New Start

It has been almost 3 weeks since I returned from Japan (long story there!) and began classes at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. I have not yet given up on this blog, though it took some time to get back to it. A few highlights from the summer:

• Project Destiny ended in August. It was exciting to see most of the students attending our Summer Teen Conference at Camp Cherith, Maine. A few of those kids are now plugged into our afterschool program (PDAS) and see Mr. Cheung, Mr. Fei, and Ms. Lui, and others on a regular basis. Several campers have also started to attend TWR, the middle school fellowship as well.
  
  
• There were some tough parts about serving as the camp director this year, which I'll be happy to share with you about if you ask me. The amazing thing to me, though, is how God redeems hardship and trouble to accomplish good things. It was in moments when I felt let down and when I felt like I had let down others that God made me trust him more and proved that He really is all that I need.
  
  
• I took bike ride after PD ended-- partly to get some exercise and partly to spend some time alone. I packed my bags with what I thought would be some useful stuff- like water, first aid, food, etc. It started out as a ride from my ancestral home in Quincy to Boston (10 miles). Then, once I got to Chinatown, though, I got the sense that I could and should keep going. So I rode to buy some more equipment from REI (a tent) and then hit the Minuteman Bike Trail out to Bedford (18 miles). By the time I arrived in Bedford, it was already late, so I searched for a place to stay before finally settling on the campgrounds at Hanscom Airforce Base. The next morning, I was told I couldn't stay because I wasn't military, so I got up and continued my ride through a muddy dirt trail to Concord (7 miles) where I visited all the cool Americal Literature sites. Best of all was a ride around Walden Pond and a subsequent swim to wash off all the grime. Finally, as the day wound down, I rode to the town of Lowell (24 miles) before turning back towards Boston via Woburn (20 miles). And yes, it was an awesome time of solitude.

And finally, Gordon Conwell has been better than I had hoped for. There's a lot of reading and learning to do, yet in the midst of it, God has given me a gift of discipline that I had previously not quite had. Maybe it's just the rush of a new start, where I'll inevitably revert; but this feels different... almost natural. It's strange that I never had this in college or even in the "real world." In any case, there is so much to be thankful for in this new place and time. I miss being in Chinatown, but there are things to be grateful for here, too.