Super Bowl Dreams

I remember when I was a kid and when an athlete won a championship or big game they would say something like “Follow your dreams because anything is possible!” I suppose the idea that anything is possible is a true statement. But not everyone can realize their dreams, can they? Didn't I have a dream of being a pro athlete when I was young? Certainly I had to give up that dream, right? There's a lot of things I wanted to do or experience but most of those things haven't happened. In fact if I think of it that way most of my life has been about disappointment. So the statement of “Follow your dreams because anything is possible” is kind of a childish thing right? It's foolish right? Right?

On Sunday the Seahawks defeated the Broncos to win their first championship in team history. This has been an amazing week for me, really an amazing season. It's been a blessing to be able to work each home game in this magical year. And it was capped off perfectly by the win in the Super Bowl. You know what the funny thing is? Afterwards I couldn't help feeling like a kid again. Like anything was possible. Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he said, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3 ESV). That yes the tough things in this world could bring us down but ultimately we should just trust in God's plan. And that's one of the things the Seahawks championship reminded me of. To be like a kid and have that childlike trust that our dreams are possible. Not the selfish dreams that come from a 'me first' perspective but the dreams that God has for us. And you know what? His plan always comes to fruition.

Here's some of my vlogs during this Championship season:

After NFC Championship game at CenturyLink:

During the Seahawks Parade this last Wednesday: CHAMPIONS! WOOHOO!

Fiji Mission Trip

I always hear people say when they come back from missions trips that it's themselves that are the ones that are transformed. Yes they mention the ways they served the people of the places they went to, but they always mention how it changed their thinking and helped them grow a lot. Now I know what they mean! It's such an awesome thing to see God's hand shaping and molding my life and ministry.

Leading up to the trip I'm not sure how prepared I was to go. There seemed to be a lot of busyness that I was experiencing. Or was it just overall lack of time-management? Maybe my expectations were tempered because I've done this trip 2 times before so I thought it would be the same as before. But God had a bigger plan.

God had a bigger plan.

One of the best things I received from the trip was seeing how God brought the team together. Each year since I've been helping with Celebrate Jesus the team has increased and this year was no exception. The team went from 5 to 11 to 24! I remember when I saw a picture of the team before I even left Seattle I felt some uneasiness both because the team would be huge and that I didn't know most of them. Would we get along? Would it be too much of a chore to get to know all these people? Will there be conflicts between members of the team? But God had a bigger plan.

When I arrived it was cool to see the team so willing to talk to me and get to know me. I immediately developed a good connection with them. But I think what made the connection stronger was through the way we were able to pray for each other. Throughout the time before the conference and even during it there was a lot of spiritual attacks on the group. Some had travel difficulties even getting to Fiji. There was weather issues during the conference. But the biggest thing was health attacks on a lot of the team. Practically every day we were gathering around a team member to pray against these attacks on their body. It was like the enemy was desperately trying to break our team apart. But God had a bigger plan.

Because we prayed together we became more and more reliant on God as well as each other. We leaned on each other. We cared for each other. This struggle that we all were going through actually brought us closer together. We rallied around each other. We became a team. 24 people from all across the world. Some knew each other but most of us didn't have much of a relationship going into the trip. Even for the ones that lived in Australia in proximity with each other. Yet we grew unbreakable bonds. I miss the team already. I miss those encouraging relationships. I'm hopeful that I'll see them again. CJ2014! God had a bigger plan all along. Praise God!

Another thing that God was teaching me was this idea that I need to not be so hesitant to step out of my comfort zone. From the beginning when Vince asked if I would do a message I backed down from some opportunities. I remember thinking about when we were praying for a wheelchair bound person I thought of my own paralyzed faith at times. How fear inhibits me from stepping out and speaking Your Word. Whether it just be a word of encouragement or something larger than that. We need to be bold. How could I have been selfish to not encourage that girl who was in the wheelchair? The only thing that was stopping me was fear of being looked at as foolish or wrong by other people.

Love Without Limits

The School year at University of Washington has started and it started off with a bang! Last week was our BBQ at Denny Field and it was great to see over 80 people there with a big turn out of new people (especially Freshmen). What a blessing! It's cool to see the hard work of tabling and putting up/handing out flyers pay off.

Yesterday we had our Intro night/Ministry Fair where we basically shared the mission of AACF and the vision we came up with this year as well as our theme. (Love without Limits). The students also got a chance to check out the different ministries we have and sign up for the various things they would be involved with. It was great to be back at the HUB but with that there is a learning curve of how the rooms work. For example we didn't realize that using the projector in the room needs to be checked out and costs $60. The core did a good job of scrambling and getting worship sheets printed out as well as Nick having to give the vision instead of being able to show the video that we made. If you want to watch it here is the link:

Anyways I'm so excited for this year and I know God has great things in store! Please comment and like the video!

Awesome August

Well it’s been awhile since I’ve last posted. I definitely need to be more consistent here. Just a summary of the things I’ve done in the past month: Coming back from Australia we stopped by Los Angeles and visited Getty Museum and Malibu Beach.

(Central Garden at the Getty Center)

Then that weekend we had an AACF Core planning retreat where we came up with our vision for the year. Definitely getting really excited for what God has in store for AACF this year! The next weekend the college/young adult group had a Oregon road trip where we stayed at Rockaway Beach, visited The Tillamook Cheese Factory, stopped by Cannon Beach and had a great time! It’s good to see the college/young adult group at CBC get to spend some quality time together and grow as a group. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep the momentum from this summer throughout the year.

(At Oregon coast)

The weekend after that was JEMS Warm Beach camp with a volleyball tournament for CSL (Christian Sports League). It was fun playing around with the kids and they always seem to find a way to tire me out. But good times. Spikefest was fun and it was good to see a lot of teams participating. It’s certainly grown from the last year thanks to a good leadership group.

(Spikefest 2012)

The weekend after that was another volleyball tournament. This was a tough one since we only had 4 people for most of it but hopefully this next season we’ll have some more committed people on the team. All-in-all it’s been a pretty busy month. I think the theme of the month has been about seeing how God’s been moving in a lot of different areas. Whether it be through volleyball or road trips it’s cool to see relationships grow and chances to have good conversations. Opportunity is there I just need to learn how to always have a God mindset in whatever I do.

From Australia

Ok so now in Australia. Leaving soon to go back to The States! Been fun here in Australia seeing friends and visiting Hillsong Church, my home church away from Seattle. Here's a short video from Sunday morning service in the control room. Will do a more extensive video series/highlights later. Living The Dream!

From Fiji Day 1

It's only Day 1 in Fiji and already experiencing good times. God is doing a lot here in Fiji and just witnessing it is a privilege. Here's a short video during a break:

LTC 2012

Came back from Leadership Training Conference (aka LTC) yesterday and am always amazed at how memorable the week can be. Did a short video update on the last day and you can watch it:

It was good being back at LTC once again after being in Australia the last couple of years. It's always good to see the passion of college students coming together in this conference. Our campus (UW) were well represented with 10 students, and including 3 staff we were a sizable presence. Of all the things that I was involved with (EDventures in Discipleship videos, and MCing) just getting to know the Udub students was the highlight. God certainly is shaping and molding them and drawing them closer to His Spirit. Next year is going to be AWESOME!