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