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