Comp Day Adventures & CNY

Cru has a policy where, if you work over the weekend or holiday (when you’re at a conference or something), you can take a comp day. I think it’s short for “compensatory day” but for the longest time I thought it meant “complimentary” day haha. Anyway, I took a comp day on Wednesday after getting back from Winter Conference, and my roommate Keren and I went to Epcot together.

Epcot is also hosting the Festival of the Arts, so there were cute photo-ops set up throughout the park. You can see pictures below: 

Butterfly Wings

We Found a Mermaid!

We rode on some rides we’ve never been on: Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination with Figment, and The Seas with Nemo & Friends. Living with the Land was interesting, as Disney tried to educate its visitors and promote sustainable agriculture. We saw lots of unconventional agricultural methods, including vertical herb gardens and aquaponics. All of which would be relatively normal in California, but seems so foreign here.

Aquaponics 

I've Never Seen a Passion Fruit Tree!

They’re also selling lots of Disney artwork, which is to generate more revenue for this $130 BILLION business. But there’s also free art for you to admire:

Sidewalk Chalk Art

Me When It's Cold in Florida

And we got to create some art! It was the mural of Figment. Each person got to paint 3 squares of the paint by numbers, and then the paint and brushes were thrown into the trash. Because of course they can afford to do that. 

Paint By Numbers

Overall, it was a very fun day! Keren and I drove 30 minutes for Pho that evening because it was drizzly and very cold. On the way home, we got front-ended by a truck that was backing up (aka we got into a car accident). Thankfully, nobody is hurt and the man was very honest about the entire situation.

Wow We Ate Pho

There are already enough pictures for this post, but Song, Ruth, Tony John and I hosted a Chinese New Year dinner for all the interns + close friends on Friday! We didn’t get a picture of the entire spread because we were still cooking when everyone started eating, but this is the best picture we got. I also made the steamed whole fish, which I’m pretty proud of! It actually tasted good too. 

Part of the Food

We also decorated the apartment and I think it looked pretty nice :)

Artsy Pic

We Made Everyone Wear Red (or Gold or Pink)

That’s all! I hope you get to celebrate the New Year with friends and family also.

SF Winter Conference!

This is much belated and I apologize for the delay. Life in Orlando has been hectic and frustrating to say the least. But here's a brief recap of my time at San Francisco Winter Conference! (Also, I did not take most of the nice pictures in this post)

Theme: Good News

Caroline and I collaborated on the app with the Marketing Director, and glad we got to work on it together. I personally would never use it again, but if cost and whatnot are a constraint, I guess then it was OK. But I really enjoyed working on something having a direct impact on a lot of people. Even if it meant telling students that we were unable to help fix the problem, I was able to directly interact with the students using the app. 

In a more holistic perspective, working the Winter Conference refreshed and reignited my vision of why we (read: I) do ministry. There’s talk in the office about the effectiveness and purpose of Winter Conference, but being there in person made me see that skepticism isn’t the best way to view a lot of things. It’s very different hearing about the number of students giving their lives to God vs. actually seeing people stand up during an altar call. But a little stats: at San Francisco Winter Conference, 15 people stood up to receive Jesus as their Savior, 61 people stood to re-dedicate their lives to Christ, and 2 people were baptized in the hotel hot tub. That’s pretty cool. 

All Them Students

In addition to working on the conference app, I got a small part in recruiting for Cru. I was assigned to talk to three students about their interests in getting more involved with ministry, and I was surprised how much each student trusted me and opened up about their stories. Maybe it was because I look like them/I represented Cru as an organization, which they trusted.

I loved all the worship we got to do at SFWC! Jessica and Gabe Senbetu led the band from Awakening Church, where I went the last year of college. It was so sweet being led by a familiar group and just singing my heart out. 

I wasn’t able to pay 100% attention during all the main sessions because I had app work and notifications to set up. But all the speakers were amazing and had such great points to share with the students. 

Dr. Efrem Smith

I also got to attend 20 minutes of a seminar titled “Excellence, Significance, and the Glory of God.” I arrived just in time for the seminar to start, and it was packed! It was so encouraging to see students hungry to learn about excellence and their significance in the context of also reflecting God’s glory through what they do. The few lines I heard that I wrote down include:

“We do things with excellence so people can be saved.” 

“Everyone is praiseworthy.” 

Yes, because everyone is created in the image of God, 

who is worthy of the highest praise.

“The highest level job you can do is serve. 

When you’re focused on yourself, 

you miss the glory of God around you." 

This is something I needed to hear today.

I also met one of my teammates for the first time at the conference! Ellen is from California and is currently raising support to join full-time staff. She worked on the app last year, and it was great getting to know her and gleaning bits of wisdom from her experience with the platform last year. I pray that she finishes raising support soon!

Me, Ryan, and Ellen

Now for the fun things:

I took some interns + intern coordinators around San Francisco. We went to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf for Boudin clam chowder bowls and Ghirardelli’s. On the way back, we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts. 

The Group

And then on Monday, my parents and Aunty Grace came to visit me. We got dim sum and hung out on the beach. Then we went back to the hotel to watch planes fly in and out of SFO. Always a good time with the fam 😊

Yay the Beach

Taking a Stroll

That's it for now! Will write more soon~

I Know Them!

Santa Clara University

I have returned to the Bay Area, this time for work! Cru hosts its San Francisco Winter Conference over MLK weekend, and I have the privilege of serving at the conference.

But before we get into conference details, I have to tell you about my day back at Santa Clara University. I took an extra day off so I could visit friends and professors at my university. It’s funny, because I ran into one of my classmates who stayed to do the 5-year Masters. He asked, “Anne, what are you doing here?” When I told him I was visiting, he responded, “Why would you do that? If I ever left, I would never come back to visit.” Oops. But here are the different things that stuck out to me as I visited on a typical Wednesday.

SCU 

The first professor I visited was Dr. Shoba. She was the one who convinced me to major in EE and was my Electrical Engineering advisor. She also happened to be my friend’s mother, so that makes her my EE mom. Did I mention she’s also the Chair of the EE Department? Yeah, she’s brilliant and very cool, and I like her a lot.

She was very excited to see me at 8:30am and energetically asked me what I have been up to. When I told her I was on the Marketing team, one of the first things I remember her saying was: “Do not become a web designer. You’re too smart for that! Don’t waste your brain!” Then, she went on to try to convince me to return and take EE classes. She thought it all through; if I needed financial assistance, she could “make me a TA in ten seconds.” After all, she is the Chair.

As I told her things about my job, I realized that my current role with Marketing parallels my experience as a student. I enjoy the people I am with and I excel at what I do, but the work does not bring me joy or satisfaction. Not that everything in life has to be extremely meaningful, but in both roles, I feel a sense of restlessness and disconnectedness from reality.

Just like I would not be a student forever, I also would not work in Cru Marketing forever.

Working at the conference has shown me that I am energized and thrive in high expectations (and meeting/exceeding them), intense problem solving, and the satisfaction of going above and beyond. Which makes sense, because that’s the way I grew up. Not something that the Predictive Index knows about me.

Then I had a work meeting about the app we’re using for Winter Conference. If anyone asks, do not ever use Gather+. It’s pretty terrible.

The next professor I visited was Professor Atkinson, who teaches computer engineering. I learned that I do not want to be a programmer through his class. But somehow, we connected over classical music, and he always asked about my performances and attended whenever he could. He was not the first nor the last to ask me a variation of this question that day:

“Do you still play piano?”

Even though I play for worship at Nona Church, the correct answer is no. Everyone who asked knew I played at this level, and I no longer give the art that much time and dedication. This was one of the reasons I did not tell my piano teacher, Boepple, that I was on campus. I was too ashamed and afraid to update him that I no longer keep up with the music that we both hold dear to our hearts.

But maybe I shouldn’t have been so scared of the disappointment Boepple would have expressed. The only judgment I should really care about is my Heavenly Father’s; everyone else’s should be trivial in comparison. Sadly, this is much easier said than done.

~

I always really enjoy meeting with Dr. Weber. Not only is he smart and insightful, but also kind and caring, listening almost as much as he speaks, which is rare for professors in general. We discussed a lot of interesting things:

• Technological improvement is usually linear (forward), but society might take many steps backwards (i.e., Spain before the 1400s, when Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived in relative peace. Then the Jews were expelled in 1492). At the end of a generation, has society made any progress toward a more peaceful and truthful existence?
• Travel and art, and replicating masterpieces so more of the world can see. I think music does the same thing. When we perform masterpieces, we are replicating art while adding our own interpretations. Fascinating.
• We always talk about books because Dr. Weber loves to read, and this book is one that he is currently reading which I could see myself picking up. The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker is a book that explains how language works, how people learn it, and how the mind figures out language. Who knows, maybe I’ll become a better punner ;)
• He gave me graduation presents! I wasn’t his advisee or a physics student, yet he remembered me and cared enough to give me something thoughtful and practical. I feel so loved and am looking forward to reading the novels he thought I would enjoy :)

Grad Presents

I grabbed lunch with Sandy, my former fellowship leader. The conversation was not as deep as I expected, but that’s OK. It was still good to connect with her and hear about the ways God is working at Santa Clara through Acts 2 Christian Fellowship.

~

One of the professors I wanted to see was a new faculty who came to Santa Clara my senior year. I was in the first series of classes Dr. Schab ever taught, and as a seasoned student, I was piqued yet intrigued by his naïve optimism in his teaching and focused dedication for his students. His insanely long homework sets were frustrating, but his reasoning for them (learning should take place mostly outside of the classroom) was sensible. Most students did not love his class, but I could see myself in his shoes. If I ever become a professor, I would set insanely high bars while investing an excessive amount of time trying to help students succeed – much more than jaded professors would give and battle-scarred students would expect.

Dr. Schab used to put “fun” problems on the glass window of his office, where students were encouraged to write solutions via Expo markers. When I walked by his office, the window no longer displayed interesting E&M problems. Instead, written solutions to the most recent homework set were taped on the window. It was fine, because there was still space where I could scribble “Hi Professor :)” on the glass. As I finished to leave, Dr. Schab came walking down the hall. We ended up chatting for fifteen minutes about weather in the South, traveling, culture shock, settling into new places, and grad school. He said that if I ever needed anything, feel free to reach out, and don’t be a stranger. There it was – care and thought you would not expect.

~

I spent the afternoon hanging out in Bradford’s lab and working on the conference app. It’s always so good to catch up with old friends and pick up right where we left off. Between his first and second lab, we watched cooking Youtube videos. I’m glad I’m not the only crazy person obsessed with delicious food.

I saw a few more friends and got dinner with another, and I'm thankful I got to spend the day at my alma mater. I pray that these connections do not fade too quickly. Next up: SF Winter Conference!

Belated 1st Week

It's already halfway through January and I started this post over a week ago. I apologize this is very belated. Here are the picture updates of my first week back in Orlando.

We had an intern development day on Monday, and we learned about the Predictive Index and had a devotional on surrender. Then we had a hands-on activity based on surrender – dirty pour paintings. I did them once before with Tony John, and it’s a form of art where you have very little control of the finished product. It’s exciting but also scary, but it always turns out fine. The interesting part was seeing how everyone’s painting turned out. Here’s a sweeping glance of all of them:

Beautiful Dirty Pours

During our lunch break, we walked to a nearby park and climbed a rope structure. We got a refreshing view of the neighborhood. At least for those of us who climbed to the top.

At the Top!

After work on Tuesday, my teammate Kelsey took me to Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. We celebrated the end of her time with the conference team, and a successful Epic Conference in Dallas over New Years. We went to get Dole Whip. Later in the evening, her family (who were in Orlando for a work conference) joined us, where we got dinner and watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks without the crowd and people. I laughed so much with her family; they are a hilarious bunch, and I now know where her sense of humor J

 Dolewhip with Kelsey

And we had a visitor! Keren’s sister Miriam came back to Orlando with her, and she stayed with us for a few days. She’s a junior in college studying ___, and looking to attend Preview Weekend in early February! She also went to China in high school and requested to have hot pot with Song and I while she was with us. So that’s what we did on Wednesday evening! It’s always so fun to spread joy through sharing a meal with others, especially when it’s good food.

Hot Pot with Miriam + Friends

After dinner, Miriam and Keren hosted a bilingual worship night. They sang played a few familiar worship songs in both Spanish and English, and it was so cool to see and hear them worship in a different language. It reminds me of the worship songs that Song plays in his car, and the fact that God understands and accepts our worship no matter where we are or what language we speak. 

Bilingual Worship

And what post would be complete without a food picture? I had breakfast with my roommates before work on Friday and ordered "Vanilla Chai Pancakes." It was plated so beautifully that I felt inspired to copy it! So the next day, I made breakfast with Aftyn, and we had normal pancakes with her roommates. But look, I think I was a pretty good copycat:

Top Inspired Bottom

I am now in San Francisco for Cru Winter Conference! More updates coming soon. 

The Daily Office

Wow I haven’t posted in a long time. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Welcome to a new decade, and I hope you have been keeping your New Year’s resolutions ;)

I started a devotional today called “Emotionally Healthy Relationship Day by Day” (subtitle: “A 40-day Journey to Deeply Change Your Relationships”). This is written by the same author who wrote “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,” the super convicting book I read at the beginning of my time in Orlando.

A Great Devotional

Unlike typical devotional books, this book introduces users to a spiritual discipline called the “Daily Office.” It’s the idea of, instead of just doing one devotional in the morning and get “filled up,” you hold the “Daily Office” at least twice a day, turning to the Lord to be with Him (not just get stuff from Him). It is an eight-week guide to help cultivate the attentive-ness to God’s presence throughout the day – in the midst of all the work and business.

I’ve only done the first devotional, but I already recommend it. Each Office contains 5 elements: 

1. Silence and Stillness – each Office begins and ends with a time of silence before the Lord. The difference between that and meditation (which the author addresses) is that meditation has the goal of emptying yourself to nothingness, whereas silence before the Lord is focused on sitting in God’s presence and being filled with the Spirit. Silence is a rare commodity, and today I realized that silence is difficult to find in our society today.
2. Scripture – a short passage of God’s Word, because “less is more.” To be read slowly and prayerfully.
3. Devotional – the author curated material from all over the spectrum, from contemporary pastors to monks to ancient spiritual writers. Also to be read slowly and prayerfully.
4. Question to Consider – just a single reflection question related to the devotional and scripture. Very poignant and worth journaling about.
5. Prayer – a written prayer, to be used verbatim or as an inspiration.

The author stresses that the components and duration of the Office are flexible. The five components are to bring you into your time with God, and sometimes you’ll spend time doing only one or two, and other times you will want to do all five. Sometimes, one spends forty-five minutes sitting in silence, while one may finish all five parts in ten minutes. I think it’s really cool to have structure and flexibility as the Spirit leads.

I started my work day with the first Office, then proceeded to work on the San Francisco Winter Conference app. The platform we’re using is not the best, and by lunchtime, I was pretty frustrated by the requests that were simply inexecutable on the platform. As I was heating up my lunch, I whispered, “God, I’m so frustrated.” I almost surprised myself; I haven’t been so conscious of God’s presence in a long time. Not saying that this devotional is the magic pill to always being attentive to His omnipresence, but it is helping me be more focused Him throughout the day.

My First Office

When I got home, I did the second Office. This quotation in the devotional really hit me:

“To love someone is not first of all to do things for them, 

but to reveal to them their beauty and value, 

to say to them through our attitude: 

‘You are beautiful. You are important. 

I trust you. You can trust yourself…’” 

– Jean Vanier, from Brokenness to Community

Jean Vanier was a Canadian Catholic philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian who founded L'Arche, an international federation of communities for people with developmental disabilities and. He wrote the above quotation as he first started working with adults with mental illnesses. All they wanted was a simple friendship, but this seemingly benign request revealed the hardness of his heart. And who am I kidding, my heart is just as hard.

This definition of love is so challenging because it is not about a feeling. It’s not even about an action. It is about the attitude of the heart. I don’t have to think a person is beautiful, valuable, or trustworthy to give them gifts, do acts of services, or speak words of affirmation to them. On the outside, it may seem like “love,” but do I deeply believe this person – an image-bearer of God – is beautiful and important? It’s not about the works of my hand or the words of my mouth, but the posture of my heart.

This is not a good segue, but my word of 2020 is “focus.” Think about a photographer taking a picture with a camera lens. When a lens is focused, the resulting picture is clear and sharp: the subject is sharp and draws the most attention, while the background is often blurry and much less important. I want God to be the subject -- center of my activity, attraction, and attention. I don't want to be distracted and entertained by the transient things of this world. My prayer for this year is that through my focus on the Lord, my attitude, and subsequently my words and actions, can be slowly more aligned to my Father’s. I want to see people the way He sees them and have the right attitude towards them.

In Focus

What is your New Year’s resolution? How do you want to see the Lord work in your life this year?