Reflections on CSR

Hello, friends!

Last week I mentioned how Megan and I were going to be attending Central Staff Retreat (CSR) for the weekend. Well, we're back! It was a great time being with other staff from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska on both the undergraduate as well as the graduate/faculty side of things. Here are a few of my takeaways and highlights from the weekend. 

Highlights: 

- Being an MC is my happy place. When dividing up roles for CSR, the conference director offered me 3 options: prep the testimonies, lead a seminar, or be the MC. I told him that so long as what she needed was a "hype" MC and not a "spiritual pastoral" MC, that I was her man. She said that was great so I said "yes" and it was so much fun! Being an MC really plays to my strengths. Giving out useful information? Check. Telling a bad joke every now and then to lighten the mood? Check. Being the center of attention? Check. 

- I wrote a song! One of the things I used to when I was younger was write song parodies as welcome songs to various InterVarsity events. I hadn't done one in a while, and since I was the MC, I had the microphone, which meant I could do whatever I wanted! We went with Since U Been Gone, in honor of me reaching my goal of being in the top 0.01% of Kelly Clarkson listeners on Spotify. 

- I'm going to read a book! At most of the meals there were table discussions. Some of those meetings were business related (since this is the only time we are all together in person throughout the year, it makes sense to get some work done) but some were fun! One of the meal sessions I attended was for one of my colleagues, Mark, who is writing a book about Star Trek and Christian apologetics! It's going to be nerdy and spectacular in the best possible way. 

- We totally crushed it on snacks. Saturday night, the undergraduate team (that's us!) hosted snacks (the graduate/faculty team hosted on Friday night). We opted for state themed snacks, with Missouri and Kansas hosting one room and Nebraska and Iowa hosting the other. While I have to admit that MO/KS "won" on account of them having Arthur Bryant's barbecue sauce at their room, but honestly, the NE/IA crew really crushed it. We had state staples like popcorn, Dutch letters, and various cheeses. Plus, we just had so much food! Folk may or may have not spent more time in our room than the other room... =0). 

All in all, it was a really great weekend. Not having the kids there meant that Megan and I could be fully present to do the things we were asked to do (Megan crushed it leading her seminar, as I knew she would). Next year will be an Urbana year so we won't have a staff gathering in December, meaning the next time we'll all be together will be in 2026. Still, these kinds of weekends remind me that I have great coworkers and I'm so blessed to be on this team. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

     

Central Staff Retreat!

Hello, friends! 

Tomorrow, Megan and I will be heading back to beautiful Morovia, Iowa for Central Staff Retreat (CSR)! In some ways, this will be a new thing. In other ways, it'll very much be an old thing. Allow me to explain. 

For the past few years, we've had our Regional Staff Conference (RSC) in Kansas City. Kansas City is actually relatively central to all the staff in our Region. However, this year, for various reasons, we decided to change our location. Also, instead of the staff team meeting together just being our undergraduate regional staff team, we're also going to be joined by the Graduate and Faculty Ministry (GFM) team as well. That's why the name has been changed from RSC to CSR. We want to reflect the fact that it's not just a Region getting together. It's all the staff in the Central US. 

Also, this will be the first InterVarsity Conference in a while where the kids won't be joining us. Since Megan is one of the directors and I'll be serving as the MC, we won't have the capacity to watch the kids while also doing our jobs. At other conferences, like International Getaway or the Big Dig, either one of us or neither of us had major leadership roles, so we could either split kid duty or one of us would handle it. That's not possible this weekend but thankfully, Megan's parents are coming into town to watch the kids. 

While there may be some new things, there are also some things that will be very reminiscent of the days of old. One of those is our location. While we won't be heading back to Kansas City, our location, Honey Creek Resort, is a place where we had RSC for a number of years back in the day. I still remember the layout of the conference center, from the rooms to Buccaneer Bay, the indoor water park (fancy, right?!)

I'm also excited to see some old friends who have moved teams. There are a few staff in particular who used to be on our undergraduate staff team who moved to the GFM side. It will be good to see them again. 

So, friends, if it comes to you this weekend, would you be praying for CSR? Pray for the logistics of winter travel as we have staff from 4 different states coming into town. Please pray for Megan as she leads the weekend and for my voice as I speak from the front. Please pray for the kids as they spend the weekend with my in-laws (and for my in-laws as they spend the weekend with my kids!). Ultimately, please pray the God will move in our staff team while we're together. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Seven Pounds, Explained...

Hello, friends! 

Before we got on the plane to go to California for Thanksgiving, I weighed myself, just like I do every morning that we're in Omaha. When we got back a week later, I weighed myself the next morning, just like I do every morning that we're in Omaha. The result? Let's just say that I ate very well and am now sufficiently insulated for winter in Nebraska. =0). 

All in all, I gained 7 pounds, which is about a pound a day. I have no idea if that's a low amount, a high amount, or a regular amount. What I do know is that it was a DELICIOUS amount. 

Usually, when I go on trips, I come back and blog about a what I did on the trip, running through things chronologically. This time, in honor of those glorious 7 pounds, I decided to focus instead on the food I ate while I was in California as a way to talk about our trip. Strap on your bibs, because here we go! 

Jook: My brother makes fun of me because of how much my family likes jook. It's just rice porridge. Some call it "poor people food." Yet, it's a Leong family staple. As soon as we got off the plane in California and back to my parent's place, everyone had a big bowl of jook as an evening snack. The amount of love and care that my dad puts into making the jook is something else. JoJo says that it's his favorite meal of all time and that Gung Gung (my dad) makes jook even better than mommy (Note: Megan thinks so too). =0). I'm not saying that we ate a lot of jook, I'm just saying that there my dad had to make a second pot of it by Day 3. 

Dim Sum: Omaha has a lot of really great food. One thing it does not have is good dim sum. Maybe there's a place that does good dim sum in Omaha. I haven't found it. So, when my dad suggested that we do dim sum after church on Sunday, I was all in. Did I order all my favorites? I did. Did my mom over order because she wanted to make sure that I had my fill? She did. Did I end up eating a bunch more the next day or two to eventually finish everything? Yes, yes I did. 

Popcorn: There's nothing special about buttered popcorn. I was just surprised that I ate as much of it as I did. Namely, because we went to go see Moana 2 (super good) and the circus (also super good!). Side note: apparently, our family is a circus family! I think this is the third or fourth time that I've been to the circus with the family. That is not something that I would have guessed I'd say before starting a family. 

Burgers: I only ate 2 burgers while I was in California. The first was an In-N-Out Double Double wiith grilled onions (also with fries and a shake) after the circus (it really was a good circus). The second was a chiliburger from Tommy's, which I might actually like better than In-N-Out but don't get nearly as often because no one else in the family likes it as much as me. Both burgers were classics and both were delicious. 

Lobster: We celebrated my dad's 70th birthday while we were out there. He wanted a Chinese banquet so we threw him a Chinese banquet. We had lobster, noodles, fried tofu, pork chops, oysters, and some veggies for good measure. Seriously, it was one of the best lobsters I'd ever eaten. We had 3 tables (my dad is VERY popular...) so at my table was our kids, my niece and nephew, and my uncle and aunt, meaning I was the only person at the table in their prime eating shape. That lobster never stood a chance...

Sushi, Noodle, and Nuggets: Tuesday was Jonah's birthday so we did all the things he wanted to do. We went to the beach and ate Chick-fil-A nuggets. I came home and had sushi and noodles. We generally doted on the boy. All of it was fine, if unspectacular. These are all things that we have in Omaha but they are the things he wanted, so that's what we did. (Confession: I had my sister pick me up a bahn mi for the beach because we don't really have those in Omaha either.)

Mandarin Noodle House: The Mandarin Noodle House has the absolute best spicy beef noodle soup in the world (Megan's being a close second). I will fight anyone who says otherwise. I try to get out to "The House" every time we're out there but it sometimes doesn't work out. Thankfully, it's not too far from where my brother lives and my siblings were kind enough to plan a day in that area (including the banquet for my dad) so I could grab some for lunch. It was everything I remembered it being. 

All the things: Y'all, I ate a LOT of stuff on Thanksgiving. First there was breakfast because I needed my energy before playing football with some family friends (threw 5 TD's with 2 picks; intercepted my brother at least twice, we won 2 of the 3 games. Thanks for asking). I went to my sister's house where we ate lunch, which would have been a light affair, had she not seen that the taco truck was open while running errands. We went with my parents to watch Moana 2 (popcorn + milk duds + the Rock = a very entertaining time) before coming home to make final preparations for Thanksgiving. 

Quick note about a Leong Thanksgiving: My parents are the kind of generous and hospitable people who invite everyone over for Thanksgiving. When you include immediate family (which is already 18 people), extended family, and friends, you end up with somewhere between 40-50 people inside the house, which means a LOT of food. There were the traditional Thanksgiving staples like turkey, ham, roast beef, yams, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. My aunt made Chinese sticky rice. There were LOTS of desserts. I pretty much stuffed my face while watching the Dolphins not even really put up a fight against the Packers. 

There were other things I ate too. I had some really bad diner biscuit and gravy while visiting with my old youth pastor. We drank tons of boba and Megan got her avocado smoothie. My mom took us to Dairy Queen. My dad made St. Paul sandwiches, and I had a gobbler (or two) with the leftovers. We went to see Megan's uncle and her cousins and ate the famous Horner Spaghetti (which is so good, y'all...)

I think there were only two things I DIDN'T get around to eating. We didn't have time on Sunday for me to get a donut at the shop down the street before church. A few people brought cranberry sauce to Thanksgiving, so I didn't get to make it with Thaliea like we normally do. But, only missing 2 things is pretty good! 

Friends, looking back, it's pretty obvious how I gained 7 glorious pounds. Maybe I should be surprised that it wasn't more. But hey, that's what Thanksgiving is all about right? You spend time with your family. You eat way too much delicious food. And, most importantly, you only pack your stretchy pants on the trip. =0). 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Note: I didn't take a ton of photos on this trip. Mainly because I'm bad at taking photos in general but also because my hands were usually full of food...

Thankful!

Hello, friends! 

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I'll be in California next week but I wanted to do a little something for Thanksgiving this week, noting all the things I'm thankful for from 2024. 

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not exactly what you would call a "reflective" person. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the past or focusing on things that have already happened. I have much more fun thinking about the future and the things that could be. So, exercises like this are sometimes hard for me. What am I thankful for from the past year? I have no idea. I can't even remember what happened last week, much less what happened in January. Still, these kinds of exercises are good for me, so here we go! 

- I'm thankful for our pets. Gus is perfect in every way, especially since we changed his substate and his enclosure doesn't smell as bad as it used to smell. Phoebe is still very much a puppy but she's growing and learning and we get along pretty well. 

- I'm thankful for our kids having friends. Our kids are pretty popular and I'm OK with that. Ezra has his friends from scouts and soccer (#GoBlackWidows) and is often being invited to playdates. Thaliea has her friends too, including a relatively new best friend and enjoys playing after school. Even JoJo has his buddies from preschool and daycare. He's even starting to remember names! It's so good to see our kiddos being social and enjoying community. 

- I'm thankful for Bellevue University. My first few years out here in Omaha, my student ministry interaction was pretty minimal. I would help at a student conference if I could or I would meet with a student or two, but it wasn't anything sustained. The past few years, and this year especially, I've been really involved with Bellevue University and it's been great. I don't actually spend a ton of time with the students but just the fact that there's a chapter that is growing with great student leaders is a huge blessing. 

- I'm thankful for my parents making it to 70. Honestly, I don't have a great concept of what counts as "old age." 70 seems old but then again, there are people in the highest levels of government who are older than my parents. I think I'm influenced at least a little bit by the fact that at least 2 of my 4 grandparents (maybe 3?) died before turning 70, so I always figured that 70 was a good goal to hit. I'm sure my kids agree. 

- I'm thankful for opportunities to preach. Bridge is a great church and I'm so glad that I get to be a part of it. I'm also glad that they've trusted me enough to allow me to use my gift of preaching. There's a joke at our church that I get assigned all the hard sermons (see last week's post about politics) but the truth is that I really love the chance to share God's word. 

I'm sure if I thought about it more, I could make up a whole list of things I'm thankful for. There really are a lot of things, including my health, curling, and of course, Megan. This is just a small sampling so I can get the thankfulness juices flowing. I'm also super thankful for you, dear reader. When I started this blog all those years ago, it was because I wanted to keep people up to date on ministry happenings. It never stayed that way and I've been able to share about other aspects of life and the goodness of God. For that opportunity, and the fact that people actually want to hear about what's going on, I am truly thankful. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Preaching on Politics!

Hello, friends! 

As I'm processing the results of yesterday's election, I keep going back to the sermons I preached a few weeks back for our church. The first was on the importance of the Church being involved in the political process. The second was about how we as the Church should interact with our political "enemies." Even though the election is over, I think these sermons still hold relevance. I hope they bless you in the same way it blessed me to prepare and preach them. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Onward to Minneapolis!!!

Hello, friends! 

Last week, on account of parent-teacher conferences (the kids are doing great in school, by the way), we had a 4 day weekend. We decided that the best way to spend that time was to head to Minneapolis to visit Megan's sister and her family. We hadn't been back to Minneapolis in a while (we're pretty sure that Megan was pregnant with Jonah when we last visited) so we were long past due.

Friends, when I tell you that we had a trip, we had a trip! Here are a few highlights: 

- Visiting with ministry partners, both on the way into Minneapolis, on our way our of Minneapolis, and even while we were in Minneapolis, while my sister-in-law's kids were still in school. Did we get photos with any of them? Of course not! We were having too much fun. =0). 

- Seeing some friends from college who live in the area. Did I get a photo of that one? You betcha! #GoBears 

- Visiting Minnesota's largest candy shop and the site of the world's largest jigsaw puzzle, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. 

- There was family fun too! We made dumplings together and the kids got to ride around the neighborhood, courtesy of my brother-in-law's one wheel. 

- Did I mention that Phoebe came with us? Did I mention that she got sick because she ate a bunch of stuff underneath our car seats while on the way there? Did I mention that we took a nap together and it was glorious?! Because all those things happened! 

- Of course, let's also mention that we got to visit Megan's old stomping grounds at Minnesota State. Her old dorm is now a parking lot, but the clock tower is still there! #GoMavs

- We also took some family photos, but you'll just have to wait for our Christmas card before you see those... =0). 

All in all, it was a great trip. Everyone had fun, everyone was well (enough) behaved, and it was good to see family. We'll be sure to head out there again before another 5 years passes. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Adventures in Solo Parenting!

Hello, friends! 

This past week, Megan was in St. Louis leading our new staff cohort in a training on scriptural engagement. Besides being slightly jealous that she got to eat all the delicious things that St. Louis has to offer (she declined to bring me back any White Castle...) it was going to be another adventure in solo parenting! 

Solo parenting isn't anything new to either of us. Sometimes she goes on trips and sometimes I go on trips. The one thing that made this adventure extra exciting was that this was the first time either of us would be solo parenting with a dog (and a tortoise!). This would also be the first time since JoJo started pre-school. 

Honestly, those two facts were big changes. Usually, it'd be a situation where we would pay for an extra day or two at daycare, then I'd drop everyone off in the morning, work all day, then pick everyone up and do the dinner/playtime/bedtime routine. But, since JoJo is in preschool in the morning, we can't do daycare for just the afternoon. Added to that, since I had to let Phoebe out to go to the bathroom every few hours, I couldn't just be out all day. It was a different experience indeed! Here's how it broke down: 

Monday: 

- 8am: Head out and do some Sabbath stuff before Megan heads to the airport

- 10am: Get back to the house to say goodbye to Megan

- 11:30am: Pick up JoJo, go get lunch, and head home to let out Phoebe

- 2pm: Take Phoebe (with JoJo) for a walk

- 2:30pm: Take JoJo to Costco to pick up some groceries

- 3:30pm: Get a call from Megan that Thaliea threw up and needs to come home

- 3:50pm: Pick up Thaliea and Ezra from school

- 4pm: Get home, cook dinner, get Ezra to do his homework, get Thaliea to bed, make sure JoJo is entertained, and let out Phoebe

- 5pm: Eat dinner and playing outside with the boys

- 7pm: Bedtime routine and try to get everyone in bed by 8

Tuesday:

- 6:30am: Wake up to feed Phoebe and find out that she pooped in her kennel overnight

- 8am: Get everyone ready for school/daycare (Thaliea stayed home) and bribe them with McDonald's if we can do it quickly (we do... McGriddles for everyone!!!)

- 9am: Get back home and work from home, occasionally switching off my screen so I can let out Phoebe or get something for Thaliea

- 3:30pm: Pick up JoJo

- 5:30pm: Pick up Ezra from his friend's house (he went there after school)

- 5:45pm: Head to Alpine Inn for dinner with some of the men from our small group (and to feed some raccoons!)

- 8pm: Bedtime for EVERYONE (if only it was that simple)

Wednesday:

- 5am: Wake up with a massive migraine but still let out Phoebe because we CAN'T have a repeat of yesterday

- 6:30pm: Wake up again, migraine is still there, and get ready for the day

- 7:30am: The kids are up and it's time to get ready for school

- 8:30am: Everyone off to school, including JoJo to preschool

- 9am: Go back home and try to get some work done, while occasionally letting out the dog

- 2pm: Pick up JoJo

- 4pm: Pick up Ezra and Thaliea

- 4:30pm: Cook dinner while bribing the children with ice cream if everyone does all their chores and homework

- 6:30pm: IT WORKED! Go get ice cream

- 7:30pm: Let's get everyone to bed! 

- 8:45pm: Have a phone call with a ministry partner

Thursday:

- 5am: Did I wake up this time? I assume I did but I really don't know

- 6:30am: Feed the dog. Either I got up the first time or the second time on this one...

- 7:30am: Kids are up and it's time to go!

- 8:15am: Everyone out the door so we can get donuts on the way to school (for those counting at home,that's bribery #3)

- 9am: Back home to play everyone's favorite game, "Work while occasionally letting out the dog!"

- 3:30pm: Pick up JoJo

- 4pm: Pick up Thaliea, Ezra, and Ezra's friend for a playdate

- 5:30pm: Friend heads home and we're off to church small group

- 6:30pm: Tell the kids that if they finish their food, they can have a s'more (#4!)

- 7:30pm: Head home because there's still homework to be done! 

- 8:30pm: Bedtime for the kids

- 9pm: As much cleaning as can get done before Megan gets home, including dishes, laundry, mopping, and cleaning the bathrooms. Many podcast episodes were consumed... 

- 11:30pm: Sleep, blessed sleep

- 12:30am (Friday): Megan comes home and our family is complete again... 

By the numbers, we had 4 briberies, 1 poop emergency, 1 puke emergency, and 7 dog walks, which isn't too bad! Everyone is alive. No one got lost (I'm looking at you, Gus!), and a decent time was had by all... 

Funnily enough, Megan will be out of town for work again next month, so we'll get to do it all over again! Please pray. =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

JoJo Sabbath Rhythms...

Hello, friends! 

Last week I wrote about how becoming a "Dog Dad" has changed some of my daily rhythms. One of the other changes this Fall has been to weekly rhythms, particularly my Sabbath rhythm. This one has some to do with a dog and more to do with a JoJo. 

Both Megan and I take Mondays as a Sabbath. It used to be that we would wake up in the morning, head our separate ways, and be back together for dinner to share about our Sabbath experiences. Of course, that all changed with kids and really changed once they started school. For the past few years, it was one of us taking either the morning or the afternoon and then swapping around lunch time. 

Last year, we tried a new rhythm to try to change the timing a bit. I would get up early and do part of my Sabbath until it was time for the older kids to go to school. Then, Megan would take the older kids to school and JoJo and I would hang out until the early afternoon. Sometimes we'd go to the zoo. Sometimes we'd take the bus to the trampoline park. Sometimes we'd go to the library. Sometimes, we'd just stay at home. Then Megan and I would swap and I'd take the second half of my Sabbath time. It worked out well enough.

However, we had a new wrinkle in the timing of everything when Jonah started pre-school. Added to that, with Phoebe, me getting up earlier to go downstairs and do Sabbath stuff wasn't going to work. Once she heard me, she was going to want to be up. My options were to either get up earlier like it was a work day (not exactly the most restful of options) or get up later and we switch things up. 

The new rhythm seems to be working well. I get up later than I used to (extra sleep? Count me in!) and get the kids (and dog) ready for the day. Megan heads out for her Sabbath as soon as she's up. I take the kids the older kids to school (with JoJo in tow), head home to let out Phoebe one more time, then take JoJo to pre-school. I then have 2 hours to chill before picking up JoJo, grabbing some lunch, and heading home for his "resting time." Megan and I will then switch and I'll have the afternoon.  

Do you know what my favorite part of the new rhythm is? It's not getting up later, although that's great. It's not a more time in the afternoon, although that's also great. It's not even having an extra chunk of time in the late morning while JoJo is at pre-school. It's not the run to Burger King for lunch that JoJo insists we do every week. My favorite part of the day is picking up JoJo from pre-school. 

JoJo's preschool has one door in and one door out so there's a bit of a logjam at pickup. The teachers have all the kids sit on a rug and the parents enter single file to pick up their kids. Usually, I can spot JoJo before he spots me, mainly because he's looking longingly at the other kids around him who are getting picked up by his parents. Those 3 seconds when I see him, say, "JoJo!", he turns towards me, and his face lights up because he knows that he wasn't forgotten and that he's going home, is the highlight of my day. To be loved by your kiddo like that, to be seen as safe and to be happy to be seen, is something that I love and will never get tired of it. 

This new rhythm will just be for the year. After this, JoJo will go to elementary school and his rhythm will change again. But for now, we've got a good thing going and I don't mind it one bit. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Dog Dad Rhythms...

Hello, friends! 

As you know, this summer we got a tortoise as well as a dog. Phoebe the goldendoodle has been with us for just about 2 months and I've been learning about what it means to be a "dog dad." 

See, when we decided to get Gus and Phoebe, I was fairly certain that Megan and the kids were going to dote all over the dog and that Gus and I would spend a lot of time hanging out by ourselves. Honestly, I was totally fine with that. I'm not antagonistic towards dogs, I'm just not a traditional "dog person." 

The thing that changed things was morning rhythms. Since having kids, I've found myself to be more of a morning person. I like to get up early and do my morning routine (hang out with Jesus, practice Mandarin, exercise, extend my Wordle streak, start work) before the kids are up and the day starts. Pre-dog, I would get up around 5:30 (sometimes I'd let myself sleep in until 6:30), head down to our basement, and come back up around 7ish when I heard the kids (read: JoJo... always JoJo) come out of their rooms. It was a nice rhythms. 

You know what you can't do? You can't sneak past a hungry dog. I learned this when I tried to keep my rhythm but heard the very distinctive whine of a hungry dog who had to go to the bathroom. Of course, I don't want an accident so I let out the dog. But then the dog is awake and my whole morning routine is out the window. 

So, I've had to adjust. There are a few things I've learned how to do to get back my rhythm. 

- Get up earlier. I learned that if Phoebe is awake when the sun is up, she's up. HOWEVER, if I let her out to go to the bathroom when it's still dark outside, she'll go back to sleep when she's done her business. So, now I'm up at 5 when it's still dark and she'll sleep until about 6:30 or so.  

- Give up on work. Getting Phoebe out of her kennel, waiting for her to go to the bathroom, and feeding her take up just enough time for me to not be able to get substantial work done. It's OK. I've come to terms with it. 

- Get better at doing things one handed. My number one job when I'm up with Phoebe in the morning is to make sure that she doesn't make enough noise to wake up anyone else in the family. This is obviously easier said than done, especially since she's recently been convinced that the dog she sees on our TV screen (read: her reflection) is her mortal enemy who must be barked at in order to show dominance. The solution I've found, is belly rubs. If I keep scratching her, she stays chill. That means everything else needs to be done one-handed. 

Phoebe and I have worked out a nice little rhythm in the mornings. Honestly, she's a pretty chill dog until the kids get up and she tries to eat their clothes as they're wearing them. This Dog Dad life isn't one that I would have necessarily chosen for myself, but we've worked out something nice and I don't mind where we are. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Gus' Big Adventure!

Hello, friends!

There are a lot of great things about having a pet. The unconditional love is great. Most pets are super cute. Really, it's mostly good stuff. However, there is one thing that makes having a "free range" pet difficult... there's always a chance they'll run away. 

Gus had quite the adventure last week. Tortoises are naturally exploratory animals. They love to walk around and find just the right spot to dig a little hole and burrow in for a nap. Honestly, it's pretty fun to watch. Because we have him in a relatively small enclosure inside (it's not tiny but I'm sure he wouldn't mind more space...) while the weather is nice, we've been letting him roam around outside for 15-30 minutes once or twice a day. He'll usually make his way towards the back of our yard and hole up until it's time to go back inside. You can tell he's not the happiest about going back inside because he never kicks his legs when we're holding him to take him outside but he's ALWAYS kicking his legs to try to escape our grip when we take him back inside.  

On Tuesday afternoon, Gus decided to go for an adventure during his time outside. I had my eyes on him (as normal) so there wasn't any big concern. Based on the surveillance footage from our doorbell camera, there were about 4 minutes when I wasn't watching him because I was talking to Megan and helping get Phoebe inside. During those 4 minutes, he made a break for it and when I went back to look for him, he was gone.  

Usually, he heads to the right, where there is plenty of chain link fence and high rock walls to keep him on our property. He'll try to climb up the rock walls but it's just too steep for him and we can keep tabs on him pretty well. However, the left side of our backyard has no chain link fence and a lower rock wall that is a little less steep. Guess which way he went on Tuesday...

As I was frantically looking around and calling his name (as if he'd actually come to me), I saw that he could have gone one of 3 ways. He could have made a break for the front yard. The gate was closed but maybe he found a hole and was out to explore the world. A second option was that he climbed the rock wall and was heading towards our neighbors. As I was looking around, I discovered a third option: there was a little hole underneath our shed from when we used to have a groundhog in the neighborhood and he could have burrowed under there. 

Megan thought that he was under the shed, so Tuesday night, while she took the kids to scouts, I took everything out of the shed and started tearing up the floorboards. 

Friends, this was a very delicate operation! On the one hand, I wanted to work quickly. On the other hand, I was swinging and axe at the floorboards. If Gus was under there, I didn't want to accidentally cut him in half. I was very tense with each swing. Eventually, it got too dark to see anything and I called it a night. Megan let all our neighbors know we were looking for Gus and I posted on Nextdoor before heading to bed, ready to take the next day off so I could finish the shed job. 

The next morning, before starting demolition again, I went to my neighbor with the fence and asked if I could poke around his backyard to see if I could find Gus. When I went back there, I knew I wouldn't have any luck. The grass was too high and there were too many places for Gus to hide. If he was back there, I wasn't going to find him. I had to hope that he was under the shed. 

I'll pause here and note how geography affects timing. My parents have a tortoise in California. He's an outdoor tortoise and sometimes they don't see him for a few weeks or a few months but they don't worry about it because they know he'll turn up. Why? Because they live in Southern California where it never gets below freezing. Tortoises aren't built for sub-freezing temperatures like we have in Nebraska in the winter. I knew that if we didn't find him Gus by November, our best hope is that he found a new home but what was more likely was that he froze to death. Not a great thought... 

Back to the shed. My friend from scouts offered to come over and help me tear up the rest of the shed floor, so we spent the rest of the morning doing that. We tore up everything but alas, there was no Gus. (we did find a possum skeleton though, so I guess that's something...) As a thank you, I offered to take him to lunch and since we finished right when Jonah finished preschool, He and Megan joined us for lunch. 

We were in the parking lot of the Chick-Fil-A, about to head home when Megan got a notification from our video doorbell. Our neighbor's granddaughter found Gus in their front yard and had brought him home!!! Even though looking in their backyard didn't yield any fruit, apparently telling my neighbor that Gus was missing was what we needed to bring him home! 

After making a fool of myself dancing in a Chick-Fil-A parking lot, we headed home to recover Gus. Both Megan and I gave him a stern talking talking to but we were happy he was home. Once we put him back in his box he started clawing at the walls. It's pretty obvious to me that he'd rather be outside, which makes me conflicted but for now, he's still with us. 

Luke 15 is Jesus telling a 3 parables about how great it is to find what is lost. The most famous of these parables is the Prodigal Son but after finding Gus, I now have a brand new appreciation for the parable of the woman and the lost coin. The woman swept the whole house to find her coin then celebrated with her friends. I tore up a shed floor to find Gus and when we found him, the family went to a pumpkin patch to celebrate. =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

The Power of Prayer...

Hello, friends! 

Last week, I wrote about processing loss and how Jonah was doing with the loss of his friend. It was such a blessing to see the outpouring of love and support from everyone. Since I started blogging in 2011, last week's post was the most viewed post ever. Apparently, something about processing lost resonated with people. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. 

If the past few days have shown me anything, it's that there is power in prayer. I'm not sure that I could have said that with all integrity a week and a half ago but I have more evidence of it now. 

One of the things that I didn't mention when I first told the story was the prayer part. After Jonah's friend drowned, he was on life support, functionally brain dead but being kept alive so that organ recipients could be found. While we were on the way home from daycare, Jonah and I prayed that his friend would miraculously be healed. It was a short prayer but it brought up a lot in me. 

Jesus said that if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can tell a mountain to be thrown into the sea and it will be done. I've read all the Bible stories about people being brought back from the dead. In that moment of praying with Jonah for his friend, I wanted to have the faith of a mustard seed; I knew that I didn't. It wasn't quite a crisis of faith but it was a humbling experience for sure. 

Fast forward to last Wednesday. I posted about Jonah and was immediately flooded with comments and messages from people offering their condolences and saying that they were praying for our family and for Jonah. It was comforting and heartwarming to say the least. 

The next day, Thursday morning, was another daycare day. After the rough Tuesday we had, I wasn't sure what to expect. Friends, I have no problem telling you that Thursday morning felt like a miracle. Jonah had no problem getting into the car and there was no crying on his way to daycare. When I walked him into daycare, in the lobby was a collage of photos of his friend. Jonah looked at the collage, found a few photos where he was in there too, smiled, and walked right into the cafeteria. I honestly felt like crying for the 3rd time in 2 weeks, except tears of joy (I didn't). 

At drop off today, Jonah had a bit of a rough time but it was better than last Tuesday. It's possible that last Thursday was a fluke and he was just excited about the donut that we got on our way to daycare. Still, I'm choosing to believe that he was helped by all the prayers of friends, family, and loved ones. 

What's wild is that I still need these reminders of the power of prayer. I've experienced the power of prayer in my own life in different ways. I've experienced physical healing, both on the giving and receiving end. I've seen demons cast out and words of prophecy given that were spot on and only could be from the LORD. I know that prayer works. I'm so glad that I get reminders like this every now and then. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Processing loss...

Hello, friend!

Last week, when I went to go pick up Jonah from daycare, the woman who owns the daycare informed me that one of the students from Jonah's class died over the weekend in a pool accident. The student's older brother came to tell Jonah's class about it so everyone knew. Obviously, any death is a tragedy but this one hit especially close to home because it was a friend of Jonah's. I don't think that I had met the kid but I knew the name because Jonah always identified him as one of his friends. 

Taking Jonah home from school that day was pretty tough. I wasn't sure of how Jonah would be processing everything. He was just a baby when his great grandmother died. Our pet fish, Fluffy, died last summer but Jonah didn't think too much of it. We had some friends from church who had one of their little ones die last year but Jonah didn't know him well. This was really the first time that someone close to Jonah would die. 

As we rode home, Jonah was pretty open in talking about things in a matter of fact way. He wanted to know if each ambulance had his friend in it and had some of the normal questions. I almost lost it when he asked if his friend was going to see his great grandma in heaven and again when he said that he didn't want his friend to go to heaven because he wanted to see him at school. As someone who hadn't cried since 2021, things got really close. 

We finally hit critical mass on Thursday, the next day Jonah was set to go to daycare. He had his first day of preschool the day before so he was crying the entire way to daycare, yelling, "I don't want to go to daycare! I want to go to preschool!" I know at least part of that was because of how much fun he had the day before but I also believe that he was sad about his friend. After dropping him off at daycare (while he was still crying), I couldn't get all the way back to the car before breaking down. It was too much. 

On Monday, the daycare had a ceremony to plant a tree in the student's honor. We asked Jonah if he wanted to go but he said that he didn't need to go because the tree was to remember his friend but he already remembered his friend so there was no need to see it. #KidLogicFTW. Yesterday was another tough day a drop off. The whole way there, Jonah cried about not wanting to see the tree. I offered to go in to see the tree with him but he was a no go on that. I dropped him off crying again, then cried myself, the second time in less than a week. 

Looking at it now, the thing that evokes so much emotion in me is that Jonah is hurting but he isn't sure how to process it. On top of the crying on the way to daycare, he's also ad trouble falling asleep. He's also perfectly fine for a whole bunch of the time. When I pick him up from daycare, he's been in a good mood. It sucks that my boy is hurt and there's nothing I can do to help make it better. I can't bring back his friend... 

Friends, if you are the praying sort, please be praying. Pray for the family of the child who died, that God will bring them the comfort they need. Please pray for Megan and me as we try to help Jonah process. Pray for Jonah that he will be able to process his emotions in a healthy way and know that he is loved. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

PS: I thought about posting some photos of Jonah and his friend here but decided against it as a way of respecting the child and his family. I don't know them and don't know if they want a photo of their kiddo out in the world. Just know that he and Jonah looked like they were having fun. =0)

Bellevue Kickoff!!!

Hello, friends!

Last night Bellevue had its kickoff event. We decided to go with the classics: Chick-Fil-A nuggets and Uno. =0). 

Our start was a little bit hectic. I picked up the food at 5, thinking we were starting at 5:30. Our student intern Jill called me at 5:05, asking where I was. It was then that I realized that we'd changed the time to 5 last week. When I got to Bellevue and started setting up, I was worried because no one was there. It turns out that Jill had changed the time back to 5:30 and hadn't told me. Whoops! 

When 5:30 rolled around we had a few students show up. Jill was excited because none of them were athletes. Increasing non-athlete participation was a goal of hers for this year, so this felt like a win. We'd ordered for 25 and only had about half a dozen there, so we opted for a divide and conquer. Jill stayed with the students who showed up and learned more about them, connecting and such. Kaylee, one of Jill's teammates, and I took the big dish of Chick-Fil-A cookies and some InterVarsity flyers around the student center, offering cookies to folk eating dinner and inviting them to next week's Bible Study. Most of the people just took a cookie, thanked us, and went back to their conversation. However, we did me Princess and Kimberly, two students from the DRC and Kenya. They were looking for community on campus and came by later to hang out with us for a bit. 

All in all, it was a great event. Jill was encouraged, Kaylee was a huge help, and we got to meet some new students. Woot! 

These NSO events are a good reminder for me that we all have different expectations and that ultimately, God is the one with the plan. My biggest fear for these events is that no one will show up and the student leaders will be disappointed. Attendance was considerably lower than what we were hoping for but it ended up working out for the best. Because there were fewer students, Jill was able to connect more with them on an individual level. Because there were leftover cookies, we were able to go into the caf and meet Princess and Kimberly. Because the volleyball team had a match (they won, btw), Kaylee had space to step up. God does his thing, and that's OK.

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Soccer Season!

Hello, friends! 

It's about 100 degrees here in Omaha this week, which means it's the perfect time for soccer season to start! This year, both Jonah and Ezra are playing soccer. We had our first games of the season last weekend. 

Last year, we tried having Jonah play soccer but he really wasn't ready for it. He loved the practice time before the game but as soon as the game started, he didn't want to go in any more. It was a pretty frustrating experience so we held him out of Spring Soccer. This year though, he was really all about getting in there. He scored a few goals, had a big smile on his face, and overall, had a great time. It probably helped that one of his buddies is on the team with him. Except for the times when they stole the ball from each other, as 4 year olds are prone to do, they had a great time playing together. 

Ezra has been playing with the same group of kids for the past few years now, with me as their coach along with a friend of mine. The team we were playing was playing the second leg of a double header so they were gassed and we won handily. However, what was even more fun that seeing Ezra score 2 goals and the team cruise to victory, was seeing the growth from last season. Every season, we try to introduce new concepts to the team. This year, it was staying onsides. It took some getting used to but everyone did a great job of adjusting. The team continues to grow and get better, which is fun to see. 

Oh, and we got sick new jerseys... =0). 

We'll see how the season shakes out. The goal for Jonah is for him to participate every week. Ezra's goal is an undefeated season. I think both are possible. There are a few times when the games overlap so I'll be able to see most but not all of Jonah's games. Still, I'm looking forward to another great season of soccer. 

#GoBlackWidows

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Who is God?

Hello, friends!

I had the honor of preaching at church again last week and I wanted to share the sermon with you. 

Sometimes the sermons come really easily. For me, this is usually the case when we're studying a chunk of scripture and I'm able to really dive into one particular word or phrase that jumps out to me. Other time, sermons are a little more of a battle. This sermon was definitely a battle but it was also definitely worth it. You don't see it on the video but we had at least 2 or 3 people make decisions to follow Jesus during service, which is what it's all about. This sermon was hard to prep but a joy to preach. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Back to School.

Hello, friends! 

As you're reading this, all 3 of our kids are officially back at school/daycare. After 10 weeks of travel, life changes, and power outages because of summer storms, we are back into the school year rhythm. 

People have been asking me whether the school year is easier or harder than the summer. The honest truth is both have their pros and cons. 

For the Summer, it's a blessing not being beholden to any particular schedule. had the freedom to do more stuff, like taking trips to South Dakota to pick up a puppy or going to Disneyland. Also, bed times and wake times are more lax, which means if the kids want to sleep in until 9:30 and we get a little more quiet time in the morning, we can do that!

But there are also some cons. It's not hard for 3 kids to eventually get sick of seeing each other all the time. I know that even with a sitter, it was hard for Megan to work at home. And, let's not forget how much bigger our grocery bill got because the kids were eating at home. 

During the school year, it's really just super busy. The start of the school year doesn't just mean the start of school. It also means the start of soccer, scouts, and dance. With 3 kids, it doesn't take long for the schedule to fill up. Our goal as a family is to have at least one free night a week. We'll see how that goes... =0). 

So, friends, please be praying for us and for our family as we enter a new school year. Thankfully, the kids are excited to go back to learn more and see their friends. It'll take some adjustments, as it always does, but we're excited for a new year full of fun. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Welcome, Phoebe!!!

Hello, friends! 

Thanks to everyone who was praying for the Big Dig. It was a really great time and Jesus was definitely present.

We left for the Big Dig on Friday and came back on Monday. We had to make sure that we got plenty of good sleep on Monday night because Tuesday was going to be a big day for us. After spending 3 hours in the car coming back from Kansas City, we decided to add another 4.5 hours in the car on Tuesday to go to and from Beresford, South Dakota. What was in Beresford? The newest member of our family, Phoebe Ensley Leong! 

It's only been a few days with Phoebe but so far it's been great. She seems to already be potty trained and seems to be picking up a few commands like "Come" and "Sit" already. Is it possible that we have the smartest dog in all the world? We just might! =0). 

So far the kids have been great with Phoebe and she's been great with them. Ezra has definitely been the most helpful, although, sometimes he can be a little too helpful. You know that old saying, "let sleeping dogs lie"? I don't think Ezra has heard that one yet. 

Of course, Phoebe is still a puppy so we're working on some things. She really likes chewing on the rug in our living room (well, she likes chewing on everything) and she's still getting used to our sleeping arrangements as evidenced by the crying she does at night. Still, overall, she's been a pretty chill dog and we're really happy to have her. 

Life with a dog is definitely going to be different for us. Gus is a pretty chill pet so to add a much more "high maintenance" animal into the mix will take some adjusting. She's definitely worth it though. 

Please be praying for us as we make these adjustments. The biggest prayer requests is that we need her to start sleeping through the night. Getting up at 1am to let her out so she can go the bathroom doesn't lend itself to a great night's sleep and the whining after she gets back into her cage doesn't help either. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

The Big Dig!

Hello, friends! 

As you're reading this, we're on our way to Kansas City for the Big Dig, our start of the year student conference. We'll have around 60 or so students, volunteers, and staff gathering to dig deep into John 15, learning what it means to abide in Jesus. 

There are a lot of things to be excited about for the Big Dig. The kids are really excited to run around camp (this will be at the same place as International Getaway) and our speaker, Bette Dickenson is going to be amazing. To experience John 15, we're going to visit a vineyard. We even have a worship team from South America leading us this weekend. 

But, there are also some challenges. There was a huge storm that came through Omaha on Wednesday and we were without power for about a day, which put us behind on prep. It's supposed to be really hot in Kansas City, which is always carries it's own risks. We also had two students from Nebraska drop out at the last minute, which is always frustrating. 

Still, we are hopeful that God will show up on a really powerful way. Please pray for journeys mercies as we travel, for good participation from the students, and that the Holy Spirit will move in Kansas City. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Last Year's big dig ice cream trip! =0).

Disneyland!!!

Hello, friends! 

We're back from a wonderful trip to California to visit family. The only snafu that we ran into was that EVERYONE in my extended family came down with COVID at one point or another during the trip. Somehow, we avoided catching it (or at least everyone was asymptomatic), which was a huge blessing, especially since one of our days out there was a trip to Disneyland! 

Megan and I have wanted to do a family trip to Disneyland for some time now. We also knew that we wanted to wait until the kids were old enough to have memories of the trip. Ezra and Megan went to Disneyland about 6 years ago when her cousin got married but Ezra was too small to remember any of it. As an added bonus, Jonah is exactly 40 inches tall, which means he can ride most of the rides too! 

Thanks to the generosity of my mom and some family friends who work for Disneyland, we were even able to get free tickets! That was a huge blessing as well, as those tickets are NOT cheap... We did pay for the Genie+ addition, which was totally worth it (more on that later). 

Disneyland's parking lot opens at 7 and the rope drops at 8, so we were motivated to get there early. I grabbed some donuts to entice the kids to hop out of bed at 6 so we could get to the parking lot right at 7. Our family friend with the pass met us at the park and we were in! 

Friends, it really was a practically perfect day. Here were a few highlights:

- Right off the bat, we went to Toon Town. Mickey Mouse was in front of his house and while JoJo (the biggest Mickey Mouse fan in the family) didn't want his photo taken with him, we did get Mickey to wave at him. The smile on JoJo's face was priceless. 

- I'm not a roller coaster guy but I love me some Big Thunder Mountain. I was really glad that we were able to go on that as a family and the kids really enjoyed it too. 

- The Genie+ pass was absolutely worth the money. We were able to get in the "Lightening Lane" for a ride once every 2 hours, which saved us a ton of time. By my count, we went on 20 rides (some we did twice and sometimes we split up) and watched 5 shows (including 2 parades).

- Thaliea lost a tooth! 

- The kids really did great. We stayed until 11pm and everyone was in mostly good spirits. 

- The meal food wasn't terribly priced! The dinner we got at the Cantina was actually about what I would expect to pay at a restaurant and the things we got for lunch were maybe only a dollar more than it would be at other places. 

- Matching shirts are always a good call. 

Of course, it wasn't perfect. There were a few rides that were shut down that we couldn't ride. The snacks (churros, popcorn, ice cream, etc.) were DEFINITELY overpriced. And, because my watch doesn't track my steps when I'm pushing the stroller, I fell just short of 30k steps. Still, we'll call the day a definite win. 

The hope is to make it to Disney World at some point. There may even be a week long Disney/Universal Studios trip in our future at some point. Either way, it was a really great trip and hopefully the kids will remember it for the rest of their lives. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Unmerited Generosity

Hello, friends!

It's amazing to think that the summer is already halfway over! It's the middle of July and before you know it, it'll be time to get ready for school again. 

For InterVarsity staff, the summer is a good time to focus on ministry partnership development (affectionately known as MPD). Our schedules are a little more free so we have more time to meet with partners and potential partners to invite them to partner with us.

It's been a lot of fun meeting with folk, hearing how God is moving in their lives and connecting with them. I've done a few asks by myself and I've done a few with Megan and both types have been great. 

What has been even more fun (and humbling) is how folk have started giving or increased their giving without us even connecting with them. We usually get one or two of those a year but this summer we've already have 4 or 5! 

This comes at an especially good time as we have a big budget jump for the upcoming year. Every year that I've been on staff (this is now year 18!), I've made budget and ended "in the black." Even in just the first few weeks of the summer, God has shown, through unexpected generosity, that he plans on showing up again in our finances. It's been a fun reminded that God is in control. 

Have an excellent day!

Psalms of Praise

Hello, friends! 

I got another opportunity to preach on Sunday! It was a joy to be able to share the word with everyone. 

This definitely wasn't my best sermon. It's been a really busy few weeks with work and various family things, so I didn't get as much time to prep as I would have hoped. Still, God came through as he always does and I think it turned out OK. 

Enjoy! 

~Adam 

End of the Year!

Hello, friends!

Just in case you didn't get it, I wanted to post our end of the year update here. 2023-2024 was another very full year and we're thankful for all the ways that God showed up, both personally and professionally. 

If you didn't get this update in your mailbox but would like to, please, drop us a line and we'll gladly add you to our mailing list. 

Also, if you're interested in giving to partner with us in the work we do with InterVarsity, you can do so by following this link.

Have an excellent day! 

~ Adam