It's tough trying to find time to blog when there is so much to be done!  My summer class is coming to an end (hopefully a happy one) and I just returned from Youth Camp as a counselor once more.  After having a year's counseling experience under my belt and Sunday School teaching the junior high schoolers for a few times, I definitely felt more prepared and excited for this summer retreat.  I suppose it is heart in me that is ready to burst with love and knowledge for these young men and women to grow in their walks with God.  More on that on another day.

A brief recap of the celebrations and farewells that took place at the end of the June 18th week:

1. On Friday the 23rd, I had a small high school reunion w/ some Bosco Techmen @ Six Flags.  It was a scorcher and it didn't get any better while waiting in line for the rides.  However, I actually appreciated those times of waiting since Jimmy, Aaron, Marcos, and I exchanged the our lives and thoughts of the past, present, future.  Needless to say, it was a good time.

 Yes, I know what the far left picture looks like, but we are actually cooling off.

   2.   Also that Friday night, there was a Koinonia get-together dinner @ K-town to catch-up and also to say good-bye to Pastor Jesse and his wife Tammy as they leave CEFC for another God-driven path.  All-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, rave music blaring in the background, and a nightcap of prayer and Halo set the tone for the pleasant night.

 

 

   3.  After Youth Camp counselor training on Saturday (the next day), we celebrated Zhi's 29th birthday with some dinner and pie at Marie Calendar's.  It was good to see friends of his who I never met and just share stories of our own experiences living in the Lord.  But the highlight came that night when we saw the birthday boy take home his first Halo win. 

 

   

 

"Band of Brothers" - our small group since January.

   4.   After Pastor Jesse delivered his final sermon on Sunday, the entire English congregation threw a send-off party for him and Tammy.  Words of thanks and appreciation for their 8-year service @ CEFC was quite moving and God's influence through them will be felt by the people for a long time.

Haha...it looks like they had a kid already.

After the luncheon, I dropped by Julie's for her 23rd birthday (man, it looks like something is wrong with my neck).  There was a game of the "Friends: Scene It!" happening and the teams were completely stacked with guys vs. girls.  Single-handedly, I kept the guys at a not-so-embarrassing pace behind the girls, but in the end, I couldn't do all the work.  However, the birthday girl won, and that is what really counts, right?

 

 

Speaking of farewells, I decided to make this my last entry in my Xanga journal for a while.  After some thought, I want to take a different direction in blogging.  I will still keep this blog to check up on friends and make comments to posts, but it is likely I won't be back, except for more significant events taking place i.e. moving, graduating, maybe getting married, etc.  My new blog for ramblings is: http://outstretched-arms.blogspot.com/ .

Until the next time we meet again ...

God bless,

Albert

Dear Lilly,

    Words cannot express how proud I am to see you triumphantly walk across the stage tonight to take your diploma and graduate from Mark Keppel High School.  It's hard to imagine how far you have gone these past four years and where God will take you in the next four.  It only seemed like yesterday when we were arguing over who would get shotgun when Mom would drive us or which TV program was more interesting to watch.  (I think we still do that one!)   Much has stayed the same yet much will change as you head off to UCR to pursue your history degree and eventually become a teacher.  In the midst of all the things you will be doing in college, don't forget that God loves you dearly and so does our house in Monterey Park.  Hats off to you and all the best for your next chapter in life.

                                                                                                             Love, your brother,
                                                                                                                            Albert

Nothing really big to blog right now.  Other than finishing my first midterm yesterday, surviving the SoCal summer heat wave,  and keeping the work-school-church triangle that defines my life at the moment, week after week passes and things move on.  I guess that is something you can always count on: life moving on.

Here are some cool developments since May:

• After a dry spell in Hold'em with the guys for these past couple weeks, I finally won a game last Friday and still maintain a score lead.

• Attended a tech show two weeks ago with my church buddy Josh and ended up winning an Intel Pentium D Processor 820 (an advanced accessory that allows your computer to run much faster, for you non-technical folk) with just one business card as my raffle ticket (I actually borrowed Josh's card since I didn't have a personal one on me at the time; thanks dude!)

• Saw the midnight screening of "X-Men: The Last Stand" later that evening.  Despite a lack of character development and heart in comparison to the first two films, it had enough special effects and wit to entertain me and the other 300+ tenns in the theater.

• Hung out with some Berkeley CEE friends Dan, Theresa, and Chris in San Gabriel this past weekend and talked of the ups and downs of post-college life now that we have been out for a year.

• Had dinner tonight with Javier, a fellow Cal-IV Staff member and hear about how God really moved the student at this year's IVCF Chapter Camp and taking the fellowship to new directions this coming school year.  All this is really getting me excited for Urbana this winter!.  My huge congratulations on his recent engagement.

•  Finding time in these busy weeks to meditate, pray, and absorb how awesome and loving our God really is.  In reading Romans 5:6-8 at a quiet park one day, it occurred to me once more that there is NOTHING we can do to make God love us more or influence Him to stop loving us.  In truth, God never "began" to love us al all.  He simply always has.  From the very beginning, God knew each of us and loved each of us unconditionally.  (1 John 4:19, Psalm 139:13)
  
  And that, my readers and friends, is grace that can only come from our great and mighty God, and one that keeps me alive and trying to live up this gift everyday.  I hope the same is for you too.