Merry Christmas!!!!

Hello, friends! 

Just in case yours copy got lost in the mail, here's our Christmas newsletter for the year! 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Progressive Dinner!

Hello, friends! 

Last week, our family got to take part in one of my favorite Nebraska IV traditions, the Progressive Dinner! We gather students from all over the state and progress from place to place for each part of the meal (appetizers, main course, and desserts). I love this event because it's a great way for students from different campuses to get to know each other and connect in a fun way. It's fun seeing students meeting new people and even getting dressed up for a "fancy" party. 

We knew things would be a bit smaller this year with all of the transitions in the Nebraska area, but we still felt the invitation to gather students, staff, faculty, alumni, and volunteers. We had people present from Metro Community College, Bellevue University, UNO, Creighton University, and University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Instead of using 3 different places for each course of the meal, we had appetizers in one part of our partner church, the main course in a second part of the church, then we all went to our coworkers house for desserts. 

One of the students who came is a Nigerian international student, ChiChi, who had just arrived 4 days before the dinner. She was invited by her roommate, Shelby Little, who is a student intern with InterVarsity at Bellevue University. ChiChi prayed that God would bring an African woman to the dinner for her to connect with as she adjusts to the United States. Jacinta is a Kenyan woman who was an international student over 20 years ago. She was set to come to the dinner but was feeling tired on a Friday night, but as she laid in bed God told her she needed to get up and go to the dinner. They met and connected so well. It's a great example of how this dinner has provided life long connections between people who wouldn't have a chance to meet otherwise. 

The kids also had a great time. They love running around and meeting new people. They REALLY love seeing some old friends, particularly the Bellevue women's basketball team. 

Have an excellent day! 

Wrapped!

Hello, friends! 

One of the most fun days of the year during the holiday season is Spotify Wrapped Day! This is the day when Spotify users all over the world find out just how much they've been listening to Spotify as well as their top artists and songs. It's a fun day for Spotify users, even if it doesn't really mean anything ultimately. 

The whole Omaha Leong family shares one Spotify account, which leads to some pretty interesting and hilarious results. A few of the highlights: 

- This year, I posted in the top .05% of all Kelly Clarkson listeners on Spotify, amassing nearly 2000 minutes of listening time. While this is quite an achievement in of itself, including over 2 extra hours of Kelly Clarkson listening compared to last year, I can't help but be a little disappointed. My goal was to reach the top .01% this year. To the roughly 10k people around the world who listened to more Kelly Clarkson than me, I salute you. 

- We really need to stop putting Ezra on DJ duty. Of our top 5 songs, 3 of them were worship songs (usually listened to by Megan while she's getting ready in the morning), Our top 2 songs were VERY much Ezra. That That by Psy (featuring Suga of BTS) and Stamp on the Ground by the Italo Brothers took our #2 and #1 spots this year. Ezra didn't even discover Stamp on the Ground until after we went to Cub Scout Camp in June and it still managed to reach #1 on our charts. When the boy locks onto a song, he REALLY locks onto a song... 

- We really slacked on our show tunes this year. Last year, songs from Hamilton, Wicked, and Encanto made our top list. This year, they were nowhere to be found. I think this probably goes along with Ezra dominating DJ duties. When we pick the songs as a family, we want something we can sing along to. When Ezra gets ahold of the playlist, it's all about dancing. 

Spotify's Wrapped only takes into account listening between January 1 and October 31 of any given year, meaning all my Kelly Clarkson Christmas music listening won't do me any good in terms of next year's rankings. That means I've got roughly 1 month to figure out how to get my listening up for next year. Increasing by 150 minutes still didn't get me into the top .01%, so there's still work to be done. I guess there's always next year's Wrapped!

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Addresses Please!

Hello, friends! 

We are getting very close to the end of the calendar year, which means it's almost time for us to send our Christmas letters! 

Over the course of the year, I'm sure that there have been lots of life changes for lots of us! Maybe folk have moved! Maybe folk have changed their marital status or the size of their family! They say that the only constant is change, right? 

SO, dear friends, if you've had a significant change in your life over the past year, specifically related to your mailing address, would you be so kind as to fill out the form below so we can make sure our Christmas card gets to the right place? OR, if you've never gotten a card from us before but would like one, you can fill out the form too! 

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for another great year. =0). 

Address Update and Prayer Requests

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

The Goodness of God...

Hello, friends! 

Every morning, as I'm hanging out with Jesus, I start by thanking Him for the goodness he showed me yesterday. Usually, it's related to good meetings or good work getting done, evidence of the generosity and hospitality of others, and a good night with the kids. It's not deep stuff but it gets me into a posture of gratitude and a reminder of God's goodness before getting into areas of confession and supplication. 

Lately, I've had to work a little bit harder to center myself around the goodness of God. A few nights ago, some friends of ours from church lost their 3.5 year old son to a long term illness. We also know folk who have loved ones battling other illnesses, financial struggles, and the like. That doesn't even get into the fact that it seems like there is real evil in the world, both home and abroad that seems to have gotten worse instead of better. Sometimes, the world doesn't feel all that good. 

I've been reflecting on Theodicy lately. Theodicy, the vindication of God in the midst of evil, is a tough topic. On the one hand, platitudes like, "the mystery of God," "The LORD works in mysterious ways," or things like that are TERRIBLY unsatisfying. Paul talks about the clay not asking the potter, "why have you made me?", the implication often coming from that that we shouldn't questions God's ways or his purposes. I also find that really unsatisfying, not in the least because it assumes that we don't have any agency in our lives. We are not robots or puppets moved around by God solely for his own enjoyment. Sometimes things suck. 

On the other hand, I do have to believe in the goodness of God's plan. I don't like the worldview that says that all of life is meaningless or that there isn't a God who is ultimately in control. If that were the case, the incentives to live a life of love are greatly diminished or subject to my own whims or interpretations. That also seems TERRIBLY unsatisfying. 

Where I've landed on theodicy is that eventually, vindication of God's goodness will come. I don't know when and I don't know how, but I know that it will. There is real evil in the world and while God will eventually be victorious, I'm not privy to when that vindication will come nor what my role in that vindication will be. All I can do is live my life, listening to the Holy Spirit and believing that I will be a part of that vindication. 

You too, get to be a part of that vindication. Evil exists in the world but it doesn't have to win as much as it does. We, especially those of us who are part of the body of Christ, have an obligation to fight evil and be part of that vindication. Aho, may it be so. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam 

A Call To Action!

Hello, friends! 

A few weeks ago, The Flatwater Free Press, an independent news organization in Nebraska, wrote a story about how nitrate levels in water around hog farms owned by our current governor were unusually high. The story was written by Yangqi Xu, a Chinese international (and Mizzou alum!). 

When asked about the story, Governor Pillen's response was less than forthcoming and more than a little racist and xenophobic. 

In case you want to cut right to the chase, here's what Pillen said: "“Number one, I didn’t read it. And I won’t. Number two, all you got to do is look at the author. The author is from communist China. What more do you need to know?”

Pillen was asked about his response later by other journalists and his response was not to apologize but to completely dismiss the question as part of the "political side show." 

Friends, this is absolutely infuriating on a number of levels. Firstly, as a Chinese American living in Nebraska, comments like these, to go along with accusation by our senators that the Nebraska Chinese Association is a front for Communist propaganda and spying, make it very clear to me that I'm always going to be an outsider around these parts and there's a very good chance that my children will always be treated as outsiders too. This sucks, and it sucks hard because for the most part, I like it here. 

Secondly, it just sucks that the Governor can't own up to his mistakes. I'm not calling Governor Pillen a racist; I've only met him once. However, it's possible for people who aren't racists to do and say racist things. This is one of those times. Had Governor Pillen admitted to his mistake and apologized, there'd be no problem on my end. People mess up all the time. It's the lack of reflection, the defensiveness, and the inability to repent that really gets me, especially coming from someone who says faith is such a big part of his life. 

Here's where things get interesting. Friends, especially those living in Nebraska, I'm asking for your help. Could you please take a minute to call the Governor's Office and encourage him to publicly apologize to Ms. Xu and to retract his previous statements? It doesn't have to be a long message. I can even provide a script for you. 

"Hello, Governor! My name is ______________ and I am a resident of Nebraska. I was very disappointed by your comments made about Yangqi Xu of the Flatwater Free Press. I have friends in the Asian American community here in Nebraska that were hurt and offended by your comments. If we want Nebraska to be a place that is open and welcoming to all people, we cannot be making assumptions about people based on their birthplace. I encourage you to publicly apologize and retract your previous statement. Thank you." 

The phone number is: 402-471-2244

To entice you, here's a photo of my lovely Chinese American children who live in Nebraska and who I'd rather not have their motives constantly questioned because they look like they might come from a different country. =0). 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

The Return of Migraine Season!

Hello, friends! 

A few weeks ago, I got hit with COVID for a few days. The worst of it was the fatigue (I needed a LOT of naps) but my other symptoms weren't too bad. I'm definitely glad that I didn't appear to have any long-COVID effects. 

However, one of the things that has been a little more frequent these past few weeks has been headaches, which is unfortunate.

For a long time, I had a pretty bad migraine problem. Through a lot of observation and analysis, I figured out that there were three main factors that contributed to my migraines; my water intake, my sleeping patterns, and the weather. While I can control two, I can't control the third. 

One of the things I've done over the past few years has been committing to drinking more water. I shoot for at least 100 ounces every day, and I've been pretty good about keeping up with that. That's done a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of helping me not have migraines anymore. In terms of sleeping patterns, I found that I when I have consistent sleep patterns along with taking longer naps when I do actually nap, that helps as well. 

The one thing that I haven't been able to control is the weather. I've had the most migraines in October and March, which I think has to do with the change of the seasons. I've read some studies about how the change in barometric pressure can trigger migraines, and the October and March in the Midwest bring on a lot of weather changes. 

Lately, the weather changes haven't been a big deal because I've been really diligent about the other two things. However, in the past few weeks, I've definitely had more headaches. Thankfully, none of them have turned into full blown migraines. I'm still able to function, get work done, and play with the kids. 

I don't know if the headaches are COVID related or not, but I do know that I don't like them much. If you're the praying type, I'd certainly appreciate them. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Back to Class!!!

Hello, friends! 

I'll start with what everyone really wants to see, photos of my kids! Here they are at the start of the school year: 

Why am I starting this post with photos of my kids from a few months ago? Because yesterday was MY first day of school and frankly, no one wants to see photos of me when you can see photos of my kids! =0). 

Over the course of the past year, I noticed that there were parts of my job that were going well but other parts where I definitely needed to grow and develop to get to the next level of effectiveness. One of those areas was in Project Management. I actually spend a lot of time managing projects within the Region and these projects have had various levels of effectiveness. I wanted to up my game a bit, so I enrolled in a Project Management Course at the University of Nebraska - Omaha (#GoMavs). 

The course is mostly online but there are a few on campus days, including yesterday and today. Yesterday was my first day back in a classroom in a LONG time and friends, I have no problem telling you that it was awesome! 

I tell people all the time that one of my greatest regrets from my college days was that I wasn't a good enough student. There's an old saying that in college, your options are get good grades, have a social life, or get enough sleep and you only get to pick 2 of the 3. I definitely had a social life and got enough sleep... It wasn't until after graduation (#GoBears!) that I learned how much I love to actually learn things. I really enjoy figuring out how things work and getting to the bottom of questions. I think it's helped me in my job and in more recently, in my preaching. 

Friends, it's only been one day but I'm already learning so much about Project Management. There's always a cross between excitement and dread when you learn something new but also realize that you've been doing something wrong for a long time. Still, I'll take the good with the bad. 

Day 2 of class is right now as you're reading this, so I'm probably sitting in the classroom with my notebook open, a pen in my hand, and a question on my lips. Learning new stuff is awesome! =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Caught by COVID...

Hello, friends! 

Well, after 3.5 years of avoiding COVID, I finally caught it (or maybe it caught me? Who knows anymore?)

Last Thursday I started having some mild symptoms but it felt very similar to the onset of the flu. There's been a cold/flu going around Omaha lately, so I figured that's what it was, I popped a few ibuprofen before bed, and woke up feeling pretty decent. 

However, during work, I could feel myself getting worse, so I cancelled my afternoon meetings and went home to try to sleep it off (along with more meds). My flus usually last about 48 hours, so we were very much in the "this is normal" phase of things. 

Saturday morning I was still feeling a little blah but generally better, so I figured that things were on the mend. Everything was going according to plan. Still, I took a nap on Saturday afternoon because I was still tired. 

This is where the fun starts. Saturday night, I was having trouble sleeping because of the nap I took Saturday afternoon. We had church in the morning and I was on Parking Lot duty (one of my happy places), so I definitely wanted to get a good night's sleep. I decided to take some melatonin to help me fall asleep. The kind that we have is actually children's dosage, which also means that they are "berry" flavored and come in gummy form. I went to the bathroom, opened up the jar, popped a melatonin in my mouth, was ready to go back to bed, when I had a terrible realization...

I couldn't taste the sleep gummy...

At this point, I decided to take the COVID test. It immediately popped up as being COVID positive and my run of being one of the non-infected, was officially over. We found out that Thaliea also tested COVID positive but the boys and Megan somehow avoided getting infected. This is one weird virus...

Right now, I'm cleared out of isolation and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm still tired but I'm told that this is normal. I'm hoping to be back to normal before the beginning of curling season on Sunday. 

Just last week, I reminded myself that I needed to schedule my flu shot and COVID booster. I usually do it in early November since that's usually when the flu gets bad around here. I guess I was a few weeks late. =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Momentum!!!

Hello, friends!

There is an ongoing debate in the world if sports about whether or not "momentum" is a thing or not. Does hitting 2 shots in a row make it more likely that you'll hit the third one? (Apparently so!) If your team scores a late equalizer, do your opponents suddenly tighten up, making it more likely you'll score again? (It certainly happens!)

Whether or not sports momentum is a thing, I firmly believe that ministry momentum is a thing. One good event or Bible study isn't a guarantee that things will go great for the rest of the year but it does make things more likely, as students are encouraged by seeing their friends show up and get connected. I'm the same way, one bad event won't kill the year but it does take a lot of work to make sure students stay encouraged and committed.

Over the past few weeks, we've had a lot of great momentum builders here in Nebraska. It's been such a joy to see students encouraged and ministry moving forward. A few highlights:

- Bellevue University had their kickoff last Tuesday and 11 students from 4 different athletics teams showed up. Our student leaders were definitely encouraged.

- Over at UNO, one of our student leaders recruited 2 more students to lead a basketball and faith small group.

- In Hastings, the Student Life department connected a student who wanted to lead a Bible study on campus to our InterVarsity student and they had 9 students come to their first Bible study of the year.

- In Lincoln, after the Bible study leader stepped down to focus on studies late in the summer, a graduate student hopped in to start leading and the group is meeting regularly.

Of course, no momentum lasts forever. Even though campus work isn't my primary job anymore, I'm still trying to keep up the momentum through encouragement and communication. It's fun seeing groups thrive and students be encouraged.

Please continue to pray for the InterVarsity groups in Nebraska, especially that the momentum of these past few weeks will continue through the year.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A Delicious Wedding Weekend in California!

Hello, friends! 

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending my cousin Ying Ying's wedding in Southern California. Since school had just started for the kids, I went to this one solo, which was a totally different experience for me! 

One thing that would have been the same regardless, was that I ate A LOT. Here was the breakdown:

Friday afternoon: Fly out of Omaha with a stop in Denver where I grab a burger for dinner.

Friday evening: Arrive in Southern California and immediately eat a chili burger.

Saturday morning: Wake up and eat some of the White Castle my sister's family brought in from Phoenix while watching soccer.

Saturday afternoon: Party at my sister's house full of Indonesian food and my favorite beef noodle soup in the world.

Saturday evening: Pretty much as soon as we got back to my parent's place, it was time for a second party with some cousins who couldn't make the first party. The menu here was Peking duck, eggrolls, and other tasty bites.

Saturday night: Everyone at the party decides to walk to the Dairy Queen by my parents' place for dessert.

Sunday morning: Pick up one of my favorite donuts on my way to church

Sunday lunch: Another serving of beef noodle soup

Sunday afternoon: We got to the wedding at 3:30 for photos, followed by a cocktail hour and appetizers, all of which were great.

Sunday evening: Wedding banquet with salad, bread, fish, steak, and dim sum desserts

Sunday night: Grab some In-N-Out on the way home with my niece and nephew and brother-in-law

Monday morning: Fly out of Southern California with a stop in Chicago for lunch where I grab another burger.

Monday afternoon: Arrive back in Omaha, just in time for dinner. =0). 

Eating aside, it really was a great trip. It was great to see family as well as lots of aunties and uncles at church on Sunday morning. Everyone had a good time at the wedding and the drama was limited. I even had some really good conversations with some family members that I wouldn't have had if I hadn't been there.

Congrats to Ying Ying and Sam on their marriage! I pray that it'll be just as full of life and deliciousness as the wedding weekend itself was. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Today in AAPI History...

Hello, friends! 

On September 1, 2011, the University of California - Irvine launched Viet Stories, a Vietnamese American oral history project. It was also on this day in 1874 that the Chinese Mission Home, later renamed the Cameron House, was founded in San Francisco's Chinatown. 

How do I know this? Because I've been posting about things that have been happening on "This Day in AAPI History" for the past 2 years. I've learned a lot, not only about AAPI History, but also about myself. 

The project started for me in 2021. As I was working on my job plan for the upcoming year, I was thinking through all the different roles I'd be filling, I noticed that I didn't have any specific roles working in Asian American Ministries (AAM). Usually, there was at least some connection to AAM in the work I did. For the first 10 years of my staff career, I was leading ACF at Mizzou or supervising the staff who was leading ACF. When I first moved to Omaha, I got connected to the AAM bible study at Creighton and was helping out there a little. I'd also did some Zoom coaching for the ACF at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. But, in 2021, I wasn't really doing any AAM work, and I missed it. Added to that, because of the pandemic, there was a sharp rise in acts of violence against the AAPI community. It broke my heart to see the ways that the AAPI community was treated because of deep rooted racism. 

So, "Today in AAPI History" was my solution. I'd heard about this book, "Asian American History Day by Day" and committed to posting regularly about the important events in AAPI History on any given day, as a way for me to keep my connection to the AAPI community and hopefully educate some folk along the way. 

Friends, it has been such a joy to post these little tidbits, day after day. I'm not in it for the "likes" but one of the things that's been so much fun has been seeing different people from all my different spheres interact with any given post. Folk who have no connection to one another, other than the fact that they know me, are having similar reactions to the triumphs and tribulations that the AAPI community has faced in the history of our great country. 

Looking back on my posts over the past 2 years, one thing that jumps out to me is how much our people have suffered in the United States. From explotative labor practices, to exclusion, to internment, to hate crimes, we've been through a lot. 

But, we've also had a number of triumphs. I'm always proud and inspired when I get to post about the first Asian American to hold a post, be elected to an office, or accomplish a feat. We are also a resilient people.

With that being said, I'm going to retire Today in AAPI History for the time being. It's not that these stories are no longer necessary; quite the opposite. They're just as crucial as ever. I've just noticed that my time is more limited than it was before, at least in part because of some new work I'm doing with AAM in InterVarsity related to Ministry Partnership Development.

It's been a pleasure and joy bringing you bits of AAPI History each day. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed bringing it to you.

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

The Joys of Being in Community...

Hello, friends! 

The past few days have been the hottest of the year here in Omaha, with the heat index being north of 115 on some days. Of course, these were the perfect days for our air condition to stop working. 

According to the repair folk, the folk who flipped the house did us dirty on a number of levels when it came to the AC. They bought the lowest quality unit possible (not ideal) but the bigger problems were that while they replaced the outdoor unit, they didn't actually replace the indoor coil, meaning there was a higher chance for something to go wrong. Add to that a poor soldering job on the pipes connecting the indoor to the outdoor unit that meant we were constantly leaving freon, and it really was just a matter of time before the system needed to be replaced. 

What warmed (or cooled) my heart was how quickly our friends came to rally behind us. Immediately after we told our friends that the AC was out, we got two invitations to have dinner in air conditioned houses. Not only was it good to get out of our hot house, but we also were able to have some really sweet times of connection with friends. 

Our new system is getting installed on Monday, so we still have a few days left in the heat. Thankfully, the next few days will cool off significantly, so we should be able to make it with just fans and open windows. Still, I'm so thankful for our friends, who were so generous and hospitable. While generosity and hospitality are not exclusive to Christianity, situations like this make me thankful to be part of the whole body of believers. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam  

Wild Travel Days!

Hello, friends!

There are all sorts of exciting things happening right now in the Leong household. The kids have just started school again (3rd grade for Ezra, 1st grade for Thaliea, and daycare for Jonah), Megan and I are starting our 15th and 17th years with InterVarsity, and Megan is starting her new role as Assistant Regional Director for Training and a Development.

But the big thing I wanted to write about today was how our summer ENDED, namely, with some wild travel, both nationally and internationally.

Megan's trip to and from World Assembly was relatively straightforward. She flew to Los Angeles, then to Singapore to visit some former students, before hopping over to Jakarta for world assembly. Her trip back was Jakarta to South Korea (to see more students) then to Los Angeles, Minneapolis, then back home to Omaha.

Our travels here stateside were a little more complicated. 

July 30: Drop Megan off at the airport then drive to Watertown to visit Megan's parents

July 31 - August 2: hanging out in Watertown

August 3: drive back to Omaha

August 4-5: in Omaha, packing for the next trip and watching Thaliea complete in her first triathlon 

August 6: drive to Kansas City to pick up my dad from the airport, then my dad and the kids got picked up by my aunt to spend some time with her in STL while I was at the Big Dig.

August 7-8: Big Dig for me and STL for the kids

August 9: finish the Big Dig and drive to STL, having dinner with a friend in CoMO along the way

August 10: in STL with the kids and my dad, including a trip to the zoo.

August 11: back to Omaha to try to clean the house a bit before Megan gets home on the 12th.

All said and done, I'm not sure how many miles we traveled, how many shows got watched on tablets in the car, or how many chips got eaten as part of the ever present "snack time." What I do know is that I'm glad it worked out and I'll be glad if I never have to do it again. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Big Dig!!!

Hello, friends! 

Starting Sunday, over 50 staff and students from all over the Region will be coming together in the KC Area for The Big Dig, our pre-Fall conference. This will be our second year doing the Big Dig and I'm excited for the ways that God is going to show up. 

This will be an interesting Big Dig for me on a number of different levels. For one thing, it'll be just me going. Since Megan is in Indonesia and World Assembly (more on that in a few weeks), I can't staff the conference and watch the kids at the same time, so my aunt will be driving in from St. Louis to pick them up in KC and take them to StL for the week. My dad will also be flying in to eat KC bbq help watch the kids too. This means I'll be staffing a Regional Conference without any of the family around. I suppose I did something similar for Urbana but that was a National thing and this one will have lots of other families there. 

Another interesting thing will be that my role for the Big Dig will be a part of the Worship Team. When I was a younger staff, my ability to play multiple instruments meant that I was constantly recruited to help lead worship. However, as I got older, that role was passed to the younger staff. Well, apparently as I start Year 17 with InterVarsity, I'm back on the Worship Team saddle! I'll be banging on the drums this week, which really is the best because I don't have to worry about singing or being in tune. =0). 

Please be praying for us this next week. Between Omaha, KC, and StL, there's a lot of travel involved. We'll also have students and staff coming from all over the Region so that's even more travel. Also, please pray that the kids will do well with my Aunt and Dad. Finally, please pray that God will move in a really powerful way for the students and staff in attendance. The Big Dig was a really transformative experience for a number of folk last year and we're really praying that the same will be true this year. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

A Death in the Family...

Hello, friends! 

Yesterday, I performed my second funeral of the year. Right around noon, we lost our dear pet, Fluffy. My original goal was to get Fluffy to 3 years. Instead, we had Fluffy for just short of 9 glorious months. He will be missed. 

Honestly, we'd seen this coming for a while. When we got back from SoDak in early July, Fluffy looked bloated and wasn't moving around much. There were a few possibly diagnoses: it could have been dropsy, a swim bladder infection, or he was constipated. We were hoping it was just constipation, so we didn't feed him for a few days and the bloating went down. It seemed like we were out of the woods but Fluffy still wasn't moving around much and he wasn't eating much either. Megan and I were pretty sure that the end was coming soon. 

Thaliea was the first one to discover Fluffy. Obviously, we were tore up about it and the older kids cried. Jonah just kept asking why Fluffy died and I don't think my answer of, "no pet lives forever" was really satisfying for him. Having the kids write final notes to Fluffy helped. We had a short service in the backyard, where Fluffy was buried, surrounded by his loved ones. 

Ezra, Thaliea, and Jonah have already talked about wanting to get a new pet. Once Megan gets back from her trip to Indonesia, we'll probably grab another betta. We bought some better food to supplement Fluffy's diet towards the end, so hopefully that'll help us keep the next fish alive a little longer. 

RIP Fluffy, you were a good pet. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

An eBike Saga...

Hello, friends! 

A few days ago, I rode my bike to the store to pick up some ice and other items for Ezra's birthday party. It was a relatively quick trip and I got there and back without incident.

The important thing was that I rode my electric bike there, which was the first time that I'd ridden an electric bike in literally months. It was a long process that cost way too much time and money. 

Everything started last September. I'd had my ebike for about a year and realized 2 things:

1. I really like riding an ebike. It made getting around town way better and it was nice getting to my meetings and not being all sweaty. 

2. I really did not like the ebike I had. I'd purchased a folding ebike so that it wouldn't take up as much space in the garage. I also didn't want to break the bank of an ebike before knowing how much I was going to use it. However, riding this bike was not a ton of fun. The quality could have been a lot better and it just wasn't as much of a fun ride as my other bike. Also, while being folding did help with space, it didn't help enough to really make a huge difference in the inconvenience of having that many bikes in the garage.  

So, here was the plan:

- Sell the old ebike

- Buy a bike conversion kit to turn my current bike into a ebike

Part one was easy. I sold the old ebike in September and then started research on which conversion kit to buy not too much later. 

Here's where the problems started. 

I picked an ebike conversion kit wit WAY too long of a delivery time. I finally decided on a brand in December. The delivery date said March, which wasn't going to be a problem since I wasn't going to be riding much during the winter anyway. What I couldn't have counted on was the backlog that meant that my bike didn't actually get delivered until April. 

My conversion kit was actually just a front wheel hub with a motor in it. The reason I picked this kit was because of the ease of installation. I had to connect a few wires, strap them down, swap the front tire on my current bike, and I'd be good to go! After I finally got my kit, I spent some time installing things and had everything up and running. Unfortunately, I did the installation on a Monday and realized that I was running a little late for soccer practice. So, I put the bike away and drove the practice. 

The big mistake was that instead of keeping the battery with the bike, I took out the battery and accidentally left it on the hatch of our car as I got the soccer stuff ready. I forgot to take the battery off the car and drove to practice. At some point, the battery fell off the car but I didn't realize it until the next evening, AFTER the street sweepers ran through the neighborhood. 

Since the kit was from a specific company, the battery was a proprietary technology and a random battery wouldn't fit. I'd have to buy a replacement directly from the company and they weren't going to be delivering until September at the earliest. So, instead, I spent the next few months trying to purchase the parts I needed online to see if I could still use the motor. After a few returns for bad parts, blowing out more than one front fork because of the torque provided, and eventually having to buy a garage sale bike, I got everything up and running and can now run to the store. 

All said and done, I'm back to having 2 bikes. The one I originally wanted converted needs its front fork fixed (the front tire won't stay attached, which is a problem...) so it's hanging out in the shed for now. The Frankenstein ebike I have now is a little big but it gets the job done. I've also learned a TON about how to repair ebikes, so I guess there's that. It was a frustrating process that took up way too much time and money but we're here and I'm happy. There may be some sort of lesson in the midst of all this but frankly, I don't think I want to learn it quite yet. For now, I'm just going to enjoy riding. =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

ACE Recap!

Hello, friends! 

A few weeks ago, I posted about our Alumni Communication Extravaganza (ACE) that I was leading for our Region. We were going to be contacting alumni up to 10 times over 3 weeks, asking them to consider starting or increasing a recurring gift to their alma mater's chapter accounts. We'd procured a $20k matching grant, so every pledge would be matched for the first year. When I last posted about ACE, we had about a week left and had raised just over $10,000. Things were moving but they were moving a little slower than I would have liked. 

Our ACE Coach from InterVarsity National told us that things would look like a step up graph. We'd get a lot of pledges in the first few days, then things would go kind of slowly during the middle chunk before really ramping up the last week, particularly the last 24 hours. Our graph looked a little bit different, as we had a slow start but a consistent middle chunk. I was cautiously optimistic that we'd hit our $20k goal by the 23rd, but I was also preparing for us to fall a little short. 

Friends, God showed up in a big way! Just over the weekend before our Deadline week, we saw our pledges jump from $11k - over $16k. We started the 23rd (Deadline Day) with $18k matched and immediately saw 2 more gifts come in to bring us past the finish line. Praise, the LORD, we'd done it! (Well, God had done it and we got to benefit from that. =0).).

BUT, God wasn't done yet! We passed our $20k goal so early in the day that we were able to find another $5k match to still hopefully inspire alumni. Then we passed $25k and had another decision to make. We ultimately decided that we would just tell alumni that we would guarantee to match any pledges made by the end of the day and go find the money later. 

Praise the LORD, by the end of the day on Friday, we had raised OVER $30,000!!! It was so great to see how alumni were inspired to give and how many connections were made. Our staff team was encouraged and everyone was glad we gave it a shot. 

Saturday, I was in a bit of a stupor all day. I was physically tired from having to hold so much tension for the past 3 weeks. I've definitely been sleeping well since, so glad to see God come through and to see a major project come to fruition. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Welcome to Scout Camp!

Hello, friends! 

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of taking the older kids to Cub Scout camp. For Ezra, it was his second trip to Camp Amikaro but this was Thaliea's first trip. One of the most fun things this past year was seeing how much Thaliea enjoyed being in the scouts. This camp definitely solidified her love for scouting. 

Ezra rode a horse!

Thaliea got to participate in the camp-wide morning flag ceremony

Thaliea and another scout wrote a skit that was performed at the camp-wide campfire on Saturday night

The counselors taught the scouts a few new dances

Pool time!

Thaliea's target after our unit on shooting. She took 2 shots and decided she didn't like it, but she still took credit for the target that I shot. =0). 

Ezra's target

Learning about animal habitats

Learning about static electricity

Rock climbing! Both Ezra and Thaliea made it to the top of the wall!

Hay Ride!

Thaliea really liked getting her camp shirt

Greetings from Pack 481! This is actually just half of the pack. Due to scheduling, we had to split our pack into 2 camping dates. The second group will go camping in July. 

Playing games with the camp couselors!

Hanging out with Conrad, who is in the same grade as Thaliea. 

Overall, it was a really great experience. The kids slept better than I thought they would (which was a blessing). Since our scout master wasn't there, I acted as the de facto leader for our crew along with another parent. At this age, all the scouts need to be accompanied by parents, so it was a lot of good collaboration. 

I was joking with another parent that I hope our kids remember these fun times later in life when they're complaining about their parents. =0). It really was fun and I'm glad I get to share these memories with them. 

Have an excellent day!