Back to School!

Hello, friends!

After 10 weeks of summer fun, it's time for the school year to start again! Here's Ezra on his first day of the First Grade. For the past few years, we've asked the kids about some of their favorite things on the first day of school. My favorite thing is that Ezra was able to write all the answers himself! 

We are definitely excited for Ezra to be back in school. We had a fun summer full of family visits, fishing trips, and travel, but I think we're all glad that the rhythm of school is going to be back in our lives. It also won't hurt to only have 2 kids instead of 3 kids to watch on our off days. Nor will it hurt to have to only pay for 2 kids instead of 3 for daycare on the days Megan works. 

Ezra isn't the only one starting school. In just a few weeks. Thaliea will be starting preschool. She'll be at the same preschool where we sent Ezra pre-COVID, so she's excited about that for sure. She has a little social anxiety, so we'll see how it goes. At least for now, she's excited. 

Of course, our kids aren't the only students starting school. All over the Region, students and staff are getting ready to start New Student Outreach (NSO). This year's NSO will be unlike any other. Not only will we have a brand new crop of Freshmen coming to college for the first time, but many of our Sophomores will also be having their first experiences on campus since last year was a pandemic year. 

So, friends, we'd appreciate your prayers. Please pray for Ezra as he adjusts to a new schedule. Pray for the rest of our family as we adjust to life without Ezra's energy in the house for most of the day. Pray for Thaliea as she prepares her heart and mind for preschool. Pray for our staff as they prepare to welcome students to campus after a year away. Pray for those new students that they will be connected to community, find a home at college, and that God will show up to change lives, just like he always done. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A New, Old, One Car Life

Hello, friends! 

Below, you'll find a photo of me saying goodbye to Shmeevus the Prius. After 173,000 miles of work, we had a water pump blow, 2 belts snap, and a mass O2 censor go kaput. The cost to repair was more than the car was worth, so we sold it and now we're down to being a single car family. 

We've been a single car household before but it was when Megan and I were in CoMO, sans children. After The Rolla died (after over 300,000 miles, mind you!) we decided that we could live a single car life for a bit. We traded in Meg's car and actually bought Shmeevus at that point. We stayed single car up until we found out Megan was pregnant with Thaliea. That's when we went for the minivan (a choice I definitely don't regret). 

Our first foray into being a single car family was relatively easier that it will be this time around. For one, there are more of us. For two, Omaha is a bigger city than CoMO, so everything is further away. For three, the hills in Omaha suck, so biking around, even to closer places, is a beast. 

So, you may be asking yourself, "why not just get another car then?" Great question. There are a few reasons. First, because of the pandemic, car prices are through the roof. We know we'll (probably) need a second car at some point but we want to wait it out to see if prices go down. Second, there are environmental factors to consider as well. Cars are one of the big reasons climate change has gotten as bad as it has. If there's a way for us to limit our gas consumption and exhaust output, I'm all for it. 

Honestly, moving back to the single car life was something we were considering anyway. Just a few months ago, I'd started a spreadsheet, logging all the times we actually drove Shmeevus or needed 2 cars. At least through the Spring and early summer, we really didn't use both cars at the same time all that much. The times we did have both cars out often were times when I could have biked but it was more convenient to drive. 

The next few months are going to be interesting. I bought an electric bike prior to Shmeevus dying but now I'm really getting some use out of it. The weather should be mostly dry for the next few months, so that will give us time to save up and more time for me to ride. My hope is that I'll be able to leverage public transportation in tandem with the electric bike once it gets colder (and wetter) but we'll see. For now, it's back to that one car life. I'm pretty stoked. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Olympic Fever!!!

Hello, friends! 

Friends, I'll be absolutely honest. For the past few weeks, I've been really tired. I've also had my heart rate go up at various times and have had bouts of uncontrolled yelling to go along with mood swings. I've done some research, and it's pretty clear what I have...

Olympic Fever. =0). 

If you know anything about our family, you know that we LOVE the Olympics here at La Casa Leong. We love the pageantry. We love the athleticism. Megan doesn't really care much about sports but she LOVES the competitive nature of the Olympics. The time difference has been a bit of a bummer for us (thus the lack of sleep) but we've been hanging out with Rebecca Lowe every afternoon and Mike Tirico every evening for the past 2 weeks and it's been pretty spectacular. Here are a few highlights. 

- To commemorate the opening ceremonies in Tokyo, we had a sushi party! We invited over a few friends, made sushi roles, and enjoyed watching the parade of nations together. The biggest cheers came for USA (of course), and Nigeria (one of our friends at the party is visiting from Nigeria). The best part of the party is that our friends' kids and our kids were pretty self contained playing with each other. 

-  Watching Bobby Finke come from behind to win the 800m freestyle was absolutely breathtaking. Megan doesn't watch as much sports as I do, so she doesn't know how to quiet scream when something amazing happens. She may or may not have woken up the kids celebrating... =0). 

- USA Triathlon really showed out and the timing of the races was such that I actually got to watch them. Kevin McDowell was in it right until the end. Katie Zaferes took bronze in the women's triathlon, and the USA earned silver in the mixed relay, which may be my new favorite Summer Olympic competition. 

- Suni Lee is not only my new hero, but also Thaliea's new hero too. When she won overall gold, we were so proud of her. The next time we were watching women's gymnastics, Thaliea asked, "when is the pretty one going to go again?" "Thaliea, which one is the pretty one?" "Right there! (points to Suni Lee)" It was pretty great. 

There are other moments that I could name. There have been moments of heartbreak (USWNT) and frustration (I'm looking at you, USA Men's 4 x 100). But overall, it's been such a joy to have the Olympics back. 

Closing ceremonies start Sunday. Then, it'll be back to getting to bed at a reasonable hour, not having the TV on constantly, and being able to check the news without fear of spoilers. It's going to kind of suck... at least until Beijing in 2022. =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Re-entry...

Hello, friends!

This past week, Megan and I had pre-fall staff meetings. For some Regions, this is a normal thing but for our Region, this is the first time since I've been on staff that we all gathered together BEFORE the school year started. What's more, this was also the first time since COVID that we would physically be together... sort of. 

Our meetings were done in a hybrid style. For the times when the whole Region was together, we were on Zoom. We had some training, Megan and I led a workshop on making good invitations during New Student Outreach, and all our Area teams competed against one another in an Olympics style competition (we took 4th out of 4... not my best effort...)

However, there were also times when Area teams did things together and for those times, Area teams got together in person. We had a cooking competition (we won that one) and did a prayer walk on a local campus. Megan and I joined the Nebraska staff team for those functions. 

Looking back on the past few days, there were a few things that really jumped out to me.

1) It is really good being with other people, especially coworkers. There's an old saying that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. I think that was true of human interaction during COVID. Most of my job is done via Zoom anyway, even before the pandemic, so the actual job for me didn't change much last year. However, I don't think I realized how much I missed being around other people during those Regional gatherings. It was a blessing and joy to be in person with other co-laborers. 

2) There are some things from the pandemic that are worth keeping. After 15+ months of practice, I'd say that our Zoom skills have actually gotten pretty good. Every time we have another Zoom meeting, it seems like things go smoother and smoother. I'm convinced that while there's no substitute for in person gatherings, we don't need to throw away everything that we've learned about how to make virtual meetings vibrant. There are ways to make it work. 

We're now almost to August, which means that soon students will be coming back to school. With the Delta Variant on the rampage, it's still unknown how long schools will be fully open. Staff are planning like campus will be fully open but fully aware that things can change. It's a time of excitement and also of anxiety. I'm glad that we as a staff team were able to re-enter together. I believe that God is going to do some really cool things this year. Whether it happens in person or virtually, I have no idea. What I do know, is that time waits for no one and it's time to hop back in. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A Wild 2 Weeks...

Hello, friends!

Y'all, it is good to be back in Omaha after a much needed vacation. The past 2 weeks have been absolutely wild, with no sign of slowing down. If I may break it down for you. 

Friday (July 9): A massive storm rips through Omaha. We're talking hurricane force winds and massive power outages across the city, including our house. 

Saturday morning: Ezra has some friends over for his birthday party. Thankfully, the weather was nice and it was meant to be a slip and slide party, so we didn't need power. We'd also already done a bunch of the prep ahead of time, so Ezra had a great time. 

Saturday afternoon: With no power in the house, we spent the afternoon driving around, charging our phones and looking for a place that had power for lunch. This included spending 45 minutes in line at a Jimmy John's. It was a less than "freaky fast" experience. There was also a second storm that came through, soaking all the stuff from the party that we hadn't cleaned up yet. 

Sunday morning: Instead of traditional church service, our church decided to do a neighborhood clean up. We spent the morning taking down a tree that had a tree break near a community garden by our church, which was a lot of fun!

Sunday evening: A couple we met a few weeks ago from church invited us over for dinner. It was a huge blessing to eat dinner in a house that had power with great people. The couple also had kids, so it was a blessing for the kids to be able to run around too. 

Monday: Mondays are our Sabbath, which is always a blessing. Megan took the morning, so I took the kids to the zoo. It was packed. In the afternoon, I was able to bike around a bit and try to spend some time with Jesus.   

Monday evening: Another couple was gracious enough to let us use their washer and dryer. It was another huge blessing to be able to wash our clothes and have another set of eyes on the kids while they played at the park. 

Tuesday: This was supposed to be a day of work before we left for vacation. Not a ton of work got done. We were still without power, so Megan and I decided to leave a day early (since we didn't have power anyway). So, instead of getting a lot of work done, we spent the day putting gas in the car, dropping off the other car at the mechanic, packing in the dark, realizing that our basement flooded a little, so tearing up the carpet pad so the office can dry, and trying to get a few things done before heading out of town. 

Tuesday evening: Pick up the kids from daycare and head out of town. About 45 minutes out of town, we got a message from our neighbors saying the power was finally back. We ended up staying the night in middle Nebraska at a so-so AirBnB. 

Wednesday-Saturday: Welcome to Colorado Springs! Our trip consisted of lots of hiking, more than a few parks, the older kids loving their bunk beds, Jonah getting ANOTHER ear infection, and plenty of family time. (more on this trip later)

Sunday: Driving back to Omaha. For the most part, the kids did great. We made one more stop than I'd wanted, but hey, apparently it's important to eat meals and go to the bathroom. =0). One stop we made was in Grand Island, about 2 hours from Omaha. Our friend Miguel lives there and he graciously treated us to some really good pupusas. We got home around 11pm. 

Monday: Another Sabbath. This was my turn to take the morning off, so I spent my morning cleaning out the car from our trip. It was kind of nasty. In the afternoon, the kids and I hung out at home. I also got a call from the mechanic saying the Prius was dead. 

Tuesday: TODAY was the day to get some work done, right? Well, sort of. I did get a lot done but I also had to meet with the foundation guy so he could give us an estimate about installing a sump pump in the basement, run down to the mechanic to let him know that someone would be coming to scrap the car at some point, and make some phone calls to get someone to come look at our garage door after a cable snapped and it got stuck askew. 

So, that's what's been happening around here. If you're keeping score, that's:

- 4 days without power
- 5 days in Colorado
- 2 flooded rooms in the basement
- 1 dead Prius
- 1 busted garage door
- 1 more ear infection
- Dozens of friends who have offered to help

LORD, help us all. =0). 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam

Ezra's Birthday, a breakdown...

Hello, friends! 

Monday was Ezra's birthday! If you haven't see the birthday song I wrote for him, it's right here. 

One of the things about Ezra's birthday being when it is (July 5) is that it's right next to a big holiday for Meg's family. They LOVE Independence Day. This year was especially special because Meg's uncle who died in Vietnam was having a bridge dedicated to him and it was the last time Meg would see her grandma's house before it was sold. So, we went up to SoDak to celebrate. 

At first, Ezra was not pleased about being in SoDak on his birthday but after the day he had, maybe he'll reconsider. Let's break it down: 

9:00am - Sleep in and wake up when he wants, in SoDak

10:00am - Play in the lake by Meg's parent's house with his cousins

11:30am - Lunch from Subway, his most favorite restaurant in the world right now

1:00pm - Leave SoDak for Omaha; starting with "resting time" in the car

2:30pm - Free to use his tablet for the rest of the trip to Omaha

5:00pm - Get home and unpack the car so we can load it up again to go to dinner

5:30pm - Dinner at Yummy Crab, which is a boiling crab type restaurant in Omaha

6:30pm - Go fishing at the lake next to the Yummy Crab, promptly catch 2 fish and 2 crawfish

7:30pm - McDonald's sundaes on the way home

I don't know about you but that sounds like a pretty spectacular birthday! I don't know if we'll be able to replicate it like that every year but this year sure was a blast. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Happy New InterVarsity Year!

Hello, friends! 

It's July, which means it's the beginning of InterVarsity's new year! As amazing as it is to think about, this is the beginning of year FIFTEEN for me! I remember when I first started, I saw staff who had been on staff for 20 years and thought, "man, I wonder if I'll get there there." Now, I can actually see that milestone on the horizon! Who knows if I'll get there, but it's fun to at least see that it's within the realm of possibilities. 

This upcoming year promises to be a wild one. Last year was definitely a wild one with the pandemic, racial tensions being brought to the front of the country's consciousness, and the election season. While this year will have some of those same elements, it'll also be something a little bit closer to "normal."

Really, what I'm looking forward to the most this year is continuing the momentum from last year. In terms of my job, we got to see some really cool things happen in our Region in terms of moving towards a more fair, just, and equitable system for Ministry Partnership Development. Personally, I got more involved in church and started moving our congregation to think about race and justice differently. This year, I'm anticipating more pushback and challenges in both areas but also more opportunities for God to show his goodness. 

So, friends! Here's to another year with InterVarsity! May God bless you this (fiscal) year and continue to bless the students we serve. I'm praying that God will continue to work through me and in me as I spend another year serving college students. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam