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