mmmmm........

nothing like sizzling spam on a cold morning!

spam is seriously associated with some fond memories for me

- eating it as a little kid at my parents' lamp store in the back
- Vince (the Del Cordero director at the time) making me a spam sandwich down in San Simon - little did I know that that trip would turn into the 'worst missions trip ever'! Kids getting sent back, etc, etc.
- saying that spam, rice, & kimchee would be my last meal if I were on death row (a question posed to us in Korean class during my time at Yonsei) - got a good laugh

I learned in my psych class that smell is often very closely tied to memories. I suppose that's why perfumes & colognes have such an effect on people. For me, it's spam, baby.

1 year anniversary

yup, it's been one whole year since I stopped working at Oracle. At one and the same time, it seems so long ago and not long ago at all. Much has transpired in the way of arduous thinking & soul searching, joyous traveling & golfing, two funerals, a few weddings, and a new church. But then, not much has changed at all either - I still don't know what I'd like to do and I'm still living at home.

I remember at Urbana, one guy on a missions panel talked about a 3 year period in his life where he didn't know what he or God was doing. He said it was a good wilderness time of purifying motives and preparation for what he ultimately ended up doing - though of course, he couldn't see it at the time.

Like God did for that guy and for Joseph, I've got to believe that He is weaving a wonderful story for my life, for all of our lives, of ups & downs, ultimately for our good, for the good of people we will be sent unto, and to the praise of His glory. we'll see.....(a big difference from last year - these days I'm a little more able to say "we'll see" not so much with a sigh, but with anticipation)

God Provides! ...& so does H&R Block

so I got my taxes done on friday. I tried doing it on my own using turbo tax online, but it got crazy complicated - what with stopping work in feb, selling some stock in may, and renting out the condo for a good portion of the year...

H&R block - going there was definitely money well spent. I'm confident my forms were doing correctly (i.e. legally), I got a big return (which is more a result of circumstances than H&R block "pulling" something), and they gave me lots of tax tips for this coming year (being an "indep. contractor" lets me deduct all kindsa stuff!) All in just 4 hours!

Of course, if your taxes aren't too complicated, then you don't need to go - turbo tax is actually very good.

(But if you do want to go, let me know & I'll mail you a referral form. You'll get $20 off and I'll get $10.) haha

Walking out of there, I was honestly thanking God for providing so abundantly. Woohoo! Time for giving & golfing! =)

Baby Got Book!

Funniest video I've seen in a long time. So we've got Choi's boys, now there's this guy from I don't know where. You've gotta download it & check it out!
http://www.users.muohio.edu/miyamadm/here.asp

Actually, I remember a very long time ago, some old yg kids did the same parody for a retreat skit. Back in the days, Sean Choi rapped as Sumi Shin walked across the stage w/ a big bible in her hand..."I like big bibles and I can not lie...." haha!! Good times.

Download it & watch it!!

brevity

bevity without losing content; I've got to learn to be more consise

my entries are so long, I don't even want to read them. ugh.

had some fun conversations w/ Eugene Chang & John Song - thanks for calling, fellas. always a pleasure.

Sunday, Tuesday

Sunday was great - worship was great; felt like the pastor was speaking directly to me. The main point that got me was how we issue these false statements like "I know God is with me, but I'm afraid" or "I know God will provide, but I'm anxious". He says these are false because if we believed what we claim to be knowing, then we wouldn't be held in that negative feeling as much. And that the problem with being in these situations is that there is no counsel for this person! You can't tell them about God because they'll say they already know; but then nothing will make them feel better. This is the whole problem of knowledge without belief/faith.

So he was saying that the way out is to back up a bit and say something along the lines of "I'm not sure God is there, and that's why I'm afraid". Now, there is something that can be done. Because now, I'm being honest and admitting a problem and that I need help. and God helps our unbelief, doesn't He? He sure does! Somewhere in the sermon, he also touched on God's generosity and how in the parent/child relationship - the children are the parents' glory - and how we are God's glory! Anyways, I'm rambling, but I just remember that God lifted my head that day. He is the lifter of my countenance.

Then went golfing w/ my cousins and had dinner with them. Way cool.

Tuesday, I went to my classes - I'm seeing just how secular Psychology really is. I still believe there is much to redeem out of it for use as Christians, and I'm not surprised by it, but it certainly is markedly different from computer science classes.

in a cs class about algorithms and such, I don't see it clashing against my worldview - but in the psych class, I see it clashing over issues of whether behavior is someone's fault or not (and the temptation to remove reponsibility; I do see that there's probably more cases where we should, but still, I probably wouldn't go as far as the secular field would), what the ethics of a therapist should be wrt 'guidance' or not. At times, it almost seems the prof can tell I'm a believer and answers questions somewhat against that part of me (spiritual warfare, man!). We'll see - I'm hoping to visit and hear her out on what practicing clinically is like.

Chaffey College: taking: FirstAid/Cpr, Piano, Intro to Psych, and Abnormal Psych
Back to school, baby!