October 2016

We continued our weekly soccer in October, which the weather remained beautiful most of the month. My local college where I graduated had their homecoming, which my friends (Joey & Shannon) came again for another consecutive "countless" year. They weren't able to arrive till later (Friday) due to personal reasons. I picked them up and greeted them at the Student Center after a KUMM (local radio station) concert. Unfortunately, my car wouldn't start. After countless tries with the factory alarm going on late at night (10:45ish pm), the local campus police officer was successfully able to to stop the alarm after I handed him one of my wrenches in my tool box that was in my trunk of my car. I decided to leave my car there and follow the suggestion of the campus officer to replace the battery the next day when there will be daylight. I gave up fixing it after I wasn't successful getting a response via text from friends to help as it was late! My friends ended up calling the Morris Taxi service and I just walked home.

The next day, I got up early to get a new battery and replace it myself as my friend (Tim, the mechanic) still hasn't replied. I carried my new "expensive" battery ($160!, which Tim called it a rip off) via bicycle and was able to fix it. Tim finally came after I put the new battery and was able to drive to my house. Unfortunately, the car shut off as it remained idle in my driveway. It started up again after contacting Tim to check it out again, which we test drove it around town and couldn't diagnose the problem-probably just had to warm the battery more by letting it run.

I was thankful to God that this car was able to start and run, but was still weary it wouldn't start again. I told my friends that my car isn't 100% working, so I suggested them to use their Morris taxi pass the remainder of the weekend of Homecoming if they need a ride. I would later get my car working with no problems...praise the Lord! This car issue came along with other 2 challenges at the time ("comes in 3 saying" :( ). I was already having problems with my desktop computer, which I wouldn't get running for the most of the month of October. I ended up replacing my hard drive with a $300 Samsung solid state drive, which I never heard about until after doing some research. Tim spoke highly about it, so it was actually a blessing to purchase this and haven't had any problems since replacing it sometime the last week of October. It was such a blessing as it got my computer to start quicker and run smoother too! I was able to upload one of the songs I recorded the previous month...

During Homecoming, I was able to see my former mentor (who motivated me to ready my Bible daily) Stu F...

...who I passed by on my bike with my new car battery, but wasn't able to chat as I was going down a small decline. I would meet him at my local church, which we were able to catch-up and share what God has been doing in our lives in this small group fellowship activity during our monthly community "communion" fellowship.

The third "challenge" during the beginning of October was my bike, which I had 2 flats within a week time. I ended up buying a new bike "back" ($70) wheel after taking it to the bike shop (Eul's Hardware), which they suggested me replacing it as the bearings were worn out (probably caused by me going over the curb too many times and my weight was too much for the thin back tire). Fortunately, I got it fixed and was thankful to God for all these challenges to be taken care of....Praise the Lord!

A former co-worker invited me to meet with her friend about this potential business at Old #1 on Tuesday (11th), which ended up being one of those "make money quick" pyramid scheme business. I learned from my mistakes in the past (e.g. Equinox International, Quickstar, Powermall, etc..), so I wasn't able to get tempted by their fancy presentation.

I went to the cities the 3rd weekend (14th-16h) as my renters' younger brother (Saad) needed a ride to the airport early Saturday morning (@6am on the 15th). I took advantage of that weekend doing family time (e.g. watched my niece and nephew during swimming practice). My younger brother invited us (mom, kids, and I) to a spontaneous road trip -Southeastern: Great River Road-Scenic Hwy 61. The weather was cloudy, but still nice and warm to enjoy the beautiful fall colors!

I attended the annual health expo in town , which the local hospital featured a key note speaker that was a former NFL Super Bowl Champion. I shared with him a little how I had some health brain concussion like symptoms too, which I would encourage him via instagram with my blog

We had our annual dance during this time at my workplace on Friday (28th), which I dressed up as a baseball player. I would do my monthly singing with my local church worship team on the 30th. I attended 2 funeral-memorial services on the 29th & 31st, which is always a good time to self-evaluate's ones' own life of purpose , gratefulness, and goal-setting.

January 2016

I started the "new year" at my parents' home after watching Sound of Music at the Ordway Theatre with family the night before. My mom would watch the Rose Bowl parade with me as we relaxed at home. The next day, I went with my brother and his family to watch Alysa's gymnastics performance at Farmington, Minnesota. It was a good 30+ minute drive through suburbs like Inver Grove Heights, etc.. She has really gone better since she started in various areas of the sport! I had to get back to Morris the following day, which was a nice drive back from the Cities.

It was our 1st day back at work on Monday (4th) and it was good to catch up with co-workers and friends on what we did during our long 1 1/2 week vacation. I had my ESL-GED classes on Wednesday (6th), but no ESL students. We just had G.E.D. students for the next 3 weeks.

On Monday (18th), we had MLK Holiday off from my ft-job (2nd year in a row!), which I would go to the annual Community Meal at Faith Lutheran Church after a workout at the RFC. The day started cold and it got a "little" warmer, so it was nice to be out and about. I spent most of the day catching-up on my current video project (St. Mary's Christmas Program from last month).

We had our first ESL student on the 20th (Wednesday), so it gave us hope with this community program. It took awhile to get back to the groove. I would start a new "multi-media" project on Thursday (21st) for a resident in town that a friend in the community referred me to. My friend was too busy, so he asked me if I was willing to help out this particular long-time resident. I would ended-up helping this individual for a longer term project (more than 10+ hours suggested), which I'm currently working on at this moment. It was actually a blessing!

On Saturday, I would start the day with continuing this recent "multi-media" project in the morning for 3 hours. I then attended the monthly R.E.A.L...

There were some encouraging words spoken by the R.E.A.L. member of the worship team, which was a great faith builder!

I would attend a former friend's funeral wake service :( the next day (24th) after church in Benson. It was a time to mourn and reflect, which was a blessing to chat with his immediate family members. He (David) played softball with us for our church (co-ed) team back in the days during our summer church league in Benson. I would ended up getting to know him more as his family became members of our local church. I got to know him more as he became my supervisor at the group home, which I joined "last minute" due to some unexpected emergency circumstances. It became a blessing (financially-Praise the Lord-Jehovah Jireh!) as I would work to this day at, but a different type of group home now.

On Thursday (28th), I would go to Andes Tower Hills with a friend-co-worker (Oray) of mine...

as a make-up day from last weekend (due to friend's funeral wake service). It was an pretty good day despite the icy conditions, which I fell several times and hurt myself. It was a good practice before going somewhere bigger this coming weekend (Lutsen).

I would first go to the cities to visit family on Friday (29th) and stay overnight before leaving early Saturday (30th) morning for a 4 hour drive to Lutsen. I would hangout and meet my younger brother's family...

It was actually an ideal almost perfect day (too hot) as it was sunny and really didn't need all my winter gear. It was such a blessing and a great time..

I thank God for this time to spend with my younger brother as part of his birthday and his family-friends. We would end up visiting our older sister in Pine City along the way back and did an outing at KFC there. After hanging out at her and James' apartment, I took the back roads through St. Cloud back to Morris. It was a blessed weekend!

November 2014

I began the month by putting up my new portable garage, which would take a week to finish (in-time before the early winter). After working on the portable garage (<-feel free to contact me for password to view pics) on the 3rd, I volunteered at Pizza Ranch to help with a fundraiser for our local church's future mission trip to India. Unfortunately, it was on a Monday, which was a very quiet. However, we were very thankful for them giving this opportunity to raise any amount for this cause. I would then return to the Ranch on Thursday (6th) for a joint UMM Alumn-Current Student supper. We were all given a discount (only $5 from our own-pockets) as a motivation to go to this annual event. I joined a couple of friends (Andrew and his dad) that I haven't seen or talked for awhile. It was good catching-up with them. On Friday (7th), I was hoping to finally finish putting the portable garage by strapping the cover that I already put the other day. As I was going to strap it, the wind started to blow hard and it took the whole cover off :(. I was so close too! If I just put one strapped in the right place, it would've held it. Unfortunately, the wind kept blowing and rained a little too, so I gave up! I decided to just work on it the next day. A friend (Matt) that was going to visit the area emailed me that he'll be in town, which I told him I wouldn't be able to meet with him with this portable garage cover dilemma. Matt offered to help, which I took that invitation and decided to "recruit" others to join us to make it a group project.

On early Saturday (8th) morning, I wanted to finish some last-minute fall projects before this impending snow storm. I finished early and I decided to do some prep work of the portable garage cover. Well, I felt God gave me this great idea to use my winter roof shovel poles to slowly gently move the covers-it worked! Praise the Lord! I told my friends that the cover was placed and we can hangout to do something more fun. I would hangout with one of them at a local fast food restaurant for lunch, but he wasn't up to hanging out with the others afterwards. Matt and I ended up getting together with a friend to fellowship instead. It was a great time hanging out! I would later join Matt with a couple of other friends at Bella Cucina to have a great talk and we ended up talking about our faith. It was a great unexpected conversation topic, which would be an endless continual topic and others via facebook.

I would do the finishing touches of the tie-downs of the covers on Sunday as the snow storm was expected the next day. I thank God I finished on time as the next day was a "Snow Day" (no work). I somehow was sick on Monday (10th), so I tried to sleep in a little longer with the day off. I decided to rest and watch a movie online.

On the 15th (Saturday), I attended Real Ministries, which was a great evening of testimonies people shared with the Thanksgiving theme. My housemate (Jin from Korea) would make Filipino Chicken Adobo on Sunday (16th). He asked me to give him some tips as he's really like this particular fish.

I went back into recording music again as I wrote "Shine Your Light for Him" on the 18th (Tuesday).

On Friday (21st), I used one of my vacation days to visit a friend in Moose Lake. The weather (30's and sunny) was considerably "perfect" compared to previous "winter" days the past 2 weeks. The following day (22nd-Saturday), I went to a one day Men's Life fellowship gathering at Hosanna Worship center. It was awesome to hear testimonies of men from the community I've known since living in Morris.

On (Sunday-23rd), I recorded another song called "My Christmas Story", which was my first "rap" song!

Thanksgiving fell on the last weekend of the month, so I went "home" (St. Paul) for the weekend. I was great to visit most of my family (including my Uncle Totoy at a senior citizen apartment residence) as my sister couldn't join us for the first time since she moved "out of town". I was thankful to God for a safe drive home as we had great weather most of the weekend.

Gratitude: Fishing Provision

I just wanted to share God's faithfulness after a great day of fishing this past Saturday. I haven't fished at all because of the busy summer trying to finish my "basement" remodeling project. I decided to go fishing with my housemate because he was treating his niece and nephews (3 boys). While we were driving to the Bait Shop (Glenwood, Minnesota), I did a one sentence quick prayer-"Heavenly Father we pray for a blessed fishing day"..in Jesus' name..Amen! Well, we all remembered that prayer after our short 2 1/2 hour fishing time on our way "home". When we were all celebrating our "catches" (each kid caught at least 2 fishes), I pointed out to our prayer earlier..Praise the Lord!!!

more..
http://sports.goodnewseverybody.com/outdoors.html

Gratitude-2009 Thanksgiving Reflection: Job, Gifts, etc.. -Monday, November 23rd of 2009

Today (Monday, November 23rd 09'), I wanted to share my "early" 2009 Thanksgiving Reflection. I just came home from my job and had a reflection talk with a co-worker about being thankful to just having a job! I hear many stories of folks losing jobs due to the current economic situation, which some are going into poverty or homelessness. One must not take for granted with what they have as you hear/read about these unfortunate stories in our current day. After being "laid" off 2 years ago today at my current job, I feel more compassionate for folks that have lost their jobs as I can "somewhat" relate. I want to do everything that God has blessed me (e.g. education to "teach" others to get their GED through my weekly volunteering with others at the Morris Literacy Project) with to help those in these circumstances. I pray and hope that you can take some time during these "busy" holidays to reflect God's goodness. Also, to not just reflect on this for one day, the holidays, or whenever you feel "blessed" (e.g. your sports team won, saved money from coupons, won something, etc..) ; but show your gratitude (e.g. family, friends, food, clothing, shelter, etc...) "everyday" no matter what circumstances you are in. This can be easily done by helping (e.g. using your "God-given" gifts) others "less fortunate"-whatever God shows you individually! From a recent theme message at my local church the past two weeks, I'm learning from the ones "before us" in the Bible made many mistakes (e.g. jealousy, envy, covet, comparing oneself to others, etc...) we do today. Lastly, I'm very thankful for God giving (through the CROSS His Son-Jesus Christ that we may have life "abundantly" and "eternally". Have a blessed Thanksgiving Day, season, "everyday"!

What are your 2009 Thanksgiving thoughts...

http://bless.goodnewseverybody.com/thanksgiving.html

Gratitude: Minnesota Twins AL Champs-Thankful on October 6th 2009

Woo..hoo! I'm thankful that my Minnesota Twins won the American League Central Division title today!! They beat the Detroit Tigers 6-5 in extra innings (#12)!! I was listening to it on the radio as I was able to do some computer projects. When they interviewed outfielder-Denard Span, he shared how he's thankful to God too! I wasn't surprised as he shared his faith at this annual event at the Metrodome during the summer...

Denard Span talking about his faith



"MN Twins outfielder Denard Span talking about his faith at KTIS '09 Faith and Family Night "


Praise God..Halleluah! Way to give credit to the Creator-Heavenly Father!! May God bless him and the rest of his team in the up-coming AL Wild Card playoffs. Wow, I was wondering when that game was going to end! Great job! Next..the Yankees!

Q: You may not be a "celebrity" or "sports star", but how do you give glory to your God-Heavenly Father-Creator in your everyday work-lifestyle?


more..
http://twinsbaseball.goodnewsminnesota.info/2009.html

Gratitude: Sunny Weather-What I'm thankful for on Wednesday, September 9th of 2009

Wow, 9-9-09, what a significant day! It's going to be like this until 12-12-12 (e.g. 10-10-10, 11-11-11, etc..)! Sorry, I haven't posted on this blog for a long time (last year!). I decided to come back here after someone in my local church shared about being thankful/grateful no matter what daily challenges/circumstances we currently and will face in the future. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 11)! This helps reminds me that God is with me (Emmanuel) where ever I go!

Well, today I'm grateful for the sunny weather we had that came later in the day. It was perfect weather for my friend (Chris G.) and I to do our planned outdoor video project (Coming soon on www.youtube.com/goodnewsmorris !)....

Morris, Minnesota Tour Video 2009



We drove around town videotaping our beautiful small rural college town and a local attraction (gardens). May you all have a blessed night, morning, or afternoon (whenever you read this). I would like to share this great video to go along with my theme of “Count your blessings” before going to bed…

Bing Crosby - Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)

"Count Your Blessings" (Instead of Sheep-Bing Crosby-"White Christmas") before going to bed - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2-XXzYU77E

Q: How many blessings can you count before you go to bed tonight? What are they?

more..
http://bless.goodnewseverybody.com/