.

But God has been changing my heart. I cannot go into details (to protect the identity of the individual), but I was recently put into contact with a young woman who is dealing with a lot of grief and loss in her life. I believe God put us in each others' lives for a reason.

Although she may not know it, this young lady is teaching me about empathy and about looking beyond myself. She doesn't realize it, but she is very wise in her own way. I even found myself crying for her when I saw how sad she is. That's huge because I rarely even cry for myself.

I don't know if I'm helping her at all. I can only pray and hope that God is using me.

New Moving Date

I was just reminded today by Betty that I forgot to blog that my new moving date to Vancouver is August 28th, instead of August 26th. My mom will be going up with me and will stay with me for three days before she comes back home for our church retreat in San Diego.

Thanks, Betty, for reminding me to update my blog!

That's Why I Love My Church!

On Saturday, July 21st, Wing and I organized a fun run/walk at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area before the annual church picnic. It was rather last-minute, and we didn't expect many participants. I anticipated about 10 people. Wing said that we'd get at least 25 people. As it turned out, we had about 50 participants running and/or walking that morning. Out of those participants, our youngest was 11-months-old and the oldest was 78-years-old. We also had participants from all three language groups... Mandarin, English and Cantonese. Additionally, we had participants and helpers who aren't even regular attendees. This is why I love my church so much! We're a multi-language, multi-generational, all-inclusive church!

Despite a couple stressful moments due to logistics, I had such a great time. This was a rare moment for me to stand by the sidelines and be a cheerleader. It was so awesome seeing people who don't normally run complete 5+ miles in an hour. It was inspiring to see hard-core runners finish 7+ miles in an hour. It was encouraging to see some participants help carry things for the church picnic organizers even in the middle of the run/walk while they themselves were exhausted. It was heart-warming to see people use the time to fellowship, "catch up" on each others' lives and/or get to know new people. And the best part was seeing Pastor Henry sprint to the finish line when told that he only had 30 seconds to complete his final lap.

When I got home from the picnic and after a shower, I completely crashed on my bed. How could I be so tired when I didn't even run?!?!

But those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:30-31