Urbana 15 'LiveBlog' 1

Dec 27

Yo.

"It's been a long day" my roommate just said. We were on a bus for nearly 22 hours? I didn't keep very good track and there was a time change. But I am now at Urbana and already it's a very different situation than last time. We got in pretty much on time, registered, got transit passes then went over to our hotel.

I'm actually so happy with my roommates. Part of why I came was to bring others and God brought these two guys (and my other friend who was also going, so he's rooming with us too).

Our room wasn't ready yet and we had plent of time and a transit pass, so we took the light rail towards the zoo. We ended up in the History museum and saw exhibits about the world's fair, coffee, and the arch. Then we figured the zoo wasn't worth going to in the rain, went back, checked in to the hotel (so spacious) then went for dinner.

Hardee's was really good. They were not prepared for a dinner rush though so 3 employees (cash, cook, manager) had to suddenly deal with 50 customers. Then we headed over to the dome.

Main session was crazy. We were down on the floor seating. Already worship has been in English, French, Spanish, Korean, Swahili (and Hebrew..? Hallelujah? no?). This evening's worship was primarily 'black church' style, repeat after me, pentecostal, y'know? But it was good to mix it up. After introductions from our 'coach' for the week and the main director guy, our main speaker for the week Patrick Fung (OMF) exposited Matt 2:1-19 and shared stories of ministry in China. Very convicting testimonies as well as sharing the stories in Matthew. The theme of the week is "What story will you tell?" about our stories, but more importantly, God's story.

This evening I was feeling very guilty and unworthy. That I was not suited to bring the gospel to anyone when I'm not living it out myself. This is something I'd been thinking about before the conference. Especially going to prayer ministry about those things sometime.

Ya.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

Ingress.

Yo, so, I've been playing this game called Ingress. And I was very skeptical at first, but it is amazing. haha

I started playing it after the trailer for Pokémon GO. I was so excited about it that I posted a bunch on facebook about how excited I was for it to finally be happening (a REAL LIFE Pokémon game!) and a friend of mine said that Niantic (the company which is partnering with Nintendo/Pokémon) had made a previous game named Ingress. So, out of curiosity, I downloaded the game.

I started playing over by Lees station, finished the tutorial and really didn't know what was happening. haha. All I knew is that these alien guys are trying to brainwash us using this exotic matter (XM) and my team wanted to ensure that didn't happen. We are called the Resistance. The other team refers to themselves as 'the Enlightened' and wants to use the energy to take humanity to the next level of evolution. Nothing good can come from that I think.

All around the world in places of cultural or historical significance 'portals' are located where the XM flows through more rapidly. You can hack portals to get items: portal keys, resonators, XM cubes, weapons, and more. Using resonators we can make the portal ours, and using portal keys we can link them together and when 3 are linked to each other a control field is created. Fields and links block the other team from forming links and taking territory. And you can take back a portal by destroying all of the enemy resonators and setting up your own.

I took one portal. And then another. The following morning I went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was awesome. So many portals. All mine. haha

I went to school and saw how green it was. I took out a portal, the pendulum, and started to plan how I could take it all with AG and JC who I had recruited. However, soon after I discovered that there were a number of very high level green agents who I definitely could not defeat on my own. Specifically there was a green agent whose name was similar to mine. I was thousand-year dragon and he was black dragon. He would be my biggest rival, but I needed help from some other agents. So I messaged some of the agents who had blue portals at school and they responded!

The next day I got to meet up with 5 agents. They were super nice. haha. One girl took a couple of us around and just destroyed all the portals and gave us experience. xP The next day I was messaged and got to meet up with a couple other agents. Something that is hilarious though is that there was apparently talk that black dragon had made a blue account just to spy on us. People had though that I was just a fake account. haha. So funny. There's also a kind of derision towards Ingress players who all started just because of Pokémon GO. haha. Whatever. I think I've proven myself.

But this game is amazing. And playing in real life and getting to meet up with the others, the whole thing makes it feel so much like an anime. haha. One where the world just happens to be ignorant of the present danger they are in and a few select people have been given the power to fight back and save the innocent civilians. Something like Yuki Yuna wa Yusha de Aru or Shakugan no Shana or something. But meeting up in person also made me think of like Durarara or Paranoia Agent or .//hack or even The Guild web series. haha.

I can't wait for Pokémon though.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

Bitter isn't Bad.

Hey guys,

Since I don't have an official job for the summer my dad has made a list of things I can do around the house. This includes going through our storage spaces and getting rid of anything we don't need; completely painting a redoing a room; as well as normal regular maintenance. One such thing is mowing the lawns in front and back yards regularly.

It's mostly dandelions in our backyard, but upon a quick scan I saw a small flowering bush which we used to have. They call it the 'Bleeding hearts' bush because of the shape of the flowers. And if I mowed, they would be dead for a year at least for sure. So I purposed to save them.

When I thought of that I wondered how many other types of plants there were in the backyard and started to compile a list. I also found some plants which were unexpected and have yet to find some that were expected. Felt like a true adventurer after all the work digging and exploring. Still more to do, but I think I have located about 25 species of plants back here.

I really expected to find some chives since we used to have a planter with lots of them. Haven't found that yet. However, I found a patch of large mint plants and what I think is parsley (tbd). So I started to wonder a bit about what things were and what was edible and did some Internet research. Last night I had a 'foraged' dandelion and mint salad with berries, coconut oil, and almonds.

One website I looked at spoke about how it used to be that people considered there to be a 'good bitter' and a 'bad bitter'. Although dandelion is bitter, it is fully edible and rich in vitamins to help us grow. When I was growing up though, I'm pretty sure us kids thought it was poisonous and everyone is always trying to get rid of them.

And I think this is how we usually approach difficulty or hardship in our lives. We try to avoid it, we try to remove it. But ultimately it is there to grow our character, as well as our hope.

Yesterday I also got to meet up with a buddy of mine as well as a sister in Christ and it was a pleasure of both my buddy and myself to hear of her joy in Jesus even through the difficulty of depression or anxiety. Although they are difficult situations and she wishes it was gone, she delights in the small victories and ways God provides, as well as looking forward to the hope we have in Jesus. As it says in Rev21:1-5: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.""

Especially the words of verses 4 and 5, God will remove every tear, death, pain, and suffering; He will make us and everything new. That is our hope! That although sin has caused pain and difficulty now, through Jesus and trusting in what He has done at the cross, we have been forgiven, adopted as God's children, and awaiting the day when all things will be made new again, free from that pain and sin's grip of destruction.

But even through that difficulty God provides and helps us trust in this ultimate ending! For now is but a light and momentary affliction which is incomparable to the glory that will be revealed in Jesus.

Rom5:3-5; Rom8:18-25.

Ttyl.

D.Fa