Jumping back into "Normal"

So as I mentioned in my previous post, it would probably be a while since I could post another entry because of camp. I did get a chance to change my blogs format but I never got a chance to reflect or write a post, so here we go. Camp was great as I knew it would be. The group of counselors this year were amazing. One of my favorite nights of the summer was during Orientation. I was in charge of programming again and every year we have a skit night. So I divided them into groups and they were responsible for coming up with some type of skit to perform to see if we could use it for the campers a few weeks later. I have never laughed so hard in my life, seriously. It's not even that the skits were that funny, but everyone participated, and everyone felt comfortable making a fool of themselves. Our group of counselors bonded so much that night, and it just set the tone for the rest of the summer.
Probably one the things I miss the most is being able to play with our leadership staff's kids. Call me a sap, but I really loved playing with little Luke, Emily and Mary.
Here are a couple of pictures.


It was a bitter sweet time when I had to leave camp this year, because I think it was the last time I will be able to work at camp. All of my friends don't believe me and think that I'm pulling a Brett Farve but I honestly think I'm done. I have written numerous posts about how much that place means to me, and I could probably write for another hour about it. I think I want to leave going out on top, still loving and appreciating how special it is. I never thought I would be 28 and working at camp, but God made it happen this year and I'm forever grateful.

After camp I drove back to Geneva on a Friday, had a weekend to relax a little bit and then this past Monday we started my last RD training. I'm going into my final year as a Grad Assistant RD and my emotions are mixed. I'm starting to get excited about the school year, but am overwhelmed thinking that it's my last time around. This means a few things. I have one more year to make the most of this awesome job and continue to build relationships with students. Since it's my third year I have a lot more responsibility with regards to "making an impact on campus", and I'm finishing up my last year of Grad school. I'm obviously still very tired from a long summer at camp, but feel refreshed spiritually and mentally. One of my RA's pointed out to me that "Scott you're always tired." So I guess I will just continue to be tired for the rest of my life.

Here are a few more pictures of camp.

(Celebrating my 28th Birthday....party)

(This was the view from our porch, I spent lots of time praying, and journaling from this spot)

(Me DJing the Surprise Night Dance....oh yeah)

2 Years Down...wow

The building is empty, and the silence is somewhat disturbing. I keep my door open in hopes that someone will walk in and want to hang out, but that's impossible because the school year is over. All the students are gone for the summer or graduated and scared out of their minds. I take a deep breathe and all of sudden I realize that 2 years have passed by and I have 1 year left as an RD at Geneva. WHAT???

It seems like yesterday I loaded up a UHAUL and slowly made my way up passed the Mason Dixon Line up to Western PA, and soon, before I know it, change will happen again. Another move, another fresh start, another adventure in God's crazy plan for my life.

As for year 2, it was good. It was difficult in different ways compared to the first. Year one I was getting adjusted to a new place, new community, a new job etc. Year 2 was busier, more responsibility and more complexities with personal things because my community was established. The deeper you get into a community the messier and murkier it gets. But with the difficulty came great experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything. My love for students is still strong, and the knowledge I gain from them is undefinable, unthinkable and sometimes dumbfounding. I learn so much from them and appreciate their grace and support so much that they don't even realize.

As much as I miss the students, I am ready for a break and a change of scenery. I realize I will not get a change of pace, but might in fact be busier as I head to camp. God always shows me His Amazing Grace, and gives me strength and perseverance throughout the summer. Somehow I always feel refreshed at the end of the summer and ready to go for another school year.

So here are some pics starting back in August going through the school year and ending a week ago at Graduation.


RA Training....we were ready to rock it


At a Football Game, Geneva Football won 2009 NCCAA National Championship!


Shane and Shane Concert, got some Camp peeps out for this one


Zoe Jensen's 1st Birthday Party


Spring Break trip to LA and dinner at a Mexican place on Olivera St.


Judging at the Big Bad Wheel Rally


Graduation with some of the McKee RA's

The Patience of Faith

Here is today's entry May 8th from Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for his Highest"....rocked me in the face
"Because thou hast kept the word of My patience." Revelation 3:10 Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says - "I cannot stand any more." God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. "Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him." Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs where there is not that mental poise which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life, you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God. God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee." The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvellous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday. It's weird how it takes a birthday to realize how grateful you are for someone. My mom has gone through so much for me and has sacrificed to no end. I don't think I know half of the stuff she has gone through to put me in a place of such privilege and blessing. She is one crazy woman. She came to America with her best friend and my aunt and uncle without knowing English, and without knowing anyone at the age of 24-26. She eventually went back to Korea for a little bit and found my Dad and then came back to live the American dream. A few years later they had my sister, and then me the wild child. The kid who couldn't sit still for a minute, the kid who was constantly in the hospital for injuries and surgeries, the kid who was always in the principles office because he was distracting the class, the kid who she has prayed for and still prays for everyday. The kid who hated to study, and wanted to play all the time, but somehow she pushed me through College and now I'm getting my Masters....you talk about a woman of determination. To get me through all that schooling???? WHAT??

I came to a huge realization a couple of years back that I get my sense of adventure and craziness from my Mom. People often ask me, why did you go to Gordon, all the way across the country? Well God, is the first answer but the sense of adventure, that is definitely my Mom. The same woman that came to a foreign country with a dream and a hope. I just flew across the country, and I had a great environment to come to (Maybe I was trying to get away from my crazy Mom who was trying to push me to be the best I could be too). Up and down the East Coast for the last 10 years, and grateful for the leap of faith that God made me take.

How about the fact that I have so many great friends all over the place? That would definitely be my Mom as well. I remember going on vacation every summer with my family and no matter where we were, we would run into one of my mom's nursing friends from Korea. Yosemite, Yellowstone, Chicago, New York etc....it's amazing to think about it. Similar to my Mom you think? I remember once when I was in New York for my sister's graduation from Med School, and I convinced her to go to a Yankees vs. Red Sox game with me. I was eating a hot dog outside the stadium when all of sudden a random girl starts staring at me....it was my friend Tina, and she was with a bunch of college friends going to the game. No big deal, there are only a billion people in New York and 40,000 people at the game, it's not like it's easy to plan out meeting your friends there rather then run into them by chance. I see my Mom in me so much it is kind of scary.

So today, I celebrate my Mom, and the fact that I am so similar to her and how awesome it is to be associated with such a great woman of God, is a blessing.




Here is a picture of me and her. (Notice I am not smiling because I'm a punk son, and was really tired....nice one Scott, nice one)

Slow Down, take a deep breathe...

These last couple of weeks have been pretty heavy. There are a lot of things in which I can't blog about at this point, but it has been tough. I think in all of this though I've realized that I need to slow down, take a deep breathe, and realize that God loves me. How often do I get so wrapped up in myself and things that are happening that I forget the simple, glorious fact that it's not about me. It never was and never will be. I will for the rest of my life think that it is, until God comes down and shakes me up through different trials and tribulations and blessings.

That's all I got for now, short and sweet, and tired....

Going to Rise Up....

So it's been a while since I've posted. A lot has happened since my last post. Spring Break was a great time. I took a group of 7 students out to Los Angeles. We served in several different places including, Midnight Mission (http://www.midnightmission.org/), World Vision, and Children's Hunger Fund (http://www.chfus.org/). We got to go to the Museum of Tolerance (http://www.museumoftolerance.com), go to Hollywood, Newsong Church, and even squeezed in a trip to Disneyland and Huntington Beach. It was a packed out trip. The students worked really hard and were really great. My favorite part of the trip was definitely seeing my parents interact with the students. It was awesome for my parents to get a glimpse of what I get to do everyday as an RD. It's a difficult job to explain, and something that is hard to experience, but my parents got it and were happy to serve alongside me for a week in the ministry that God has put me in.

Here are some pictures from the week.




Last week I got to go up to Boston for Easter Break. The last time I got to go up there was for Easter last year, so it had been a while. I got to see a lot of friends from college and I was reminded of how far we have all come. I got to meet my friends Brian and Julie's baby Gracie, I got to see my friends Jay and Pamela's almost remodeled house, I got to walk around Gordon with my buddy Brian and reflect back on how awesome college was. I also got to take jumping pictures on the beach after Easter Dinner, a tradition that will hopefully continue for the next couple of years.

And for your viewing pleasure, here again are some pictures...


So, there is about one month left in the school year. There is a TON of stuff to do, and a lot on my mind. This is my song for the month.

"Rise" by Eddie Vedder

Such is the way of the world
You can never know
Just where to put all your faith
And how will it grow

Gonna rise up
Burning back holes in dark memories
Gonna rise up
Turning mistakes into gold

Such is the passage of time
Too fast to fold
And suddenly swallowed by signs
Low and behold

Gonna rise up
Find my direction magnetically
Gonna rise up
Throw down my ace in the hole

Jubilee....wow

So I've been to conferences before, and knew what to expect from them, but this one was different. I kind of knew what Jubilee was about, and my mentality going into it, was "ok, let's see what they have to offer and is this going to be useful for student leaders at Geneva?"
For as strong as my faith has been, you can never underestimate the power of God and how convicting he can be, through the power of worship, and through his people, people who are living for God everyday and doing really cool things for him.

The conference overall was a good reminder of the reformed perspective, which I think was the coolest part for me. Most Christian conferences are all about the heart, and the emotion, and the Love of Jesus Christ, which is important stuff, no doubt. But Jubilee was all of that on top of how to actually live it out. So for those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about when I say the reformed perspective...the basic gist is that we are called to be stewards of this earth while we're on it now, and make the most of it. To engage the world and its different cultures, intricacies, and crevasses...and live life for the Lord. The reason for this is because reformed believers think that the earth that we live on now, will eventually be the new heaven, and we as believers will roam the earth as it was originally intended i.e. before Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. So we're not just waiting to go to heaven, but waiting for Jesus to come back to the new earth.

Ok, so how do you live life for the Lord on earth now? A earth that is broken, corrupt and full of sin. Good question, and I was reminded of the answers while at Jubilee.

Steve Garber who I was introduced to during the my time as a fellow, reminded me about the story of vocation. Faith shapes vocation, vocation shapes culture. We all have something that we're passionate about, injustice, starving children, AIDS in Africa, or maybe it's something more simple like music, architecture or education. Whatever it is, we're called to be a light of Jesus Christ, in the passions that we have no matter what we're called to do.

Bob Goff the CEO of Restore International who Donald Miller talks about in his newest book, is a crazy, crazy dude. I'm smiling just thinking about him because in his talk, he made me realize that he is so crazy about God and trusts him so much, that he doesn't care about what people think of him, or that he can't do anything for Christ. He truly has his identity in Christ. Bob started a school in Uganda called Restore Academy. He brought students from all over the country which has been ravaged by a Civil War and a group called the Lord's Resistance Army, which kidnaps children and brainwashes them to persecute there own countrymen. He showed us a video of the students there and I wrote the following passage in my journal:
"How do students in Uganda who have gone through so much, have so much hope? Belief? They truly believe in power of Jesus Christ. Why don't we have the joy and hope that they do at Geneva?"

Mako Fujimora, again another person I was introduced to as a fellow talked about the verse "Jesus Wept" in John 11. Jesus didn't have to weep with Mary, but he did because he loves us and wanted to be a part and experience what we go through. The pain and suffering that the Lord brings to us sometimes. Sometimes things don't seem rationale. When Mary broke a year's worth of perfume to wash Jesus' feet, it was not rationale, but it was a necessary extravagance. Mako talked about how as an artist he is sometimes criticized for spending his life as an artist, something that doesn't seem necessary to survive, but is an excess thing. But even though this excess thing that doesn't seem rationale sometimes, it is so necessary to experience the beauty of the Gospel and Jesus Christ. You know what I'm talking about, the picture or piece of art that moves you, or the movie that causes you to weep, or the song that clinches at your heart because it's exactly what you're going through and you didn't know how to express it in your own words, yup that is Jesus.

John Perkins....is the man. He is the face of racial reconciliation. He talked about 2 Cor:5. I've never looked at this passage before in the way that he revealed it to me. I don't even know how to write about it....but basically we're called to move away from what society has created, labels. The only label that we should live by is that we are saved by the love of Jesus of Christ, and to not use titles like black or white, republican or democrat, Baptist or Presbyterian. We CANNOT use labels as an excuse to not show God's love to someone, because they are "different". Why are they different? Because we make them out to be, but aren't we ALL created in God's image? And are we not called to love your neighbor as yourself? This is something I will take with me as I possibly pursue a job in Multicultural Services.

These are just some of the sweet things I was reminded of this weekend. Faith has legs, and we're suppose to live it out everyday.