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June 25, 2006

Congratulations, Alice and Anthony Kong!

Thanks for letting me be a part of your special day, guys! Much love and blessings to both of you in your new life together!

I think it's going to take some time to go through, select, and process the pictures from the beautiful wedding... hopefully within a week or 2, so just stay tuned here! (Although, I'm really tempted to just use the jpegs instead of processing the RAW files since a lot of the shots actually were exposed properly!)

In the meantime, here are some pics from the wedding helpers meeting... =)

Random thought: it was very cool to see old, familiar faces: my co-workers from TPR, and my APhiO lil sib Joanne, who apparently knows lots of my church friends! San Francisco truly is a small place... I swear every Chinese person here is separated by 3 degrees of separation at most!

Posted by stevelee at 12:23 AM | Comments (3)

June 21, 2006

CCU Youth Basketball 2006

Went to cheer on and take some pictures of our youth team in their first game of the season. =)

Quite a good turn-out by other SFCAC folks (including Mel who's back for the summer!)... too bad our team got decimated! =/ I'm sure that as the season progresses, and team chemistry is developed (and they play against other CO-ED teams... hello??), the team will do better!

Oh, and came across this (so dorky/geeky/cheesy, it's funny! =D):
"People call me 'Hadoken' because I'm down right fierce."

(Click on the picture to access the gallery)

Posted by stevelee at 12:23 AM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2006

Random KTV shots

Farewell Christine, we're going to miss you! Get ready for KTV round 3 in LA!!! ;)

Posted by stevelee at 01:32 AM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2006

The Lake House

OK, I just had to make a quick comment about The Lake House, starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. This movie is based off one of my favorite all-time movies, Il Mare - a Korean romance movie! I can't believe they're re-making it for the US! I know I should give it a chance, but I just can't imagine it with different actors... let alone a different language!!!

Is nothing sacred?! =P

Posted by stevelee at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2006

All good things...

It's interesting (to me! ;P) going through my archives to note the differences in writing style and content between then and now:

"Life is good. Seriously. I have a great job (albeit, not the most stable), am financially secure (see previous note), am in reasonably good health, have friends, have an awesome car... And most importantly, I have a soul mate in the love of my life, XXX. What more can I ask for?

I'm just wondering when it's going to all crash down on my head... Does that make me a pessimist? Perhaps. But I've always been one to look at and consider "all the possiblities" -- I don't like being surprised (by bad news, that is).

...What I am ashamed about is my lack of conviction and testimony. Faith, and faith alone in God is what saves souls... but I think I've reached a low point in my life where my faith is seriously lacking. Before, I'd at least make an attempt to do my daily quiet time and worship, but now? It doesn't even occur to me that I forget to say grace before my meals..."

As for this blog/site, I'm not exactly sure what I plan to do with it... I still plan to maintain my photo galleries, so perhaps this will evolve into more of a photojournal, if anything. All I can say is, thanks to all my readers who've endured entry after inane, self-gratifying entry these past 6 years... and some of you even left comments! ;)

God bless!

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When I look back on my Alpha Phi Omega days, the lasting memories I have besides partying the heart-warming friendships I made consist of volunteer service, and my gravitation towards people on the "outskirts" - whether by virtue of them feeling like social outsiders or struggling with personal problems.

No matter how busy my schedule became, I always made time for people - whether just to sit and chat with the new pledge sitting on the outskirts of the main group, or more importantly, to listen and empathize with friends going through some rough times.

Because of this, I never felt deeply connected to a particular group of friends... I was on good/friendly terms with virtually everyone, but I was spread too thin to belong to any "clique." There were many times where I felt lonely because I wasn't sure who I could call or turn to... either for my own problems, or simply to chill with in the middle of the night.

But in all honesty, I have no regrets whatsoever and appreciate these experiences. In the process of spending time with people, God has blessed me by teaching me new things about myself, others, and Himself... all of which really started taking momentum since coming to SFCAC. It has been a humbling and amazing year (2 years... maybe even 3 years), and I won't be able to fully express how much He's breaking me down... and how much work is left within me. But I look forward to that, and drawing closer to God. =)

Since joining this fellowship about 3 years ago, I felt strong convictions about certain things and behaviors. For one, similar to the message this past Sunday on "What's in your hand?" (and how God uses very ordinary, unskilled people... of which I, in all my unworthiness, would be a prime example! =)), I felt a burden to empower my small group - to free them from feelings of unworthiness and have them believe that God's grace is sufficient and covers all. It's been an incredible blessing to be able to journey with the small group God's allowed me to serve... All of them are ready for whatever next step(s) God has in store for them, and I can definitely see that they no longer need me. =)

I praise God for all of this... and know that this is part of His calling for me: these "loose ends" will be tied off so I can prepare to be used by Him in my next mission field.

I had a team meeting this past Saturday, and couldn't help but feel the tingle of excitement and joy at worshipping and spending time with brothers and sisters who share the same passion and convictions in serving the Lord!

Posted by stevelee at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2006

The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh...

Wayne just shared some news with me tonight... that guy, always changing things on me/us! *sigh* But it's impossible to stay disappointed since He's following the convictions in his heart (which I agree with); on the contrary, it's an encouragement of sorts to myself: that God's plans are so much more perfect than we can imagine... even if we can't see or understand it at the time...
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My tolerance level at work has decreased significantly these past few weeks. I'm getting easily annoyed when one of my team members asks me questions that would be easily resolved if he/she put in the effort to think critically and tried resolving issues on his/her own. I'm also feeling increasingly weary at work, even though my work load has stabilized compared to the previous months.

I think I'm long overdue for a real vacation - one where I really just enjoy myself instead of having to worry about one thing or another. But I know that would just be a temporary fix...

I guess I feel weary and unmotivated because I no longer feel challenged at work - the stuff that occupies my time is more busy/annoying work than anything else. Plus, I feel underappreciated... part of this has to do with the politics in the office, which I feel strongly against. My team deserves to be treated with much more respect and consideration, given how we are part of this company's backbone.

In light of this, it's no wonder that a number of senior, talented people have left recently... and as much as I enjoy working with my team and others, perhaps it's time to consider all my options...
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On a different note, I feel clarity and peace with the decisions I'll be making about my ministries in the near future... no matter what my desires may be, I need to be faithful about preparing for what God has planned for me. I also know that there still is so much for me to learn and experience... including broadening my perspectives from other churches and fellowships...

I commit all these things to God. =)

Posted by stevelee at 10:26 PM | Comments (4)

June 04, 2006

Youth BBQ

The youth fellowship had a BBQ by Lake Merced boat house to celebrate the new graduates from middle and high school yesterday. I got there at 8am to claim one of the BBQ grills which gave me plenty of time to enjoy an extended quiet time with God! It was awesome just being in His presence and not having to rush through my adoration and thanksgiving... I even got to finish reading Ecclesiastes, which was a blessing/challenge/encouragement in itself!

God is good, always! =)

I spent the rest of the day grilling, chilling, and playing around with the youth. It's times like these that remind me of how much I enjoy just being outdoors under a beautiful sun - especially with good company! I also got to throw a baseball/softball around, and took some light batting practice... which made me realize how much I miss playing baseball/softball! =)

Note to self: next time, put on sun block before spending that much time outdoors! My arms and the back of my neck are nice and red now, haha... *ouch*

Posted by stevelee at 02:02 PM | Comments (1)