Quitter? Perhaps. Loser? No way.

I started this week off feeling like a loser. Or better yet, a quitter. 
This weekend I had to tell my Ultimate team, Chaos, that I couldn't play anymore. I quit.
Also this weekend, I got rid of my dreads.  I quit.
School has become so boring and uninteresting that I wanted to quit.

But all of my "giving up's" are not really giving up.  This week after writing my last blog I've been praying and searching God on what I should do, where I should go, and how I should think.  Quitting was the answer.  Or maybe "quitting" is the wrong word.  Re-prioritizing.  Let me share with you what my priorities have been since starting school:

1.  School
2.  Ultimate
3.  Family
4.  God
5.  Relationships

Pretty jacked up.  In reality, this is what my priorities should be:

1.  God
2.  Family
3.  School (unfortunately yes....still up there.)
4.  Relationships that push me to grow
5.  Ultimate

Now recently, my family has been dealing with some tough stuff.  My Dad lost his job and found a new one within his company, all in a three-weeks span.  He is now in St. Lewis and will work their until the end of May in hopes that they will transfer him back to Oak Harbor.
For the past five months school has been my main focus.  I've ignored going to church, ignored trying to gain new relationships, and ignored going back home to support my family. All for silly 'A' grades.  "C's get degrees!" says Phil, and that is some advice I need to be taking.  My relationship with Jesus needs to be first.  Again, apathy is not okay!  Relationship with Christ is more than 15 minutes doing devos and then being "done" for the day.  Being there for my family, even if that means driving back home several times a month to help my mom out, is more important that Microeconomics.  Finishing my homework to pass my classes is more essential than playing Ultimate.  And spending time dreading my hair when I could be doing anything else is a waste of time! 
My calling is to be a pastor; to challenge people in their faith, to help them enter the throne room of God, to share His heart with everyone I meet.  But to get to that full-time 'job' I need the tools to get there.  God's called me to Western.  To be a student, to learn and grow, and to get my B.A. in Communications.  I also believe wholeheartedly that He's called me to go to Hillsong in Sydney, Australia.  But to get there I have to finish here first.  I have to get my priorities straight.  Finances are not a guarantee anymore, and getting a job is pertinent.  But more than that is being there for my Mom, my Brother, and my Sister.  And more than my family is searching God's heart and answering His call. 

Yeah, so I quit my awesome dreads for an awesome new hairstyle! 
And yeah, so I can't play with Chaos anymore, but I can exercise on my own. And! I can be a faithful, young woman of God and support my family when they need me most.
And yeah! So I'm Asian and I'm not getting straight A's anymore!
God's my #1.  And He's going to stay there.


Romans 8:35-37    
35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

The Ascendancy of Callow Fish

Today I have discovered a wonderful gift. The power of Sushi.

At 6 o'clock Liz and I met up with Pastors Rick and Tiffany from New Hope Foursquare at a Teriyaki and Sushi restaurant for dinner. It was delicious. Now the entire time we were eating, in the back of my mind, I knew I that had ultimate practice right after. But the sushi kept calling me back and I could not ignore it. Needless to say, I ate a lot.



At 8 o'clock practice begins. My stomach was growling in protest as we began our warm-up lap. It was going to be a long night. But then I noticed something amazing! After warm-ups we throw the disc around, and tonight my throws were amazing! Solid, fast, to the reciever. Forehand and Backhand. It was incredible! And then the drills began. Instead of my stomach causing me problems my cuts were great, sprinting was easy, catching the disc...okay yeah, I still struggle with that one... but! everything was great. Then it was time for the long pass drill, but by then I knew the sushi was giving me some outerworld power. Long pass after long pass I dove. (For whatever reason Devin was just throwing the discs too far). I was as graceful as a swan, going all out, sacrificing my body. It was amazing.

Unfortunately...by 9:30 the sushi powers had faded. I was back to my okay self. I finished the last 30 minutes of practice tired, sore, and thoroughly proud of myself.

So next time you have a big game coming up, an intense exam, or going home for the weekend:



eat sushi.

Calisthenics

So....

Being here at Western, I have not had so much physical exhertion since my soccer career ended! Let me share with you my typical week.

• Everyday I walk 1 mile loop to and from school 2 to 3 to 4 times a day. (For all you non-math whiz's like me, that's 2 to 4 miles a day.) Uphill.
• Twice a week I run that mile loop.
• Three times a week I have ultimate practice for 2 hours. (Lots of sprinting and throwing and sprinting and catching. And did I mention sprinting?)
• Twice a week I have weight-lifting. (Which unfortunately is kicking my butt since my shoulder injury is acting up and I can't do pushups.)
• Three times a week I climb the stairs of a 5 story building to the top level. (Yeah calves of steel.)
• And every so often I go walk around Bellingham just for fun.

The conslusion is: I'm going to get be in great shape! Yeah!
...and I'm stinking sore all the time.