New Year Update

Just a little over a week into the New Year and it's already been more than exciting! I'm keeping up with my re:solutions. Well, I accidentally broke one already. I ate at the Hat on Sunday with a few friends after volleyball, completely forgetting that I wanted to stop eating fast food. Jay Jay reminded me the other night and I felt like a complete failure. But it's not going to keep me from trying to keep the re:solution from here on out. I guess you can say I made up for it this weekend by over-doing another re:solution. Normally I would only go to the gym 6 times a week but today I played in an all-day volleyball tournament that we loss in the quarter finals. I then played later in the basketball league I'm in with LA Knights, a game we could have won! I had a chance to win it at the buzzer with an alley-oop pass given to me from a teammate but I missed the layup. Two hard losses in one day to start the new year. But that's alright. It's a humbling experience. Can't win them all and at least I'm getting the exercise in.

In spite of that, it was a great overall weekend! On Friday night the youth got together at Jessica's house to watch "Thin Ice," a movie about Vince, a non-Christian young adult who goes on a ski trip with a church group, which includes six strong sets of opinions about God that will soon collide. We had a great follow-up discussion about the movie and learned some lessons such as

1. obedience and love must always go hand-in-hand (one without the other can be sinful)

2. being a Christian doesn't mean you live a perfect life (God is with us through our struggles and can help us)

3. many Christian churches are responsible for leading people even further away from God (I can write a completely separate blog about this issue. I'd highly recommend this book for reading, Unchristian:What a new generation thinks about Christians and why it matters by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons.)

So yeah that was Friday. On Saturday night a small group of us went to visit an elderly man in his home who was dying of cancer. We sang a couple songs for him then prayed after. It so happened that he was a doctor and that made me think, for so many years he's been the one helping hundreds, maybe thousands of people. Now he's the one that needs help. Just shows how a disease can happen to anyone. We shouldn't take life for granted but live each day to the fullest because we never know when our time's up. After that I met up with Jay, Adrian and Jenn to watch Tron. I had no idea what to expect other than what I've heard from others in that the visual effects were amazing! And yes, they were more than right! We watched it in 3D which made the experience even more incredible. So not to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it, I'm not going to talk about the story line of the movie and what happens.

And Sunday, well yeah I already blogged about that earlier. I should also mention that I made some awesome new friends from 24 hour fitness where me and Jay play volleyball - Mandie, Mallorie & Brittany. They're so fun to be around! More stories about them in upcoming blogs.

Re:solutions

Instead of resolution, I like re:solution. Dictionary.com defines the word solution as this: the act or process of solving a problem. Now I like that better than resolution and I'm left with the question, what problems in my life will I be trying to solve this year? I currently recognize several problems that I've failed to solve in my life.

The first is this, not getting to the gym on a consistent basis. In previous years I've made resolutions to go to the gym to stay conditioned, get bigger and stronger. I've always started off good then slowly fade away and get lazy. This is a problem I want to fix and so for the past month leading up into this new year, I've already been hitting the gym at least 3 times a week. For this year, the solution is to play a sport on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and lift weights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

The second is that I eat way too much junk food, mainly chips, soda and fast food. For this year, I've eliminated those three from my diet. Yes that means no more In-N-Out, Taco Bell, Burger King, etc. The only exceptions are Subway, Quiznos, Pepe's and Albertos and sit down restaurants. Cutting back on the fast food not only helps me stay healthier, but spend less and save money.

And lastly, I haven't had a consistent daily reading devotional relationship with God. In the past I've always been more motivated to study or have devotional time with God only when I'm preparing to teach at my church. That isn't good because the main motivation to spend time and learn from God shouldn't be to teach others. The main reason anyone should want to spend time in daily devotion with God is because they love God! And I want that to be the solution to my current problem.

So, re:solutions. I've recognized the problems in my life that I need to solve. What are the problems in your life? What solutions will you come up with to fix those problems? Remember, don't be discouraged if you fail, even if you fail miserably. There is no perfect solution. Jesus is the only perfect solution to every problem and loving him is the highest goal anyone can achieve. Consider this passage of the Bible:

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:13-14

Goodbye 2010

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1. Happy New Year! 2010 has finally gone, 2011 has come. Ah it feels great to enter into a new year! To start off fresh, put past mistakes behind, and live hopefully, a better and more rejuvenating life! And so to recap last year, here are some of the memorable events that come to mind

January

WMC Pathfinders Camping, Death Valle

Disneyland

Rowland Heights Church League Champs, LA Knights

February

Snowboarding, Mt. High

Disneyland

March

SGVCSL Champs, SGA Jr. High Boys Basketball

Senior Class Trip, Seattle

Disneyland

April

UCLA Cup Champs, LA Knights

WMC Pathfinders Camping, Carpinteria

Disneyland

May

Disneyland

June

Walla Walla University Days

Dodgers vs. Yankees

July

AVP

LLISDA Tournament Champs, Hoopaholics

Backpacking, Spruce Grove

Beach, Surfing, Bonfires, S'mores!

August

Vacation Bible School

Turning 25!

Bachelor Party

K1 Racing, ESPN Zone, Rock Climbing

Leo & Roeum's Wedding

September

IASDA Softball Champs, West 31-30

October

Church Camping, Silverwood Lake

Coaching SGA Jr. High Girl's Volleyball

Six Flags

November

IASDA Football Champs, West 33-32

CIF Southern Section Finalists, SGA Girl's Volleyball

CIF State Championships, SGA Girl's Volleyball

December

Journey to Bethlehem

Snowboarding, Mt. high

Christmas

Snowboarding, Snow Valley

New Year's Eve at Leo & Roeum's

So those were the highlights of 2010, the ones that I remember at least. Looking forward to an awesome 2011 year!

I'm Back

If you check my last blog, you'll see that it's dated January 4, 2010. Yeah it's been nearly a year since I last blogged anything. It's not that I didn't have the time because there were plenty of times I could have blogged. I just didn't feel like sharing online and then forgot I even created this. Facebook and Twitter has made microblogging my thoughts and pieces of my life a lot easier. But I've decided to get back into blogging on here and will do my best to get to it weekly.

And so just to summarize in case you're wondering, this year, 2010, ranks up there as one of the most emotional ones for me. I lost my job as the young adult pastor of a church at the beginning of the year. That was painful to go through because I connected so well with the young adults and church members. Then I went through a friendship with a girl that I thought was going somewhere but never did. After that I spent the summer not knowing if I was going to be working at San Gabriel Academy anymore. Turned out there was a change in administration and God blessed me with another year as the Elementary & Jr. High P.E. teacher. My buddy Leo then got married and being his best man, everyone at the wedding tells me I'm next. You can't help but have some feelings of emptiness, especially when I'm not even seeing anyone at the moment. And finally, I was sick for more than 50 days starting in October leading all the way into December. It really was a test of faith because I couldn't talk without coughing and I had a hard time getting a good night's sleep. I still went to work.

And here I am now, back blogging. That's all for now. I'll be highlighting some of the memorable events of 2010 in my next blog. Stay tuned...

2009 Memories

I can't believe how fast 2009 went by! It did get off to a sad start when my mom & I spent a few weeks in Indonesia mourning the loss of Oma. And it sure had it's up and downs, especially the months between April and September, from church issues to relationships and jobs. But in spite of everything that happened, God was faithful all the way through. He closed and open many doors and led me to where I am today. Hope you enjoy the list I compiled to kick off this new year!

January

Traveling to Indonesia with my mom to bury my grandma

Offered new job as Elementary P.E. Teacher, SGA

Speaking at TLT Sabbath, White Memorial

February

Pathfinder Convocation, White Memorial

Now Therefore Go IASDA Youth & Young Adult Week of Prayer, Azusa

March

Indonesian Basketball Tournament, UCLA

Fast & Furious with Marcus, LA Chinese Theatre

Two-week Spring Break

1st Annual Youth vs. Young Adult softball game

IASDA Youth Uncensored Vespers

April

Traveling up to Central California with Finish the Work

SGA Alumni Sabbath at beating varsity in basketball

Pathfinder Fair, Don Bosco Tech HS

Claim LA w/ Faith for Today Speaker-Director Mike Tucker, with PCC

May

1st Annual Youth Bikeathon from Azusa Canyon to Seal Beach

Revelation Speaks Peace w/ It is Written Speaker-Director Shawn Boonstra, USC

Going up to visit Walla Walla University with Elissa, Katie and Amy

Balloon Stampede, Walla Walla

Speaking at IASDA Adventurer's Camp, Galster Park

June

Last day of work at A+ Learning Center, Arcadia

Flying up to Walla Walla for graduation

Vegas with Leo & Roeum

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

Teaching summer school Jr. high class

July

My re-baptism!

Backpacking, fireworks and sleeping at the top of Mt. Wilson

Bonfires, Huntington Beach

Orange County Fair w/ summer school kids

Loma Loma Indonesian Basketball Tournament

August

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Courage to Stand International Pathfinder Camporee, Oshkosh, Wisconsin

1st place fancy drill

New 2009-2010 school year beginning at SGA

Time Traveler's Wife

September

SWYC, Pine Springs Ranch

Helping coach SGA women's varsity volleyball team

Loma Linda Filipino Summer League

Field trip to California Science Center

Dodgers First Round Playoff game

October

Big Bear with mom & dad

Teen Leadership Training, CCF

Moving to Alhambra SDA & making new friends

UCLA vs. Oregon State Women's Volleyball Game, Pauley Pavillion

November

1st place in volleyball, Indonesian Convocation

Grandparent's 60th Anniversary, Whittier

2012

Thanksgiving at auntie Diane's house, Moreno Valley

December

Offered new job as young adult pastor for White Memorial Church

Hearing about Leo & Roeum's proposal

Being an angel for Auntie Esther's Praise Connection

Journey to Bethlehem, SGA

AVATAR

Decorating my new office!

Christmas at auntie Stephanie's house, Anaheim Hills

Playing wii with my cousins and nephews

Christmas party at Auntie Hazel's

Celebrating my mom's birthday at Disneyland

Buying a Disneyland Annual Pass

Those were the highlights of 2009. I know I probably forgot to mention a lot of other things but those were the ones that stood out. I'll be sharing my Top 10 Resolutions for this new year 2010 in my next blog.

The Never-Ending Complaining Student

I have a student that is really starting to test my patience. And I consider myself to be a pretty patient person so if I'm coming to the point of becoming impatient, you must really be doing something that really irritates me.

Anyway, there's this boy in one of my classes that complains a lot about everything! He gets so down on himself no matter how encouraging I try to be. If we're playing capture the flag and he isn't the one to grab the flag and bring it back, or if he gets tagged while running, he'll sit on the ground with his legs crossed, head buried in his face and won't participate. If we're playing football and the quarterback doesn't throw him the ball, he'll throw a tantrum and start crying. If we're playing volleyball and the ball isn't hit towards him because he wants to pass it so badly, he'll stomp on the floor with his fists clenched and start yelling.

And so today we were playing basketball for PE. Boys playing each other on one court and girls on the other to. I separated the teams as even as possible so it would be fair and hopefully, none of the kids would complain. Just two minutes into playing, and already trouble! This boy was dribbling the basketball, as happy as can be, with such a huge smile on his face, when one of the other kids came from behind and stole the ball away from him. Smile gone! I've never seen a mood swing as fast as this boy's, not even in some girls I know that can get pretty crazy. This boy went off! He first roared out a loud frustrating sound towards the ceiling, arms tight while clenching his fists towards the ground. Then he stomped every step over in my direction, grinding his teeth with his hands on his head (looked like he was going to pull his hair out). I said with a calm voice,

"______ (name confidential*), you need to keep playing, that's part of the game."

"HOW CAN I KEEP PLAYING MR. OSTOS IF THEY KEEP TAKING THE BALL FROM ME?!!?"

"It was just once and you can protect the ball better and pass to your teammates ______."

"BUT I'M NOT THAT GOOD! THEY HAVE TO LET ME DRIBBLE! IT'S THE RULES!"

"I want you to keep trying ______. Don't give up just because someone took it from you one time."

By this point whenever kids come to me complaining or whining to me about something, they start making up excuses, thinking they can argue with me. And this boy straight up lied to me!

"BUT ________ AND _________ WERE HITTING MY ARMS AND FOULING ME! THEY'RE CHEATING! THEY'RE NOT PLAYING FAIR! I DON'T WANNA PLAY THIS GAME ANYMORE. I DON'T WANNA PLAY THIS GAME EVER AGAIN!"

And he starts walking away from me and I raise my voice for him to come back and go play the game. He complies but doesn't want the ball anymore. He just kinda slowly walks back and forth on the court with his head down, hands in his pocket while the other kids run back and forth past him. This is what I go through on a daily basis and I love my job!

Journey To Bethlehem

I told myself I would only attend Friday night. Nope! Something drew me to the Journey to Bethlehem this year that I attended every night, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It could have been that I knew a ton more elementary students that adorably would shout out "Hey look it's Coach O!" whenever they saw me, or the fact I knew some of the performers from Alhambra church that I wanted to support, or maybe the pride I felt in that my school, the place I now work at puts on this huge and wonderful event at this time of year when it's cold outside that no other academy in the area does. I think that says a lot about SGA!

Journey to Bethlehem is a once a year outdoor event at San Gabriel Academy that depicts the Christmas story of the trip Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem. As you enter the campus, you are assigned to a tribe with a leader (tour guide) that will take you on a trip to different sights and sounds of this journey to Bethlehem. The field is decorated with many props to portray an appealing ancient world, a christmas lighted path with trees and plants, a water fountain, armadillos and wildcats, lions and bears, and of course, the various scenes of this journey. You will travel to scenes like Isaiah the prophet writing on a scroll (who I heard a lot of kids referring to as Santa Clause), Shepherds and little lambs, King Herod in the palace with the wise men, to finally the nativity scene of Joseph and Mary holding baby Jesus. There is also a petting zoo filled with real animals such as lambs, a pig, a turkey and even lama. Bethlehem is a favorite spot for many, the lighted marketplace filled with soldiers and merchants that sell water, hot chocolate, cookies and other deserts if you have the blue and pink coins that were given to you at the beginning of the tour. The end of the journey rests at an outdoor amphitheater set up with chairs, hay stacks (the kind you sit on, not eat), and the stage where different artists and musicians perform to conclude the evening.

The faculty and students of San Gabriel Academy put on this big event for the community every first weekend in December. If you couldn't make it, you really missed out! Next year I hope to get more involved. I might consider being a tour guide, since some weren't so enthusiastic that drove me to lead the group instead. Or maybe a merchant behind one of the counters serving food so when no one's looking, I can eat some for myself! Haha I'm kidding! Well, I think Journey to Bethlehem turned out to be a success in spite of a few things but hey, there really is no place like SGA! And I'm proud to be part of this campus.