Already?

New blog?

Socal Roadtrip Memories (6/2 - 6/5)

Thursday 6/2 (chillin'):
- "Two words: wookie tits" (www.textsfromlastnight.com)
- Conversations with Amir:
- "Cantaloupe."
- "My left ball hurts."
"My balls control the weather."
"I control the sun with my left ball, and the moon with my left ball."
"Should I blame you for the changing tides?"
- "I've never had cantaloupe. Describe it for me."
"Juicy, succulent, luscious, ______."
"Not unlike yourself. ;)"

Friday 6/3(shoppin'):
- Crazy Kind of Crush on You - Jonas Brothers
- Bet on It - HSM2 (Singing + Dance)
- "You look buff in that shirt."
- Nipple couches
- "LET'S ART."
- Crowning dance ("MOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM"/Bonus Jonas)

Saturday 6/4(Toya's):
- Amir tattoo
- Crazy Kind of Crush on You - Jeff and Emily duet

Misc:
- Seductive face
- "Heh heh heh"
- Emily's "enthusiasm" (as well as her attempts to sound enthusiastic)

Vague

I hate that I can't understand myself.

But I'm not going to be just another one of those guys.

Wintervision 2009

I first decided to lead at Wintervision this year because I didn’t really have a legit excuse. During high school, I never attended Wintervision, using the excuse that I had to study for finals. This year, I didn’t have upcoming finals to worry about. However, I did just get back from Nicaragua on Wednesday (January 14, 2009), and Wintervision started that Friday (January 16). Then if that was not enough, camp ended on Monday, and I was scheduled to start my second semester that Tuesday. Nevertheless, I decided that I should finally step up and take up a leadership position. And I feel like it was one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made.

I was assigned to lead with my friend Steven “Nish” Nishimoto. We were cabinmates back in the day (“the day” being 8^th grade, I believe, during Wintervision), but hadn’t really talked much since. I was really lucky to be able to spend my first time leading with him—first, because he and I share pretty much the same sense of humor (much like we share among the Berkeley sophomore boys), but also because he had led this age before and knew how to conduct conversations with the conferees. This being my first time leading, I really don’t know how I would’ve led the deeper cabin time discussions, but having him there helped show me how it’s done. I love that guy (no homo).

The first night, the cabin leaders and staff put on short skits for the conferees, acting out the camp rules for the weekend. Thanks to Chibi’s cruel sense of humor, Nish, Janet, Lauren, and I had to act out the following:

Blessed are those who refrain from inappropriate physical contact with others for they are respecting others and their own bodies as God’s temple.

It was fun—and funny. But I won’t go into that too much.

The junior high speaker this year was James Chang, the Young Adult Ministry Director at Gardena Valley Baptist Church. The theme this year was “Rejoice,” with the key verse being 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18b, which states: “Be joyful always…for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

The main point of James Chang’s set of messages is clearing up the difference between happiness and joy. James brought up how we spend so much of our lives in a futile “pursuit of happiness,” seeking pleasure and entertainment in worldly things. These might make us happy for a while, but it is merely a temporary satisfaction. Like the story of woman at the well in John 4 explains, only the joy that we receive from the Lord Jesus Christ and the knowledge of what He did for us on the cross can we find peace and contentment in our life here on Earth.

James went on to speak on how we as Christians need to put serving God first above ourselves—that we need to refrain from seeking out our own happiness and instead strive to please God. Then, in doing so, God will fill us with joy—a joy unlike anything we could attain ourselves. With this joy, nothing of this world can affect us. Our performance is made irrelevant, for neither success nor failure can take away the happiness we find in Christ Jesus. Popularity is made void, for nothing the world can think or say can change how God sees us. We can let go of our possessions here on Earth, for neither gain nor loss can take away the eternal salvation given to us by Jesus Christ our Savior. Simply knowing that nothing we can do or say can change how much He loves us brings a peace so great, how could anything of this world bring us down?

We also discussed the concept of worship. We established that worship is not singing songs during church or at retreats, but simply the verbal recognition of the life of worship we should be living every day. Worship is not limited to mere words or lyrics—it is a way of life. As Christians, we should be bringing God glory in every aspect of our life, with every action and conversation. And this is not an obligation. We are such sinful, dirty people, undeserving of God’s love. Yet, no matter how many times we fail Him, turn our backs on Him, spit on Him…He still gave His one and only Son so that we may be cleansed of our sins. Realizing this, how could anyone cease to praise Him and thank Him for his unfailing love and mercy? Not because we HAVE to, but because we WANT to. It’s a simple concept really, just something we all need reminding of at times. I’ve found myself in the past complicating my relationship with Christ by mixing in my own expectations and desires, to the point where I could no longer feel His presence in my life. It wasn’t until this past year at Chapter Camp with InterVarsity that I realized my misconception, and was able to break Christianity back down to its foundation: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength.

During one of the cabin times, we went off on a tangent about the “camp high,” where we get excited about God and everything here at camp, but often lose enthusiasm as we go back down the mountain. Nish compared this situation to Play-Doh. He said that at camp, we would take the Play-Doh out of its can and play with it at camp (the Play-Doh being God, in this analogy), but back home or at school, we put the Play-Doh back into its container and toss it into our backpacks, just as we too often shove God to the back of our minds. We felt that we should “screw the can” and carry the Play-Doh out for the world to see, allowing Him to shape us and be present in every aspect of our lives. With that, the five of us decided to carry the Play-Doh around with us after camp in order to remind us to “take God out of the box.” (Of course, it would be a tad bit impractical to ask us to constantly carry the Play-Doh out in our hands back at home, so we felt just carrying it around in our pocket would suffice. I have it in my pocket right now, in fact. Woooo!)

I need to just praise Him for everything He did. Prior to camp, I was nervous about praying aloud, for I’ve never been the best with words. I was afraid—afraid of being judged based on my lack of eloquence or my limited vocabulary. However, the Lord surprised me yet again by reminding me that prayer is nothing more than just a conversation with Him, and that it’s not something that can be judged. With that came a newfound peace, and I found myself saying things I’ve never even thought of, just crying out to the Lord in praise. Praying aloud for my kids (Daniel, Emon, and Brian) became easy, as I WANTED to pray for them. In the past, the praying aspect of cabin leading deterred me from volunteering, as I was afraid of the obligation to pray aloud for the kids. But after leading them and hearing their struggles, I wanted to pray for them. I want with my whole heart that they leave camp touched by the Lord, so praying for that to happen came almost naturally. God is good.

On a lighter note, there are plenty of other memories that I would like to take down. However, I’m tired of typing, so I will just bullet them.

- Daniel, forgetting who I was (and not even recognizing me) at dinner the first night, even though we had already had our first cabin time.

- Team Yellow. Woot woot!

- Beating Lauren in rock-paper-scissors, except not really. I tricked her into playing me with time running out, even though I had already lost all my pennies. So, essentially, I was just wasting her time.

- Dancing on stage with Nish, leading the motions to Lincoln Brewster’s All To You. Every. Single. Time.

- The simplicity of the struggles of 8th graders, who still struggled with reading/watching too much anime and playing videogames as opposed to problems with the female species. ("So, do you have a top 5?" "Top 5 what, people? guys? friends?")

And with that, I’m done. Camp was amazing, with God stretching me and growing me in ways I had never imagined. Praise Him.

How many times have I turned away
The number is the same as the sand on the shore
But every time You've taken me back
And now I pray You do it once more.

Please take from me my life
When I don't have the strength
to give it away to You Jesus.

Third Day – Take My Life