Dear Future Scott

A few weeks ago I read one of my coworkers blogs. He wrote an entry in which he wrote a letter to his future self 5 years from now in hopes to encourage himself and strive to be a better man of God. He got the idea from his brother-in-law who wrote himself a letter before entering high school and read it at his graduation party 5 years later. So here it goes...


____________________________________________________________________
Dear Future Scott,
Currently you're on the verge of turning 30 and you're not in the place where you thought you would be, but life is still good. God has blessed you immensely and I can't imagine that those blessings will stop especially if you continue to remain faithful to Him. I don't know what your life will look like 5 years from now but,

Hopefully you still look like this...


Lord willing you will have found the love of your life and you are happily married. Don't forget to never take her for granted and how you longed for God to provide you with a person to share your life with. Love her everyday as God loves her. Love her like you promised you would to God when praying that he would provide you with a wonderful woman of God. I hope that picture you had in your head, you know the one about you playing piano in your living room as your wife is reading has come true. I could probably go on about this topic but I will stop here.

I know you've always wanted kids so maybe you have one by now? Remember that tough love is good love. Even though you want to give her/him everything they want, chocolate at night and McDonald's for lunch is not good for them. I know you love sleep and that probably is non-existent now. Remember when you couldn't fathom being too old to sleep in anymore? Haha, I bet that day is long gone now. I bet it's so worth it though. I hope you learn from them and are reminded of the innocence, love and child like faith a kid has. I hope you are reminded of what being care free is, and what pure joy is. I know you're going to be good Dad.

I hope you're investing in a church and that you're trying to make deep relationships with people. I know you always shy away from trying to get involved, but I know by now that you finally feel comfortable not being a wallflower and actually serving side by side with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Get over yourself and do it. What would you be without people in your life? Nothing.

Did you go for that PhD? I hope so. You always doubted yourself academically and I don't know why. So many people have told you how much you bring to the classroom and how your different ideas and perspectives really help others. Yes it takes you forever to read a book, and your writing is scrambled, but I hope you remembered the fulfillment and excitement you felt when you were in the classroom and the day you got hooded and that those things helped to push you to go for it. I hope your sister is not the only Dr. Hwang in the family...

Are you still carrying that torch for diversity in higher education? I hope you're not jaded or burnt out and that you can see you're making a difference. I hope you're loving your students and seeing that, caring for them is the purpose of your work. Woo-Sah buddy, woo-saah. Remember, that the work of reconciliation is not supposed to be easy. If Christ died on the cross for our sins, what must you do to help make this world a better place? You are called to reconcile every day in all that you do.

I hope in five years the Raiders actually made the playoffs and that you're friends with these people...



also that the Dodgers make a run at a World Series. I hope you still do your man trip with your buddies and that you convinced your college friends to finally rent that house in the Outer Banks for a week in the summer, heck by now it should be a tradition.

I hope you still love to dance at weddings and go crazy every once in a while. You have a great family and awesome friends. Keep on investing and loving them. I hope you have forgiven people if they hurt you in the past and that you're not bitter about anything. Life is too short to be jaded.

Best of luck my man. I'll see you in 5 years.

Scott

Road Trip 2012 Summary Part 2

From the Ville I headed to Taylor University for the Association for Christians In Student Development Conference. It was the third time I had attended this conference. I was so excited to see old colleagues and friends from Covenant, Geneva, Grad School friends that are working at different institutions as well as camp friends who ended up working in Higher Education. I was very impressed with Taylor. It was probably the best ACSD I've been to and they did an amazing job of hosting. The variety of topics and workshops on diversity and different initiatives were impressive and encouraging.

The only picture I took from the conference was this...haha


This was probably one of the best parts of ACSD anyways....got to go out to Indianapolis and eat dinner with some old friends at the Weber Grill Restaurant. If you ever get a chance to go to one of these restaurants, go. Their food is unbelievable and the prices are reasonable, I recommend the beer can chicken.

One of the more encouraging things I took away from ACSD was to see how far I have come in higher ed. I remember my first ACSD and not knowing what to expect and being humbled by so many people who had dedicated their entire lives to Christian Higher Ed. I had just finished my first year at Covenant and felt like a little kid compared to all these people who had their Master's degrees and several years of experience. This year I realized I was one of those older people, with experience and a Master's Degree. I've come such a long way by the grace of God.

Never in my dreams that I thought this would happen...



and that I'd get to be in a position and get to work with students like this...



So yes, Road Trip 2012 was a great experience. In many ways I'm still trying to process it.

Road Trip 2012 Summary Part 1

Now that things have settled down after being on the road for almost a month, I think I'm ready to give this blog thing a shot again.

I started my long trek a few weeks back and my first stop was Beaver Falls (The Falls is what I like to refer it as). The Falls has a special place in my heart because I gained a new appreciation for education and learning there. I was challenged by professors in the classroom and challenged in my work in higher education by colleagues and students.

My stop to the Falls was kind of a last minute addition, but the main purpose was to see one my best friends from Grad School Ryan get married. I don't think I would have survived my first year of Grad School without Ryan. We use to go into Pittsburgh, smoke cigars and have great conversations. I'm so excited for him and Missy as they start their new life together. Blessings to you guys!



During my visit, I got to catch up with old friends and see many people that I love and care for, go to a Pirates Game, grab a meal at Mario's, Yama, Kelly's and the Backdoor (All must haves in the Beaver Cahntwy). It was a great start to the road trip.

From the Falls I headed down to North Carolina. This was the one part of the trip where I had a few friends with me in the car, Jessie and Nolan. The drive down to Raleigh was one of my many favorite parts of the trip because I got to catch up with both of them and talk about Higher Ed (Nol is in grad school at NC State and working as an RD).

I arrived at Duke and jumped head first into one of the most intense conferences I've ever been to. I'm pretty introverted and it is very taxing for me to meet new people. I knew no one at this conference and the days were long but very rich. Each day was filled with deep discussions about the broken world and how we were trying to fix it through our different callings of church planting, non-profit, NGO's, higher education the list could go on.

Shown here are a couple of sweet people I got to meet at this conference. Robyn is a public speaker and runs her own company on Racial Reconciliation and Diversity. Jae runs a Reconciliation organization in Korea and runs workshops throughout Asia. We all connected because we were all Korean, but had totally different backgrounds and upbringings. I am Korean but was born and raised in the US. Robyn was born in Korea but was adopted by Dutch-Americans in Michigan, Jae was born and raised in Korea. It reminded us about how we can't just brush a stroke of stereotypes when coming across a person. We all have very unique individual stories in which God is at the foundation.


One of the biggest things I took away from the Duke conference was that we are called to reconcile everyday. No matter what you do for work or what situation you're in, the act of love and reconciliation is needed in everything, EVERYTHING.

From North Carolina I headed up to Charlottesville, Virginia (The Ville). I always love going to the Ville because there are SO many people that I love there. I stayed at my old mentor's house which is one of my favorite places to stay in the world. They live on Lake Monticello and have a loft that has a beautiful view of the lake. In the morning the sun shines through the windows, and you wake up to a view of the fog as it rolls off the water (ahhhhh). Not to mention Greg and Nance are some of the most hospitable people ever. In the Ville I got to have several meals with awesome friends at The Continental Divide and Bel-Air Market and attend church at Trinity Pres.

Check out Greg's classic 55 Ford F-150. Wow....


The Ville was a place of tremendous growth for me. I learned about the concept of time, and how it is not mine, but ultimately time is God's and we should use each moment to seek to glorify him. The Ville was also the place were I realized my calling and vocation in higher education.


Wow this post is long...I will continue my 2nd part of the journey in another entry.

Road Trip 2012

Yes,
surprise surprise. I have not blogged in months. I beg for forgiveness from the 2 people that read this blog every 9 months. Tomorrow I'm headed for another Road Trip adventure as I head to Beaver Falls to catch up with some friends and attend a wedding. From there I will head down to Duke University for a Racial Reconciliation Conference hosted by the Divinity School (STOKED about this!). After that I will have a short trip to C-Ville and then head to Taylor University for ACSD which I have not attended in about 5 years. It should be an amazing trip of growth, relaxation, mental convictions and lots of learning. Looking forward to it and ready to kick off the summer in style. Hopefully I'll blog along the way.

Convictions

I realize I'm not a regular blogger. I was not aware that in order to be a good blogger you need to blog at least once a day. The more regular your posts are, the more likely people will repeatedly come back to your blog. Nevertheless I don't think I'm going to start blogging everyday, let alone once a week.

I began to ask myself why not? Is it because I'd have to dig deeper and analyze and expose more of myself in order to stay relevant? Is it because I'm apathetic in a lot of ways in my life when it comes to my faith, my job, and my discipline? Is it because I think I'm too good or too busy for it? The answer is yes to all of the above.

The fear to dig deeper within because I'm afraid of what I will find. A sense that I cannot handle anything else at this point. No more disappointment, no more guilt, no more shame, I am done with all of those things. But let's be honest. Can you really escape your inner-self and the core that makes you? Their have been and still are temporary remedies for people; drugs, alcohol, sex etc. or for us "Christians" maybe it is staying too busy and overcommitment so you don't have to think about things, or fully delving into your work because society approves of such an obsession. Whatever it is, it all catches up with you eventually. It reminds me of the Avett Brothers song "The Weight of Lies"

The weight of lies will bring you down
And follow you to every town
Cause nothing happens here that doesn’t happen there
So when you run make sure you run
To something and not away from
Cause lies don’t need an aeroplane to chase you anywhere

But the good news, is that no matter what is eating at you. There is always the solid foundation of God. The good news of the gospel, and nothing like a little perspective that will help you realize how amazingly blessed you are. The song that comes to mind in order to counter "The Weight of Lies" is the song "In Christ Alone"

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

Dig Deeper, reach into the bottom of your soul and find the dark muck, and mud. The more you reveal the more God will heal with his grace and love.

We're constantly changing

So it's typical for me, not to be able to fall asleep at night. Last night was no exception, so I came across this article.. by Tim Keller.

It made me think, I always hear the saying, "the person I married x amount of years ago isn't the same person I'm married to today".

Can you imagine if you were exactly the same as you were 10, 11, or 12 years ago? I would be 17 years old and a Senior in High School. At that point my understanding of life was so narrow. I could only think about girls (I guess that hasn't changed...ha), being an awesome football player (I can now say that I was NOT an awesome football player) and how to be cool (I definitely was not, and I cringe at the thought of seeing myself trying to act like I was).

Even looking back 5 or 6 years ago I was in the Trinity Fellows Program, trying to figure out "what I wanted to do with my life" and still trying to understand the grace of God.

The old adage with age comes wisdom is so true.Each year of your life is a notch that God marks in your life.
-The moments of enlightenment when everything makes sense in the world, and the passions of your heart meet with the hurts of the world.
-The loss of a loved one and the pain that it brings, but the gratefulness that you got to experience life with them.
-The scars of a relationship that ended poorly, a reminder that God is the ultimate love, and that he will always be there.
-The laughter with friends, a moment in which you can experience a small sliver of what heaven is like, living in constant joy, in community with loved ones.

Check out these trees. Nature is always a good reminder of how God works, and how he has designed things. Trees are not meant to stay the same and remain little saplings. They also don't turn into huge beautiful trees over night. It takes years and years to grow. Deep roots and a great foundation to persevere through harsh winters storms, and dry seasons....to eventually grow into something as beautiful as


this