Goodbye, Old Friends!

Hello, friends! 

This past week, I had to say goodbye to 2 friends who have been very dear to me... 

Our rice cooker and my e-bike... 

Our 10-cup rice cooker, which we received as a wedding gift 10+ years ago, finally stopped working. It wouldn't turn on unless you wiggled the cord just right. Friends, I have no problem telling you that we definitely ran that thing into the ground. Just for our family, we probably made rice between 2-3 times per week. Add in the times we cooked large batches for dinner functions, and the pots and pots of jook we made, we probably used that thing around 1700 times or so. It lived a good life, indeed. 

I had my e-bike for a considerably shorter time. I bought it in June 2021 as a proof of concept. I wanted to see if it was possible to get around all the places I needed to go with just an e-bike and public transportation. The answer was mostly yes (albeit the winters in Omaha made things tough). The one thing about the bike was that since I bought a cheap-o bike just in case things didn't work out, it wasn't exactly a ton of fun to ride. I missed riding on my non-e-bike, so I sold my e-bike and bought a conversion kit to turn my regular bike into a e-bike. I'm looking forward to a more pleasant riding experience, as well as a little less clutter in the garage (since we'll only have one of my bikes in there instead of two. 

We now have a new rice cooker (we cooked its first batch yesterday and it turned out just fine!) and my e-bike conversion kit will be delivered soon. Our old stuff served us well but now it's time to move on. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Leader Launch!

Hello, friends! 

Depending on when you're reading this, Megan and I will either be preparing for, in the midst of, or recovering from Nebraska's Leader Launch, taking place 6pm Friday - 6:30 on Saturday. 

Here in Nebraska, we have just one really established InterVarsity chapter. The Creighton chapter is going strong and they've had leadership structures and retreats in place for years now. For the rest of the groups in Nebraska, Metro Community College (MCC), University of Nebraska - Lincoln (UNL), University of Nebraska - Omaha (UNO), Bellevue, and University of Nebraska - Hastings (Hastings), things are just starting out or are still in the planting stages. Megan had the idea of gathering these students together for community, vision, and hopefully some intentional time to make plans for the semester. It's a good idea and we're excited for the 8 students who will be in attendance! (One got COVID and had to drop yesterday). 

We have a lot of things planned for the Leader Launch. Tonight will be about casting vision and getting to know one another. Tomorrow, we'll have bible study, prayer walk on some campuses, and get to work on making plans for the semester. It'll be a jam packed 24 hours but I really believe it's going to be a good time. 

My role is hospitality and leading the training tomorrow afternoon. I've spent the past few days putting together games and menus and making grocery store runs to make sure that everyone is happily fed. Did I go a bit overboard? Perhaps. Will we have food leftover? Almost certainly. Did I stay under budget? Most definitely. Do I regret anything? Nope! =0). 

As the interim Area Director, Megan's not only coordinating everything, she's also doing the vision talk for tonight and will be generally keeping tabs on everything. It's a big job but no one is better suited for it than her. 

Friends, would you please be praying for Leader Launch this weekend? Pray that we as staff (we have 2 other co-workers working with us) will be attuned to the Spirit and lead well. Pray that the students will be connected to Jesus and catch a vision of what could be on their campuses. Pray that this will be the start of something big here in Nebraska. 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A Word for 38...

Hello, friends! 

First of all, Happy New Year! May 2023 be better than 2022 in every possible way! 

There will be an Urbana recap post coming soon (spoiler alert: it was awesome!) but with my birthday coming up, I wanted to officially announce my word for the year. 

As you know, every year, I give myself a word or theme for the year. It's an area where I feel like God is calling me to focus. Last year, the phrase was "Everything is Worship" and I tried to focus on making sure that everything I did was centered around trying to be worshipful. The year before that, the word was "Balance," and I tried to give each thing the time that it deserves. 

This year, I want to focus on "Compassion." Namely, I want to have compassion be my first reaction to others. 

If I'm absolutely honest with myself, it's way to easy to judge people. When I hear about people making poor decisions, whether it by politicians, friends, family, whoever, my first instinct is to judge them. How could they possibly make that decision? What were they thinking? Man, that was not smart. This year, I want to lead with compassion instead of judgment. That doesn't mean that I will agree with every decision that is made or think that every call is a good one. What I'm hoping it means is that I see people as God sees them and view them through a lens of love. 

We'll see where "Compassion" takes me. I know one are where that's going to be difficult is when the kids wake up early or have trouble going to sleep. I know that it'll be harder to have compassion on people I don't know and read about in the news. I also know that our God is a God of compassion, so this pursuit could make me a little more like Him, which is never a bad thing. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

End of the Year Letter!!!

Hello, friends! 

Just in case you didn't get our end of the year letter, here it is! 

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading this year! 

~Adam

Progressive Dinner!

Hello, friends! 

Last weekend we had the chance to participate in one of Nebraska InterVarsity's best student traditions: the Progressive Dinner! 

A Progressive Dinner works like this: Each course of the meal (appetizer, main, and dessert) is held at a different location. One house hosted the appetizer, a local church hosted the main course, and a few different houses hosted the desserts. Students got dressed up to the 9's, hopped in their cars, and drove all over Omaha for food, fun, and connection. 

Megan, as the interim Area Director for Nebraska, was one of the key organizer for the Progressive Dinner this year. She was recruiting students, making sure there was enough food, communicating with volunteers and staff, and she even cooked some gluten free food for some students. She was an absolute all-star. 

I had a much simpler role. I invited some of the Bellevue students and I made sure the kids ate their food. Hey, it's tough work, but somebody's got to do it. =0). 

Friends, I am going to call this year's Progressive Dinner another smashing success. Not only did we have over 100 students show up but there were specific students who where there who made my heart happy. One Bellevue student was there and had a blast making new friends and meeting people. She even connected with a Creighton student who will be transferring Bellevue next semester. Our church brought a handful of college and high school students, including some students who will be joining us at Urbana. It was a blast seeing them meet new folk. I talked to one dad on Sunday who said that his daughter had so much fun, she wants to do something like that every month. 

One thing that I love is a good tradition. We had to skip the Progressive Dinner the past few years because of the pandemic, so bringing it back last year and restarting the tradition is a huge blessing to students, staff, and ministry partners alike. These next few weeks will be busy for students as they prepare for finals and such but I'm glad they got a fun night out to eat and connect. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Thanksgiving Loves...

Hello, friends! 

After an extended trip in California to see family for Thanksgiving, we're now back in beautiful Omaha, a little bit colder, a little bit fatter, and a little bit closer to Christmas! Here was our trip:

Monday: Fly out to California

Tuesday: Visit the Long Beach Aquarium with the entire family and enjoy dinner at my parent's place

Wednesday: Have a November Birthday Party for Jonah, my dad, and my niece, with another tasty dinner at home.

Thursday: Play football in the morning with friends and family over for a Thanksgiving feast in the evening.

Friday: Go to my brother's house to watch USA vs. England, then dinner at the Grand Central Market in Los Angeles 

Saturday: Hit the beach and bum around my parent's place with the entire family before going out to dinner with my parents and younger siblings

Sunday: Megan and I visited my old church, then had a lunch date with dinner out with Megan's uncle and family

Monday: We went to the Science Center in the morning, the older kids went to the beach with my mom while Megan and I ran errands, and we looked at the lights and had dinner at my younger sister's house

Tuesday: Flew home

Things I ate:

- Tommy's (the best chili burger in all the land)

- In-N-Out (a classic)

- Mandarin Noodle House (my jam!)

- Canaan (it's nice to eat some proper Chinese food)

- Kaju (Soon du bu; Megan's favorite meal of the trip)

- Korean BBQ (home cooked and delicious)

- Jook (my family may or may not have finished 2 pots of it)

- Various baked goods (is it just me, or do the donuts in Orange County just taste better?)

- LOTS of boba (the secret ingredient is real red bean)

- A Thanksgiving feast (the homemade cranberry sauce was a hit!)

Things I didn't eat this time:

- Dim sum (oops!)

- Del Taco and Jack in the Box (probably for the best...) 

I really loved my time in California. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. It's always good to see my siblings and my parents. The weather was perfect. It was a long trip but it was a trip well worth it. Even the kids did well on the planes (shout out to OPS for the free iPads!).

There was one moment that really stuck out to me from the trip. It was a small thing but a significant thing: There's a park not too far from my parent's place and we spent a fair number of mornings walking over there to play. There's a playground and a big field next to it where folk can run around or play soccer or something. My brother in law and I took Ezra and his son (same age) to the park on Friday to play. The boys were trying to figure out what game they wanted to play and my BIL and I decided to shag balls. It wasn't anything special. He would hit the ball, I would chase it down and throw it back, and we'd repeat the process. We didn't play for more than 5-7 minutes before the boys came over and we started doing something else. 

Friends, those 5-7 minutes were the most exhilarating of the entire trip for me. I'd forgotten how much I missed playing baseball. Chasing down a fly ball. Making a stab at a liner. Getting into position to field a grounder. Throwing a rope back to do it all over again. It's been years since I'd held a baseball that wasn't being used as a personal fidget spinner or a teaching tool for the kids' T-ball. I love watching soccer (got to see US vs. Iran on the flight home!) and I love curling (currently undefeated in our league) but baseball will always be my first love. 

This trip was an absolute blessing on all levels. I have a conference in Southern California in February and we have weddings in April and September of next year, so I'll get a few more chances to be out there. Still, there's nothing quite like Thanksgiving in Garden Grove. I love it! 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam 

Welcome to the Family!

Hello, friends! 

This past week or so has been a big one in the Leong household. Megan's parents came to visit, which gave us the manpower we needed to pain Ezra and Thaliea's room as well as bunk their beds. Thus far, times falling off the ladder have been minimal, so we're calling that a win. 

However, the BIGGEST news is that we now have a new addition to the family! I'm not entirely sure of how it happened but we got a fish! Friends, meet the newest member of the Leong Family, Fluffy!!!

We new we were going to get a pet at some point. Megan has wanted a dog and I want a tortoise but a fish was an unexpected development! So far, the kids have done a great job of making sure that Fluffy stays fed and that they don't tap the glass. We did have one moment where one of the kids took Fluffy out of his tank because our child wanted to make sure he had enough air to breathe, but Fluffy appears to have survived that ordeal. 

So, the next time you come to visit, you can meet Fluffy! He's already lasted longer than any indoor pet I've ever had, so there's that! Here's hoping he's a part of our family for many more years to come. 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam