Cheat Sheets and God's Grace

Hey fam--

I've been pretty busy studying for a couple midterms, but just wanted to stop by to take a writing break.

If you've been following this blog long enough, you'll know that I constantly struggle with school and grades. Or you could just look at the labels cloud and see that the label "school" is the largest, meaning has the most posts. Anyways, I digress...

Honestly, after 15 years of school, I still feel like I don't know how to study for tests. I think I'm just a horrible test-taker. But whenever I feel discouraged from the pressure that is competitive grade curve and Asian parents, I always think about a saying I heard from an old man: "Grades don't matter if you're glorifying God with your studies." I don't know if that's verbatim, but it's close 'nuff.

I didn't really understand that saying when I first heard it as a freshman. But after a few quarters of fluctuating grades with the same study habits, I realized that I shouldn't be studying hard to get a good grade. I should study hard to honor God with my time. I mean He totally blessed me with an opportunity to be at an awesome university. I should thank Him by not wasting my time here. And if I get an A on the horrible auditing final, then it's alllllllll Him. Thanks, G-man.


How are your studying habits? If you're not a student, do you feel like you're being a good steward with the time God is giving you?

EXCELLENT EATS: iD Cha House

It was madness. So last night late night... after writing a horrible rap and recording it (see previous post), a few of us decided "It's TeaStation time!" So we went and took the trek to the San Gabriel Valley for a night of joy and amusement at Tea Station. It was about 11:15 and the place closes at 12 so we were pushing it as far as making it in time. Unfortunately, the freeway exit to the 10-East was closed. We got lost for a while amidst industrial looking alleys and dark streets but eventually found our way to the freeway again (thank you Gregory!).



I was uncertain about what were the cross-streets for Tea Station, so we wandered about for a while until we found it...was closed. Great life. After more wandering, we ended up at iD Cha House, one of the many tea cafes on Valley Boulevard. But this story has a good ending...

IT WAS DELICIOUS. The milk tea surely tastes different, but it's a good kind of different. I ordered the iced Green Milk Tea, and it was delicious as well. A friend ordered some hot Rose Milk Tea and that tasted like awesome. Beware the the Honey Milk Tea--it is verrrrrrrrrrry sweet. We got there 30 minutes before closing time, but the worker let us order drinks anyway. Thank God, otherwise we would have driven one hour for nothing. But yes, iD Cha House gets two thumbs up from me! Thank you for the adventures :)

THURSDAY THROWDOWNS: Mr. Nice Guy

Okay, so someone requested that I rap one blog post at least once a week... Therefore, ergo, conclusively, I introduce to you another installment: Thursday Throwdowns. So be on the watch every Thursday for embarrassing rap videos by yours truly.



I'm so tired.

EXCELLENT READS: theResurgence Blogs

Just a heads up fam: From now own you will be seeing a lot of new... post-series, shall we say? I guess they're more for me to keep a consistent writing schedule for the blog, but hey! More writing for you, hm?

So this is the first of a new post-series, Excellent Reads, where I will share some of my favorite blogs or books. And if you're cool enough, you might end up in this series! ;)


Ten Temptation Truths -- theResurgence Blogs
http://theresurgence.com/blog

Satan will H.I.T. you. By that I mean, be particularly aware when you’re hungry, isolated, and/or tired. How many of you find that your physical condition weakens your resistance to temptation? Jesus had physical hunger. When you’re physically hungry, you’ll get more grouchy, grumpy, tempted, and isolated.
Now, solitude is good. The Bible says, and we’ll see it a little bit further in Luke, Jesus often withdrew to lonely places to be alone with the Father (Luke 5:16). Solitude’s good. It’s “I need a break from all of my activities to get alone with God and have him refresh me.”
Isolation is dangerous. Jesus here was led by the Spirit into isolation, to do battle with Satan, to win where we and Adam lose. But, for you, isolation is a very dangerous thing. Isolation means you don’t really have a lot of Christian friends, or the friends you do have, the relationships are very shallow. “How are you doing?” “Great, how are you?” “Great.” “Well good, nice that we’re all caught up now.”

I've actually posted a few excerpts from here before, back when proclaiming excellencies was so 2009. But earlier this morning (say...2am), I found this post to be quite enticing, especially since I'm human and easily tempted. I only quoted one of the sections that personally struck me, but I recommend reading all ten truths.

Goodness, this is gonna be super vulnerable, but here goes (for the sake of the gospel!)...
I think I struggle a lot with isolation, and I can surely say it's propelled me to sin many times--mostly believing lies about my identity, God's love, and community. And I never really thought about it before. I mean I knew that I had trouble with fellowship and community, but seeing where the temptation stems from brings the fight into a whole new arena, yadadamean? This is where I say my favorite phrase: I need to pray more. Always and forever. Payce!

When do you feel you are tempted most: when you're hungry, isolated, or tired?

Let's Bring It Back

Welcome to 2010, weblog.

Yes, so after a monthish long break, I have returned to plague the interwebs with my poorly written posts and attempts to entertain.

January was a difficult month to come by, marked with a wide range of emotions: security, confusion, contentment, pain, hope, fear, joy, depression... but it's February now, and maybe (hopefully?) I've learned a thing or two that will bring more peace into my life despite the roadbumps on this journey.

During one of the more depressing phases of my January, God led me back to a verse that comforted me during the summer:

But this I remember, and therefore I have hope...The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope...For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. (Lamentations 3:21-33)

So I hoping to remember God's word and the comforting truth that lies within it. Also, I want to continually look back to the many many many many times God has been faithful to me, even when I've been faithless. And from all of this, I'd have something to look forward to: the comfort and peace of being in God's loving presence. It's awesome.

With regards to the blog, I'm looking forward to more ways I can proclaim how excellent God is and sharing it with you all. This may include: more writing, rapping at least one post a week, more covers, more awesomeness...

What are some good memories you often look back on? What are you looking forward to within the next year? The next month?