Category: Personal

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Recent Thoughts on What a Church Should Be

None of us are perfect.  Even after being Christians.  Actually, let me correct myself…  Especially, after becoming Christians.  So I was naturally more and more disappointed to find out that we are even less and less tolerant of those that are not Christians, let alone being different.   After all, that’s exactly the same groups that Jesus warned us NOT to be like – the Pharisees!

However, we become more and more reclusive people that only accept “clean” people.  Today’s Sunday school was about how God accepts and loves EVERYTHING about us.  Yet, we as church, seem to require that people change before we come to God’s church to grow and receive Him.  Jesus often compared Himself as a doctor who came to heal the sick.  That would imply that the people were still not saved.  Yet, over 2000 years, we somehow changed to allowing “pre-requisites”.  We want “decent” people only… if we lack any skills, be it social or intellectual, if we lack any riches or economic standing, we don’t seem as receptive.

I say the more screwed up we are, the more we need Christ in our lives!  That can only happen if we receive all those that enter God’s doors just as they are!  Is that too much to ask?!  Is that too crazy to demand of?!

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Hooray for Red Eyes!

Well, it’s the end of January… and though it’s technically winter, here in the warm state of Texas, it’s ripe season for allergies! >.<  Erg… how I dread these next two months…

I have tried, Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra, and Xyzal.  None seem to work well.  Right now, my eyes are irritated and inflamed.  And because of that, my eyes are hot, red, and puffy.  Oh the glory and joy of enduring this time of the year… I am pretty much allergic to more or less all the tree pollens out there as well as severe allergies to cats and dust.  Yeah… It’s a good thing that people don’t make food out of tree pollens!  LOL

I have tried Neti pot which is very temporary relief.  My co-worker/mom-at-work, June keeps telling me to just get the allergy shot and be done with it.  However, I have HUGE fear of needles… and this shot is the mother of them all!

What is this post about?  Just my ranting and hoping for some sympathy…  back to life… but if you have another medication for me to try, don’t hesitate to suggest it!

EDIT: Friend of mine, Jon Park, an optometrist suggested I give Lotemax (by Bausch & Lomb) a try to relieve my inflamed and irritated eyes.  And it works!!  Mixing that with Claritin and Neti pot is making this allergy season much more endurable!

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Democrats (and Republicans) and Prejudice

If you had asked me which political party I belong to about 10 years ago, I’d have said Republican w/o a doubt.  However, since then, I have had my share of doubts about the party and have now become a moderate.  But don’t party now just because you are a democrat.  I still have bones to pick with you yet.

You see, 10 years ago, I’d have said that it is just the republicans that are prejudiced.  Against everything and everyone.  Be the issues of abortion or gay rights or death penalty or “War against Terror”, I’d definitely agree with you on that the Republicans are prejudiced.  However, it seems that the Democrats are not that different.  You see, among my list of friends, many who are younger tend to be democrats.  However, I was just as surprised to find out that they are still prejudiced against me.

For what you ask?  Simply for being me.  I’m going to be taking lots of flak for this, I’m sure.  What I mean is that my democratic friends are prejudiced against things that are not cool.  Take Star Trek for example.  During our retreat, the speaker used the Star Trek reference and she misused the reference to which she meant “Starfleet Academy”.  Upon my correction, slew of people reacted as if it’s a taboo.  So it’s a crime to be a geek and a nerd?

I am a die-hard PC gamer.  And people ridicule me for being one.  They use lines like “Why don’t you grow up?”  So picking up other expensive habits are better?  And take sports as another example.  In my 2 cents worth of opinion, sports is a waste of time unless you are playing it.  So my not watching it becomes another point of ridicule.  I can go on and on.

My point is thus a simple one.  Prejudice runs in both republicans and democrats.  I wish everyone would stop using it as an excuse.  Just for being different, it is a (bad) human nature to pick on someone else, be it color of skin, economic status, political status, how nerdy you are, or if you suck at sports and make them look bad so that you look better.  Just admit it.  We all should belong to “Prejudiced Anonymous” and we all need to repent of it…  I know I do.

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Father’s Wishes for His Son

Animated JJ

JJ has been… energetic to say the least.  He’s anything but like me when I was a kid.  He’s very outgoing, highly energetic, and very sociable.  I was nothing like that when I was little.  I was a huge introvert, shy, and definitely not full of energy.

So when he was born, I wanted him to have a life that I failed to live.  I wanted him to enjoy life even from the young days.  I wanted him to be playful and enjoy each day, even if it meant him being … loud.  The picture above captures the essence of how I want my son to be… playful, enjoying being himself.

My days of childhood was too quiet.  Not sure what prompted me to be so shy but I was.  In some extreme years, I became a bookworm and stayed home all day reading books.  These days, I don’t think it’s enough to be just smart and intelligent.  As much as I’d love my kids to be smart, Soojin and I agree, that given the choices, we would prefer them to be sociable over smart any day.

I’ve come across many intelligent people in my life, both personally and professionally.  And my only conclusion thus far is that intelligent people are hard to work with, way too finicky, and are not open minded.  In this world, I want JJ to grow up expressing himself openly, no matter how the world treats him for it.  At the same time, being sociable to work with others and get along with others.

In short, I want him to enjoy life on a day to day basis.  Sure learning is important.  In fact, one should never stop learning.  However, beyond that step, living the day to its fullest potential (carpe diem) and being full of life is how I want him to be.  I would rather have him be bit more mischievous and hyper than shy and reclusive.  Perhaps that’s more due to the fact that that’s how I was and didn’t like it, but that’s what I would want for JJ.

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Saving Connor

Sue and Connor

That’s Sue, Connor’s mom (my cousin-in-law)…

No it’s not about the Terminator series… rather, it’s a personal request.

You see, my cousin Steve has a 5-year-old son, Connor.  He has a rather rare condition called X-linked hyper IGM. This clinical sounding disease is a devastating immuno-deficiency. The 1 in a million diagnosed usually succumb to liver cirrhosis or lung infection at an early age, the lucky few may survive into their mid-20’s.

So he needs a matching bone marrow donor to cure this condition.  So I have started, on their behalf with their permission, a Facebook fan page called Saving Connor in my nephew (technically first cousin, once removed)‘s honor in order to:

  • Help spread awareness of Asians’ lack of registering on the bone marrow donor listing
  • To get people registered, especially Koreans, to help find a matching donor

So please join the bone marrow registry. You can register online at www.aadp.org or www.bethematch.org (use promo code TeamConnor) – it takes 10 minutes to join.

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Bittersweet Change

Well, it’s a bittersweet month or something!

After my sharing about the bittersweet parenthood, I am sharing yet another bittersweet event in my life.  Of all things, I am parting with someone (or something) that I have been together with since I have been in high school… What in the world am I talking about?!  It’s my auto insurance company, State Farm.

It is rather true about brand loyalty.  I have been with them for my auto insurance for almost 20 years!  Sure I started under my parents’ coverage when I was in high school but I have since moved on… and while they haven’t treated me all that badly, their rates have not gone down.

Ok, so I do have an accident from July 2005 under my belt that is labeled as my fault (even though that is not the case and will hold onto that till I die!) and my wife’s accident from November 2008 is not her fault.  Yet our rates have not gone down.  If anything, it has slowly crept its way up.

When I went home for the holidays, I was rather suprised to find out that both my parents and my brother had switched from State Farm!  😮  I thought they had retained the same insurance over the years!  So after I recovered from my shock, I looked online and over the phone, got some rates to compare with.  Full coverages on both of our cars, both Geico and AAA quoted about $600 per year below State Farm price!  That is with renters’ insurance as well.

So after much reluctance (trust me, I was just as suprised as you were about how loyal I was to State Farm! and trust me, I do have at least one bitter story to tell but will save that for another time), I decided to switch.  And for the record, I am switching to AAA only because my parents have that and my co-workers seem to have good experience with them.  What finally won me over?  This question…

Is my loyalty to State Farm worth $600 per year?!  You know the answer to that one… 🙂

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Bittersweet Parenthood

Before I forget, happy new year…

I have now been a parent for almost 8 years now… and it surely has been anything BUT boring!

I wanted to, however, share some key learned lessons in becoming a parent. Most will tell you to 1) sleep as much as you can before you become a parent and 2) your life as single independent will be over. Those two are very true. However, that is not all.

Once my kids were out of baby stage, my life was bit more… relaxing. They began to sleep at more normal hours (except my daughter who just can’t go to sleep before 9 pm anymore!) and they are able to do some minimal things on their own (eg. tooth brushing etc and dressing themselves etc.). However, with that comes their own state of mind. It may not seem such a big deal at first but lately, I have noticed few things about my kids.

My daughter has become super-sensitive to others and will apologize at the smallest of things. My son has been causing more and more ruckus lately. Oh scratch the second one. That’s just being a boy. 😛 But seriously, both have started to ask questions. An they are never-ending! I give them credit for wanting to learn… but now I understand why you can’t teach your own kids!! >.< Along with these, they have been developing their own preferences and a sense of who they are in the ways of what they like and don't like. My daughter goes through daily morning war in choosing what to wear to school. My son only likes to things just the way HE likes them. And I as a parent, am finding myself trying to come up with new ways to teach them how to be human. Yes, it's important that they develop sense of who they are but it's a balance that they need to practice. If it's 30 F outside, shorts are not practical. And with the latest craze of Bakugans, we've come to conclusion that my kids are not ready for the animated TV series as the shows seem to make them behave more... violently. With this came realization that I no longer live for myself. For next 12 years, my life's schedule will have to adapt to theirs, and spend more time in familiarizing with their environments and friends (no problem with watching cartoons!). Addressing some key questions/issues like when can we get them started on video games? How do we limit on their friends? I get my mind blown away at these things that I have to deal with as a parent, but it's all bittersweet. Sure it's complicated. Sure I don't have as much "free" time. Sure I get more and more tired, both mentally and physically. But each time I see their smiles, and each time I see them enjoying life, it seems to be all worth it. So what if it gives me headache thinking about how grumpy they get when we tell them to get ready for bed? The ending punch line is that my life is no longer just my own. I am responsible for 3 more people now. It's not just me who needs joy and happiness, but my wife and my kids as well. And you know what?! I am ok with that.