strange phd

Marvel movies are still coming, and we can see a progression on what type of superpowers and greater powers, and crazy stuff is going happen next...

• a high school student from public school Spiderman protects his friends in New York 
• students from a special private school, the X-men fights for the protection and integration of mutants in society
• a team with people from different educational levels, which we can average as undergrads called the Avengers show up when Earth is in danger of threats
• a masters in planning named Star lord, leads the Guardians of the Galaxy to keep the universe safe
• PHD, actually a doctor show saves lives, but due to an accident lost his abilities, and had to go onto a journey to be come part of a group of "sorcerers" to protect the"multi-universes" from evil forces, and his name is Dr Strange.

I watched Dr Strange on the weekend, and it was fun to watch. I am a bit of Marvel fan, so I will probably not get bored with superhero movies. Dr Strange is indeed a good origin-type movie that explains the background of a superhero before he became one, and the sequence of events that mold his character and solidify his resolve to fight for good.

The effects and the fighting was pretty interesting as it had some inception sauce and matrix spice. The character development was good, and I enjoy the comedic relief.

** spoilers alert **

One of the cool things about the movie is that there is a bunch of religious overtones. I mean, Dr Strange belongs to a group of "sorcerers" from Nepal, who draws power from other universes to create teleportation gates, shields, and weapons. The fact that it draws power from some sort of impersonal force, it has influence from the pantheistic worldview.

Another interesting concept shown is the art of "surrendering" when Dr Strange first was having issues with generating a teleportation gate, as he was trying to use that force to bend his way, but instead he had to surrender to it to use his power accordingly.

There are interesting characters who has very different motivations:

• You also have the "Ancient One" who always looked very wise, and she was a person with very good intentions who unfortunately had to break some rules and use the power of  evil to do good things while forbidding others from doing so. 
• This lead to a rebellion from a talented student who went ahead to practice the dark arts since he probably thinks the Ancient One is deceiving him. 
• Then you have Mordo who is self-righteous, and shows not much grace to those who "breaks the rule", and unfortunately due to his self-righteousness he now wants to annihilate other sorcerers. 
• There is also the guy who was paralyzed, and was able to recover by learning the "arts", but chose not to use if for a greater good, instead kept it for himself.
• Dr Strange started with been very self-conceited and proud, and shifted to be self-less and willing to sacrifice his own time and life to protect the earth

The villain's motivation was not portrayed as clear, but he did expressed the he abhorred the reality of "death", so he wanted to seek the dark arts to gain the eternity. That's not a bad start to start a spiritual conversation, because indeed the bible does speak about "eternity is written on our hearts" (Ecclesiastes), and there is a human longing for such concept, and we know that through Christ we are able to access to God our Father be able to spend an eternity with Him.

** end of spoilers ** 

making leadership great again

Yesterday night was a long night, as after more than a year of election campaign started on the US, the election took place. I am part of a whatsapp group with some old friends from CCF, and the activity is very sporadic, but on yesterday it skyrocketed as we followed the election results.

I didn't started to follow until like after 9pm when I came back from work. So the timeline was like this:

• 10pm - Trump is ahead, making me a bit nervous, but I knew a bunch of the stronger Democrat states were still not counted.
• 11pm - uh oh, Trump got Florida. Losing such a key state!
• 11:30pm - Clinton got California, so you think the tides would change. But it takes grade 2 math that Clinton needs to win in most of the remaining states to win. It's hard, but realistic.
• 12am - The odds look bad for Clinton, she needs almost a miracle to stand a chance.
• 01am - Mathematically, Clinton still has a chance, but it is not very likely so I went to bed.

It is almost shocking. As an outsider, I did want Clinton to win, even though she has many faults as a candidate, I feel she was the more capable candidate (if not the only) to lead the US. It would have been historic to see the first women president for the country.

There are many reasons that could explained why Trump won, like the recent FBI inquiry on Clinton's emails, or lack of participation of young voters (who would have voted for Clinton) on key states, the old electoral vote system that might not represent what the voters want, or Gary Johnson "stealing" 200,000 votes on Florida... well I gonna move on.

But it is very interesting to see how many Americans find neither of the candidates compelling, as they do lack many key characteristics of what a leader look like. From what I see on the news, I just have to say that the elected leader is one who lacks most of the traits of a leader, and only time will tell if America actually made the right choice.

Here are some key traits I think the elected leader lack:

- Proficient at the area/subject you are leading
- Model for others to follow: lead by example, walk the talk, possess a character that influences others positively.
- Understand that it is not about you, but about the people you lead.
- Respect to everyone no matter their background, ethnicity, etc.
- Track of record: proven from past experiences that he has been successful on areas of leadership.

many nations

So the Olympics has ended, and part of me is kind of relieve as now I have less distractions in my day to day.

There is a good article about the "stats" of this Olympics: http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/37148372, and it talks about how US is still a powerhouse in the medals count, and how Great Britain did very well reaching second place. It also shows how certain countries have most of their medals on one type of event (e.g. Jamaica won a bunch in track and field). Canada also did pretty well.

It goes on with talking how Michael Phelps did very well, and as well Katie Ledecky (she is beast), and one of the best gymnasts Simone Biles winning many medals. Of course Usain Bolt is on a league of his own, winning the 3 golds (100m, 200m, 4x100m) in the last 3 Olympics. Probably it is not the number of medals that made him so good, but it's how he dominates the race and how he draw the crowds to roar for him.

These are all achievements that most people have heard about as they are the main starts of the past few weeks. There are other great achievements that might not appear in the main headlines that I would like to note:

• Anthony Erwin from the US, the oldest swimmer at age of 35 to win a gold medal (50m freestyle). He had won a gold in Sydney 2000 (16 years ago!), and then had a tough life of depression and even had suicide attempts, but he was able to recover, and even get a gold medal.
• Oksana Chusovitina, is the oldest female gymnast to compete at the age of 41. She is already a well accomplished athlete, but she never gives up. She participated on the vault apparatus, and even though she did not win any medal, she attempted the "Prudonova" which is the hardest level of difficulty of vault (and is very dangerous). Though she did not landed cleanly, the fact that she tried to such a high level routine with the ambition to clinch a medal is worth admiring.
• Monica Puig, won the very first gold medal for Puerto Rico in its history, by taking first in women's tennis. It is an achievement that brings much joy and unity to a "nation" that is going through a really bad economical turmoil.
• Juan Martin del Potro, Argentine tennis player who used to be in higher ranks a few years back, but due to injuries have not competed well in the recent years, had a wonderful journey of battles by defeating #1 tennis player Djokovic in the first round, and defeating former #1 Rafael Nadal, to get into finals and lose to Andy Murray. The silver medal is a fantastic prize for him on his comeback. He is even surprised to get that far, especially when he knew his first match was against Djokovic.
• In indoor volleyball, the relatively new nation of Serbia, went to its first Olympic final in women's by defeating the favorites, the US in 5 sets. Eventually, they did lose against the talented and very tall team of China in the finals, but their accomplishment is admirable.

There is probably a lot more of good things to talk about regarding the Olympics, and of course there will also be many negative things to speak about.


Rio Olympics started with great skepticism, because of many issues that Brazil as a nation is facing. From the economical issues, to political instability (its elected president had to stepped down, and she is getting prosecuted), to civil unrest (many people are really unhappy about the $ spent in the World Cup and Olympics), to the Zika virus (many health organization recommended to postpone it). Plus there are other concerns about how the clean the water is in Rio, about the unfinished residences (for the athletes), and the security (apparently a few athletes has reported robbery, some are true stories, some are not). Due to all this, there is a huge concern whether tickets will get sold as people might be deterred to visit. Despite all this, Rio Olympics went on, and seemingly it went relatively ok. Of course, that is from an outside's perspective, we'll still have to see how this will affect Rio in the next couple of years.

But for sure, there is also controversy when talking whether it is worth hosting an Olympics.

I found some youtube videos that shows top 5 interesting facts about the Olympics in general:

• reasons why it sucks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUaLWYUe12c
• reasons why it can be good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp2OKrtxgeo

I was trying to think why I like the Olympics. What attracts me to spend a few hours a day watching many kind of sports event? In general I really like to watch sports, especially football (called soccer in North America), but I actually do not watch football in the Olympics (it's considered a minor event). 

There are certain sports that I grown to appreciate a lot like artistic gymnastics, pole vault jump, synchronized diving, and some of the sprinting events, some of the swimming events. There is actually World competitions that go on every year or two years for these sports, but I only follow them during the Olympics. So I think the Olympics does provide a "venue" to showcase all these great sports and athletes in set time, so that people can appreciate and admire (and learn the rules and points system about the sports).

One thing one of the major attractions about the Olympics that I like is to see people from many nations participating. My top favorite sports event is the Football World Cup, but there are only 32 nations, and most of them are European. Whereas in the Olympics, there are officially 207 nations (some of them not recognized by the United Nations, but who cares), and that is big number. Nations from certain geographic location tend to do better at some sports (e.g. East Asian countries are good for Table Tennis). Sometimes it is very nice to hear an athlete from a less known country winning something big (e.g. Fiji winning gold on rugby), It's very neat to witness many athletes from different nations, ethnicity, and culture competing together in the span of two weeks.

It is very pale, but really pale picture of what it could look like when all nations will gather together to worship God. Of course it is a stretched comparison. If I am elated by seeing people from all nations competing in a sports event, how much more joyful it will be to see all nations coming together worshiping God? 

A few other things from the Olympics that was nice to see/hear:

- David Boudia (silver in 10m synchronized diving, and bronze in 10m individual)  praying with his coach after his final dive.

- Almaz Ayana (broke the 10km record, and won gold) was accused of doping, and she defended herself with these reasons: "No. 1, I’ve been training specifically (for this event). No. 2, I pray to the Lord. The :ord has given me everything, everything. And No. 3, my doping is Jesus. Those are the reasons."

We should really be doped with Jesus.

good superhero

In the last couple of years there have been a lot of superhero movies from Marvel or DC comics. I still remembered when I was a kid, there were really only a few movies, Batman, and Spiderman, which happen to be on my favorite list.

But nowadays, there are like 2-5 movies a year on superheroes, and I am pretty sure some people are getting tired from them, whereas others are overjoyed to see the "less famous" superheroes come into the big screen. I personally enjoy good action movies, with a decent plot, and some comedic relief once in a while.

This year there were 4 big films that many were looking forward to:
- Captain America: Civil War
- X-men: Age of Apocalypse
- Batman vs Superman
- Suicide Squad

I think Marvel is doing way better job at storytelling. But in general many of these movies share similar issues of plot holes, saturating too many characters, lack of pace and transition, unlikable characters, etc. Still, I went to the theaters to watch them.

One common theme from these films is the conflict of "controlling" the superheroes. Most of these characters have amazing powers that can easily allow them to do whatever they want. Fortunately, most of them have "good" moral values, and humanity is safe. But what happens when they are not longer "good"? Would humanity be at risk? Remember, these superheroes are still imperfect humans, and there is no guarantee that they will not go rogue.

(spoiler alert)

In Civil War, the United Nations trying to pass a bill to impose certain restrictions on the Avenger's movement (a weak attempt to control them). Batman vs Superman has the dark night trying to kill the man of steel because he thinks Superman does not care about people's lives. Suicide Squad is about a team of powerful villains working for the government in case a "bad" Superman was to arise. Age of Apocalypse shows how it would look like if a crazy god-wannabe was to rule.

(spoiler ends)


The idea of a demigod been so powerful definitely scares people, because you never know if it will turn against you.

I think one of the attributes of our Christian God that sometimes we don't ponder enough is God's goodness. Sometimes I take it for granted, because I am so "used to" experiencing God's mercy and love, and He always take care of me. But as I think about deeper, God's goodness is huge and is a key point that makes our faith true and consistent. For example, because God is good:

• I know that "in all things God works for the good of those who live him" (Romans 8:28)
• His love for me is real and I can truly say "Because you love is better than life, my lips will glorify you" (Psalms 63:3)
• Even if I fail, God is faithful and keeps His promise (2 Timothy 2:13)
• Our hope makes sense despite the suffering, because we are assured that this will mold us and we renewed inwardly day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Romans 5)

There is so much more that can be written.

Now, I am going to make a side discussion. In my church, we had the opportunity to listen to a 2 session seminar from a Christian pastor who used to be Muslim. The seminar was about the persecution on Christians that are happening on Iraq and Syria (places were the Islamic State has a stronghold).  There was a lot of information, and I felt it was very beneficial for the church to know more about Islam, to be informed, to learn so that we can develop a good answer for the big issues on Islam and violence.

One particular point I want to bring out, is that the pastor said that true Islam is violent. This could mean that what the Islamic State is doing now might represent well what the Quran teaches. I myself am not expert on Islam theology to take a stance, and I don't think I am well informed to enter into a debate. So my intentions is to present facts and contrast them with our Christian faith, and glean lessons out of them.

These are external articles and interviews I read to gained more information:

• An interview with a former Muslim who is now a Christian: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/does-isis-represent-true-islam
• 9 basic things about Islam: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-islam
• Does Islam lead to violence: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/does-islam-inevitably-lead-to-violence
• John Piper's thoughts on why westerners are attracted to Islamic State: http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/why-is-radical-islam-alluring-to-westerners

These are a few points:

• Both religions have laws, and Islam focuses more on behavior on keeping them, whereas Christianity teaches about inward obedience in respond to God's goodness and love.
• Missionaries: Christians emphasizes on loving others and sharing the gospel, but never forcing our faiths to others, but trusting that Holy Spirit works in transforming unbelievers. In the history of Islam, there are examples of Muslims forcing others to believe (especially when they have conquered your land).
• Historical context, some of the chapters from Quran that speaks about inflicting violence to others were written when Mohammed (first prophet) had gathered a great number of followers, and was no longer just a prophet but also a political leader. So some of these ideology were used as a reason to conquer lands or retaliate to people who have taken land away from them.
• Violence on Islam is nothing new. It happened through history many times, but now we just have more media exposure.
• A strong focus on Islam in exerting power and dominion, in contrast of Christ's teachings on loving your enemies.
• Many of the people attracted to Islamic State share similar beliefs as Christians (dying for your faith, hope in the glory of God), but the root ideology is erroneous and twisted. 

Concluding thoughts

• Not trying to pinpoint Islam as the sole source of violence, it is a human issue due to sin. Christians themselves are as guilty in partaking in violence throughout history. No one is good, except for God Himself. Hence we can redemption in Him, that He will transform us from our sinful state into people who can do good.
• It is very disheartening to read the news and see the atrocities that are happening in other parts of the world, especially fellow brothers and sisters who are persecuted. Some ponder whether the world superpowers (a few countries) should help intervene and eradicate these terrorist groups. But not sure if that will spawn new groups in the future... (cycle of hatred, revenge, etc). It is a battle of ideology, and many believe that this is an opportunity for the Christian faith to shine the light in the places that is most needed, because we believe our is God is good.

"A certain ruler asked him, 'Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
  
 'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 
 'No one is good - except God alone.' " - Luke 18:18-19

athlete

Though there are many criticism on the issues that Brazil is facing as a country, the Olympics at Rio de Janeiro has started, and many great things have occurred. I remembered that it was the Olympics at Atlanta in 1996 that I first watched and grew very attached in watching many of these sports today.

Here are some of the great sport achievements of this week:

• Penny Oleksiak a 16 year old Canadian swimmer conquering the heart of many fans with an Olympic record on 100m freestyle swim, and the first Canadian to win 4 medals in one games. What a great future!
• Americans dominating the swimming medal count, especially with Katie Ledecky winning very convincingly the 200m, 400, 800m freestyle (beating her own World Record) and Michael Phelps adding more medals to his illustrious career.
• Synchronized Diving, a sport where China is considered the best, Wu Minxia achieved a historic 5th goal medal since her participation in 2014 Olympics in 3m springboard. An achievement that was later repeated by her compatriot Chen Ruolin in the 10m springboard.  
• Almaz Ayana from Ethiopia broke the 10,000m race World Record by 14 seconds, which is insane.
• Kohei Uchimura in an intense competition in the all-round men gymnastics competition, grabbed the gold medal by performing a spectacular on his last apparatus (high bar) and beat the second place by 0.1 point. He is also a gold medalist in London 2012 and silver medalisy in Beijing 2008.

There still more events coming up, and I am very excited to see them.

One special athlete I want to focus on is the Italian Tania Cagnotto from 3m springboard diving. She got a silver medal on synchronized diving, and though her achievement might seem small compared to the ones listed above, I really admire her because of her perseverance. I remembered her in the 2012 Olympics, where she was 0.1 point from getting a bronze medal and was ranked 4th. I actually remembered blogging about it 4 years ago. She cried in her coach's shoulder because she has been so close to a medal (she got 4th on both synchronized and individual on 2012, and ranked 5th on individual on 2008). No one was sure if she would come back for another Olympics as she might retire due to her age, and it is difficult to overcome such disappointment. But she kept training and competing, and her perseverance paid off, and now she can boast of a silver Olympic medal, and she might have another chance at the individual competition next week.

I admire athletes because of their discipline and motivation to train and improve. It is not a surprise that the bible has verses that talks about the imagery of someone of races, one who race with perseverance (Hebrew 12:1), one who exercise self-control (1 Cor. 9:24-27), and one who finishes the race (2 Tim. 4:7).

Perseverance is very important because there are many obstacles and disappointments in life but we have to keep striving forward for what Christ has called us. The lesson of  discipline is a hard one. Sometimes it is so difficult to just find time to read the bible on our busy lives. I know in my head that reading the Word is important, I have tasted that the bible is very refreshing, but despite of that I sometimes choose to fill my time with other activities. Discipline means that we need to stick to do what we have to do, even when we do not feel like it. These are two very important lessons that I need to work on more, and through God's grace I hope to improve, all for His glory.

no te vayas Lio

In the recent weeks there have been much football, and the season of international tournaments is coming to an end soon. Throughout these couple of weeks, there have been 3 major "calamities" in the world of football:

1) England getting beaten by Iceland

After surprising vote for "Brexit", the nation of England got a second calamity by losing in the round of 16 against the underdog team of Iceland. Many of the English players are considered superstars and they played on the prestigious Premier League, but Iceland has only 330,000 people on the whole country (for reference, I went to a football stadium that fits 85,000 people, so it's like 4 times that on a whole nation), and most of them do not play at a professional league, and they managed to put a team to win. Funny thing is that the Icelandic football coach is a full time dentist, who is on a sabbatical coaching the team.

English commentators state that this is "their biggest shame in football history".

2) Spain's dominion coming to an end

Spain has gifted us with a great generation of players who delights us with their skills and talent. They have been impressive in winning major tournaments back to back: Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, and Euro 2012. Keeping many of the key players, they could not pass the first round in World Cup 2014, but people still have hope that they would do well in Euro 2016. They started well by defeating Czech Rep, and then dominating Turkey, but looked tired when facing Croatia, and lost against them. That lost was critical as it set them to face Italy, which ultimately eliminated Spain from the competition. Pretty much this lost marks an end to this glorious Spanish generation.

3) Argentina losing another final

Argentina was the great favorite team to win the Copa America 2016, with Lionel Messi as the commanding star. They were second in the World Cup 2014, and second in the Copa America 2015, and they are experiencing a 23 year "drought" of not winning a major football tournament. So all hopes from the Argentine nation were placed in this team to win the Copa America, and they reached final to play against Chile (the current champion).

I am a big Argentina fan, so I actually drove with New Jersey to watch the final game. I wore the Argentina jersey, and was very hopeful that they would win this time. It was a neat experience to enter the stadium to see the Argentine players that I admire, especially Messi. The game started, and the ambient was festive, and whenever Messi touched the ball, the audience's mood would warm up. When he was about to take a free kick, everyone was ready with their smartphones to record a video in the case that he was to score. Unfortunately, the game was rough, and the referee expelled a player from each side, so it became very defensive and tight, so very little opportunities for good plays. Consequently, it went to penalty kicks, where Messi would missed, and Argentina would lose a 3rd consecutive final at a major football tournament in the last 3 years.

This event shattered me emotionally, but a few hours after, Messi announced that he would retire from Argentina national team, and this is a tragic news for the nation and for myself. He is still 29, which means he can play the next World Cup at a high level. With him, Argentina can be a title contender, without him, Argentina looks fragile. This news has led to a social movement in Argentina where many fans and even the president of the nation are asking Messi to reconsider his position.

Anyways, I don't want to over-dramatize my emotions on football.


Just how Argentina have been fruitless on winning major tournaments, sometimes living as a Christian, we might experience seasons of dryness where perhaps we feel it is harder to find joy in God, or that the labor of our work seems fruitless. For some reason this happens, and the fact that we are sinful by nature is major factor, as well God might be teaching us an important lesson. It is hard to find an answer of the why these seasons of dryness can occur. Though they can be very discouraging and painful, there are major truths that we need to be reminded by:

• God is never going to abandon you
• Even though I am not faithful, God is faithful, and His promise to deliver me will stand
• God is never changing, no matter what season, and He is our reason to live and worship

There are times when this song the "Desert Song" by Hillsong speaks volumes:

"This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold

So refine me, Lord, through the flame

...

And this is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ

So firm on His promise I'll stand

All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship"

pasion por el futbol

Definitely enjoy the abundance of football (soccer as it is called here) happening this year.

Honestly, this is something I really much miss. I grew up in Guatemala, where most people are into football, and it is easy to find people who I can share the love for this sport. Many people in Guatemala complains about the corruption in the government, about the economical situation, about the robbery, and this list goes on, but whenever the national team is playing football, all is forgotten. I remembered there was a time when Guatemala played a friendly match with Brazil, a powerhouse int his sport, and of course Brazil was leading 1-0 for most of the game. Last minute of the game, and a corner kick from Guatemala, the player kicks it, and someone connects a header, and scores the tie! It was very exciting, and even one of my neighbors set up some firecrackers to celebrate.

The Euro 2016 is going to a round of 16, and there are many great surprises, teams that are supposed to be strong, are not doing that well, and "smaller" teams doing well.

One special mention I want to make is for Iceland, which has a population smaller than Newfoundland and Labrador; their population is that small, that 8% of its people are actually in France to support their team. Even with such a small country, they are able to assemble a team that qualified for the second round, and today they won their first game ever in Euro history thanks to a goal at the very last minute of the game. The excitement is beyond charts, especially from these Icelandic commentator: https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2016/jun/22/icelandic-commentator-goes-wild-after-icelands-winner-against-austria-audio

When I see this, I smile as I found someone with similar "pasion por el futbol"

man, work is tedious

A topic that has been permanently on my radar is regarding work, because I spend more than 40 hours a week in it, and I myself often experience feelings of restlessness in it.

So I have a conglomeration of thoughts that I hope I can make sense on this post. A lot of it comes from many great discussions I have with other brothers and sisters, books that I read (especially "Every Good Endeavor" by Tim Keller, and insights from the bible.

I apologize ahead of time, as ideas might not be as organized as it could be.

Why do we need to work?

I think there are many "layers" of answers for this question. The first layer is the obvious, to earn money so that we can pay our living necessities (food, rent, internet). On top of it, we can earn money to enjoy some luxuries (e.g. from going McDonald's to going on a vacation). This has a heavier weight for those who needs to sustain a family (1 Timothy 5:8).

Though this first layer seems a good answer, it does feel very transaction based (I put in 40 hours, I get $$$ back). There is nothing wrong with that, but as a Christian I think there is more.

Second layer, work is just a "means" to a bigger goal. We can extend the first layer to the case where I work hard to earn money because I can use this money to support missionaries or church plants, basically partnering for the gospel work with generosity and stewardship. Or it could be something more integrated in the workplace, like I am reaching out coworkers so that they can hear the gospel, or have regular prayer meetings with other Christians at work. Or work could be something not "explicitly" mission focused, where my current workplace is jut stepping stone to a future career.

Third layer, is looking at the biblical response to why we do work. Genesis 1 shows that God created the universe and that He rested on the seventh day. We are made in God's image, so we also have the capacity and creativity to work, as well there is the need of leisure. Moreover, God commanded man to "fill the earth and subdue it" (Genesis 1:28) and assigned some work for Adam on the garden of Eden. The word "subdue" does not mean to do whatever we want on earth, but if we see it with the context of being stewards of God, we are to subdue the earth as God intent to do. So God gave us work to do, as well we are to work in a way that God wants us to. A term that is often used is "cultivate" our workplace, where we are not just there to earn money, but to also do our best to make the most out of it to make it a better place, whether it's through sharing the gospel, serving others, improving a process, or helping with people conflicts. Indirectly, I also think there is value in being good on what we do, to do our best, to improve ourselves, as we are using God's gifts for His purpose.

Really, the overall purpose is the glorify God in all we do (1 Cor 10:31).

Why are there negative aspects about work?

Everything mentioned in the first question is highly theoretical, and it is hard to take it to heart and practice it. The truth is, work is rough, like very rough. Some people are blessed with jobs that they really like to do, which is awesome. Even in those situations, I think there are days where work can be very annoying.

In my experience, I have very good days with work, also very bad days. I have heard from many peers that work usually feels a bit meaningless, it can be boring, it can very stressful, it ca be discouraging, it can be painful to deal with certain people, etc.

Many people I know usually don't want to talk about work at all, because it has such a negative aspect to it.

This is a reality because of sin, people are naturally selfish, and putting people together will inevitably result in conflicts, which cause some of the pain points mentioned above.

God did say that labor will be painful (Genesis 3:17). Sin is bad. In a way, this verse is seen as some sort of curse for men, where we will have to work, and it will rough. Still, I think it is part of God's plan, and I think we find grace in it, and He works in us through it.

How do I deal with the negative aspects about work?

Rough question.

I think if we look back at why we have to work (first question), if we treat work as just a transaction based task (hours for $$$), it can feel really meaningless. I think that as Christians we have to embrace deeper layers of mindset in how we approach work. At the end of the day, work is not the end, but a means to other larger goals, and if we are to embrace God's design for work, where we also cultivate our workplace to be a better place, it is not longer meaningless.

When there is discouragement because of lack of fruits, that's also ok, because if you are doing something for God with the right attitude, maybe the physical results might not come right now, but I think God does value hard work done in faith, and in His timings, change may occur.

Regarding stress, I think part of it is because we are always too busy, and not resting enough. Whenever there is a free day, we just fill it up with many activities, so maybe we never truly the get the rest that we need to recharge.

I want to make a note about the "freedom" that we have as Christians. I know many people work and gets into very stressful scenarios because there is a strive to be recognized, to do very well, and in some sense measure our value based on our performance at work. Though, there is value in working hard, I think that is based on knowing who we really are in Christ, that our identity is based on God loving us that He gave Christ to die for our sins, and adopted us as His sons and daughters. So God loves us first, and we don't need to perform well to earn His love for us. So we are free from these sort of pursuits.

How about finding satisfaction at work?

There are people who might be very satisfied at work because they work in a field that they really like or they are working in helping others in need (social work, health services, missions) and that is a very related to being missional as Christians.

But what do we do when we are not on any of those fields?

This is also a rough question.

I think the aspect of satisfaction or job fulfillment is probably a relative new thing. When I look back at my parents' generation, a lot of them did not have the privilege to get an education, so most of their work can be very boring and have a lack of satisfaction in "today's standards" but they did it anyways, maybe there is no other choice. Nowadays, we do have many choices, so we always wonder if there is a better job opportunity or career out there. Thinking about my parents, I know that they are probably really bored during their jobs a large portion of the time, but probably found some sense of satisfaction when they were able to provide for the family, and give my brother and me an opportunity to education, which could lead to a better future.

I don't have a clear answer for this, but I think if we look back again on why we do work, if we are there to cultivate our workplace on what God has entrusted us, if we do not find satisfaction on this task, then we really need to evaluate what's going on.

How to determine what work to choose?

If we are given various job opportunities or even career options, how do we go about choosing?

One easy answer is to look at our skill sets, and go with the option that overlaps more with our skills. It's not the greatest, because God can call you to something different (stretching it a bit, but God calls David to be king, and he was a shepherd before that).

I got no solid answers just some intermediate guidelines.

We are not just to think about work as a 40 hours box, really think more of a "vocation", a career at which we are dedicated to and look at the larger picture, which is to glorify God in all we do. Here are some things to look for:

• location: this is key as depending on where you live, you get to be impacted or impact different communities
• Kingdom currency: this term is something I made up, but think where I can make more impact in advancing God's Kingdom
• long term dream: maybe there is something that God has put in your heart, but maybe it's way too ambitious, but perhaps it is something that might happen on a very long term, so take small steps to get close to it
• take risks if God does open a new opportunity for you. Changes often invites risk, but have faith that God is in control

Probably this question is more complex that just a few bullet points (it's not a linear equation but a multi-variable differential equation), so honestly life is really rough, but despite that we struggle and can move on because of a sovereign God.

heroes

There is a bunch of football (soccer) going on lately, both the Euro 2016 (European tournament) and the Copa America (American tournament) happening at the same time. This is great because I really like to watch football, especially at the national team levels. The Euro happens during the day, so I get just a bit distracted during work hours, and the Copa America happens at night, so I can relax after dinner watching more football.

There are many great things happening on both tournaments now, but I want to mention just one. Lionel Messi, who many people agree he is the best player of the world, just surpassed the record on most goals scored with the Argentina national team. The record holder was Gabriel Batistuta ("Batigol"), a forward who played during the 90s with Argentina. As a child, I grew up watching "Batigol" play, and he kind of hero to me. The reason why Argentina is my favorite team, is because on my very first football game that I watched, Argentina beat Greece 4-0, and "Batigol" scored three goals.

When asked how he felt knowing that Messi would surpass his record, "Batigol" said that he would probably be annoyed, but that at least he can boast that a player "from another dimension" surpassed him.

Another person who I also consider a hero, is my dad. He is someone who is loving, very social, a good businessman, very supportive, and provided for the family. I am very grateful that I never had to struggle with lack of food on the table, and as well very thankful that my dad was able to support me on my education, so that I can be where I am right now. Of course, he is far from perfect, and definitely has his faults, but overall I think he is a good dad.

It's strange though, as a kid, I saw my dad as someone stronger who protects you, someone who had most of the answers to my questions, someone who would instruct me what to do, in a way someone who I feared as well. Now that I am grown up, it's different. Definitely, I still much respect my dad, but I would disagree with some of his views of life, he has grown a bit weaker physically, and sometimes I would give him advise on what to do. It's an interesting shift, and I think it is normal, as we grow older, we become more independent, and we develop a framework on how we view life, and perhaps we are more privileged in this generation to have more access to education and information.

One of the things that I do ponder is how to "honor" my father and mother. As a kid, I saw this command as pretty much obeying my parents. I can see obeying as a means of honoring, but honoring does not necessarily mean obeying. Now that I live very far, in another country, from my parents, it is difficult to have frequent interactions with them, and sometimes I feel very much disconnected with them, and it is challenging to see how "honoring your parents" looks like in my scenario.

I don't particular have a clear answer to this question, but a few things I try to do at a regular basis:

• pray for them, for their health, and that they focus on what is important
• talk to them regularly (whatsapp calls are great), and keep them updated about what you're doing (might be mundane things, but at least this help them feel that they are somehow in the loop)
• be patient with them, and listen to what they have to say, and if I disagree, respectfully make it known to them, and advise them 
• ocassionaly, give them gifts (they provided for me for so long, so this is the least I could do, plus it is a way to show love)

“Honor your father and mother”- which is the first commandment with a promise - “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” - Ephesians 6:2-3

Kyoto - heart of Japan

So for the longest time, I wanted to visit the old capital city of Japan, Kyoto. The main reason is because I first heard of this place when I watched the anime series Rurouni Kenshin almost 10 years ago, which is kinda silly of me.

During the anime series (and with certain degree of historical accuracy), many battles occurred in Kyoto between Imperial forces and "Shogunate" during the Japanese civil war. And  in the anime series, the main characters goes back to Kyoto embarking on his most important battle to "open a path" for a better future in Japan. So I felt pumped up to go into Kyoto.

Of course, Kyoto is very famous for many of the cultural sites, especially temples and castles, For sure we cannot visit the hundreds of castles that exist, so we have to choose a few selected one to visit.

The first one, is the "Golden Pavilion" which looks pretty nice.



Also, black sesame soft serve is probably one of my favorite.




Rock garden of "Ryoanyi" was a neat place with artistic appeal.




The large temple of "Kiyomizudera" was nice because we visited on the evening, and they actually have special week of "light-ing"







The bamboo forest in "Arashiyama" felt pretty epic, it's a place that you can imagine 2 samurai fighting to death in a movie (unfortunately I was feeling a under the weather during that time, so did not take any good pictures).





My favorite place is probably the "many red gates" temple of "Fushimi Inari" because it was a very cool hike to a top of a mountain, and this just a symbolic place of Kyoto.



























My friends and I spent about 3 days in Kyoto, taking daily trips from our base in Osaka. Probably good enough time to hit all the major attractions. We also hit other places like "Imperial Palace in Kyoto" with a free English tour (need to book ahead of time) and the "International Manga Museum" which surpassed my expectations on how much fun it was, and the geisha district of "Gion", where you can appreciate the old style looking streets and hallways.

Definitely, it is a place I would like to visit again, maybe on a lower pace schedule, just to appreciate more on the cultural treasures in Japan.

Outside of the fun stuff and the natural appreciation of cultural heritage of a country, I also observed that Japanese people are very traditional and paid much respects to the rituals and beliefs. So it was natural to see them bowing to a temple gate, or at the entrance of the temple, or to participate on getting the good luck charms, etc.  In a way, that is very Asian, but also made me realized that many people do not know the true God of this universe. Even been a very open country, about 1% of the population in Japan are said to be Christians, which is very low and makes me realize the great need of gospel work in there.

On that topic, I visited at least 3 different churches during my stay in Japan, and it was refreshing and encouraging to see fellow Japanese believes worshipping our good God! Probably will share more on that on another day.

cinderella

I starting watching and following football (soccer as it is known in two countries) since 1994 World Cup, and ever since it has been my favorite sport.

I follow major international tournaments very closely (World Cup, Eurocup, sometimes Copa America on the national level, and the UEFA Champions League  on the club level). Also, I usually keep track of the domestic leagues in Spain (La Liga, where Barcelona has been dominant in the last years) and Italy (Serie A).

I do not follow the English Premier League closely, even though it is the league that most of my Hong Kong friends love to watch (British colony influence and people like Manchester United, which was very dominant in the 90s and had David Beckham). It is worth noting that the Premier is ranked 3rd in the world in terms of revenue (behind NFL and MLB - crazy American sports).

But I can't help, but to dedicate a post to Leicester City.

One year ago, this team was struggling to get out of the last spot in the Premier League to escape relegation to a lower division. Somehow they were able to win the last 7 games of last season and stay in the Premier. This team has many unknown players. They are ranked 4th in terms of lowest budget on all Premier League teams. Usually the Premier is dominated by teams with large budgets (around 5 times larger than Leicester City), like Man. United, Man. City, or Chelsea. But the current season of the Premier is teaching us how a small and humble team can overtake the elite.

At the start of this current season, the betting odds for Leicester City to win the Premier was 5000 to 1. So I bet $100, I would get half a million dollars if Leicester wins the Premier. That's improbable, like extremely improbable. It is much more probable for Toronto Leafs to win the Stanley Cup (100 to 1), for Simon Cowell to become Prime Minister (500 to 1), or for Kim Kardashian to become US president on 2020 elections (2000 to 1).  Basically, no one would have remotely thought that Leicester City would take the Premier.

This is one of the greatest feat in football history, Leicester City wins the Premier League title, after a fantastic season of consistency, teamwork, and a master manager who knows how to get the best out of his players. Many people describes this as the "most remarkable in football history", others as "an epic ending of a great movie". I have seen many epic moments in football, including dramatic last minute goals in a final game, or coming back from a 0-3 in a final game, or a player scoring 4 goals on a quarterfinals, or a player breaking all sorts of scoring records in a season. Definitely, what Leicester City accomplished this season is of equal caliber.

Some more facts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X097K10nHm0

As a football fan, even though I am not a Leicester fan, I am very happy because this reminds us that this sport it is not about money or superstars, but about how to consistently play well.

Consistency is a hard thing! It's one thing to be good at particular task once or twice, but it is another to be good at it consistently. And this a good lesson to take in general.

This is an example on how human effort can accomplish great things. Imagine how many remarkable things God can do against all odds!

This is a bit of stretch as an example, someone calculated that the odds for Jesus to fulfill 8 of the prophecies from the Old Testament is 1 in 10^17 (reference: https://carm.org/questions/about-doctrine/what-makes-you-think-christianity-only-way-god), which is a crazy large number. But indeed, Jesus fulfilled more than just 8 prophecies, and that is only possible because of the power of God. This shows that our God is remarkable, and He is truly almighty and omnipotent. So if you ever feel like an "underdog" on your Christian pursuits, just remember that our God is great.

your lie in April

So last year during April, I finished watching an anime series called "Your Lie in April", and I wanted to blog about this for a long time, but kept on postponing it, but I guess I should do it before April ends.

This series is definitely not from the mainstream genre in anime as it deals with the themes of sadness and suffering. The story centers on a boy who is a genius at playing piano, but later is traumatized psychologically, and it is not able to play anymore. Years later, he meets a girl (of course) who encourages him to overcome his condition so that he can become a fine piano player.

This series is excellent, and exceeded my expectations. At first, I find it very refreshing to watch a different genre, but as I watched more I started to enjoy the beautiful combination of good music, great animation, like-able characters, and a moving plot. When determining if I like a anime series or not, I put a large emphasis on the ending, and I have to say the ending episode is a masterpiece... the storytelling, the climax, the resolution, everything... one of the best 20 minutes of animation I have seen.

It actually made it to Netflix this year.

The series made me think a bit more about a truth of human life, that life is tough. I have been very blessed because as a child, my parents provided me with what I needed, and also got the opportunity to study in Canada, and now I have a job that allows me to live quite comfortably (don't need to worry about food on the table, about where to stay for the night, etc... and I can even travel). As I travel, I notice that life in other parts of the world can be a lot more difficult, and many people have less opportunities to live comfortably.

Putting that aside, what I mean by "life is tough" is more universal, that every human is susceptible to tragedies, like these ones: car accidents, incurable illness, losing a loved one. And when it happens, it is really hard to understand why it happened. One of the things that the main character of the series have to do, is to mourn, deal with the sadness, come in terms with it, and move on (that process took him a few years).

As Christians, we believe in a God who promises He will wipe away every tear when we are in the "new earth and new heaven", and that the afflictions we are going through now are just "momentary" (a little while), so we have hope that there are better days to come. God takes care of us, but that does not mean that our lives will be easy, there will be trials and tribulations that will test our faith, and that is always challenging. At least we have the assurance that God is for us. I cannot imagine how hard it is for a non-believer, who does not have God to put his hope into, since life is such a long and winding road, what is the purpose of it? Once again, we have God, and we know that we are to live for His glory and that we are created by Him for that purpose. Still, life is tough regardless.

As a young Christian, I remembered singing this worship song in Spanish back at home which resounds with some these thoughts:

"Dios no ha dicho: siempre tendreis        (God did not say: you'll always have
 sendas rosadas, cielos azul,                     roads with flowers, blue skies
 No ha prometido: sol sin calor                God did not promise: sun without heat,
 gozo sin penas, paz sin dolor.                   joy without trouble, peace without pain.
 Pero Dios ha dicho: siempre tendreis      God did say: you'll always have
 fuerzas en la lucha, descanso en El         strength in the battle, place to rest in Him,
Gracia en la prueba, Su ayuda fiel,          Grace in trials, His faithful help,
inagotable apoyo, su eterno amor"           unending support, His Eternal Love)

(note: Thanks to a comment I learned that this song is originated from an English hymn: https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/nt/720)                    

burden of decision making

Recently I have watched two movies about the use of drones in war, one of them was a few weeks "Good Kill" with Ethan Hawke, and recently "Eye in the Sky" with Helen Mirren. They are both excellent movies and very thought provoking in regards to the moral validity on using drones to target dangerous enemies.

The latter movie "Eye in the Sky" centers the dilemma on whether to justify a drone operation to kill a group of terrorists in a small village while there is moderate probability on killing innocent people who are near the area. This is about a joint operation with the US, Great Britain, and Kenya. And there are military personnel, and a few British cabinet ministers monitoring the situation. But once this dilemma arises, among the military personal and British ministers were not able to agree in the next course of action. The movie gets really tense while trying to solve this situation (to go or not with the operation), and also a bit frustrating because it starts a cycle of "decision referral" (basically trying to get in contact with a person of higher authority so that he can make the decision).

The person with "higher" authority within group of people monitoring the operation could not decide, so he has to refer to another minister, and so on, until they reach the Prime Minister. So basically no one really wanted to take the burden on making this decision. It is also interested how they portray the difference between the US and British on how they determine whether collateral damage is justified or not.

It is not my intent to discuss about the use of drones, as I don't know enough to comment, but I want to focus on the weight a decision have for leaders. In the above example, it is about political leaders, and though it is very entertaining to read about the US elections, it is also a serious matter as it will determine the next leader of this powerful nation, which can influence in decisions like the one described above.

On a "very lesser" (not sure about my grammar) example, when I go out for a meal with friends, it can be time consuming to make a decision on where to eat, because either no one has a strong preference or there are opposing preferences (e.g. "no fast food", "no healthy food"). On my recent trip to Japan, there was a point where we were a group of 8 people, so whenever we have to decide for food, we would stand on a circle, and each of us will go to Yelp to find options, and then we discuss about them, and so on... it takes quite a bit of time. Of course, there were times I have to make an executive decision, and though that "solves the problem", it does put a burden on me. What if the food is bad? What if the service is awful? At the end, I do feel responsible for everyone's experience with the choice I made (even though I know my friends will not blame me even if the experience was bad).

On recent group trips, I was a major part of the trip planning, and I have to admit that during the trip there were moments where I would feel relief that nothing bad happen with the decisions that I have helped made, which is kind of silly because it does distract me from enjoying the actual trip.

These last examples are kind of silly, but it can tell us a bit on how leaders feel when they make big decisions. For example, pastors, church board, fellowship executive committee, etc. I was privileged to serve on various fellowship and small group leadership roles, and it is a big responsibility because decisions we make might affect the spiritual lives of the people we serve (to a certain degree, as God's sovereignty is in the picture). I remember the wise words a good brother told me a long time ago, reminding me that we should serve with seriousness as at the end we are accountable to our Great Maker and Creator.

Osaka: capital of food

My group decided to start the trip at Osaka. So after I arrived to Tokyo, I took a low-cost carrier (plane) to Osaka.

Osaka is a pretty developed city, though there is not a lot of attractions in comparison to other cities, it does have a reputation of "food capital of Japan". And we decided to stay here for a few days, and do daily trips to the city of Kyoto (15 min train).

One of the first things we wanted to do is to watch live sumo, as there was a tournament during that time. Unfortunately, the reserved seats were sold out very quickly, so we gambled to show up early so that we can get in on the non-reserved seating (there are 100 of them). On our first day, we woke up early at 6am and try to get seats, but by the time we arrived, all 100 seats were taken. It was a bit disappointing, oh well.

Then we visited the iconic Osaka Castle:

As well walked around the city in the Dotonbori area:

As I mentioned before, the city itself does not have too many attractions, but the food is quite exquisite.

4 different "flavours" of takoyaki, this is really good.

Okonomiyaki (kind of a savory pancake), which is a very famous dish in Kansai region (where Osaka is). Many of my friends consider this as one of their favorite foods. I have to admit that I like it, but not "super" like it hehe.

Ramen, yes, I think I found my favorite ramen place, but I shall devote another post just for ramen.

They have matcha soft serve, which was very excellent, but I also tried the black sesame one, and it is equally good.

Other than the excellent food, one of the highlights about my stay in Osaka was to catch up with a good friend of mine. During my undergrad days, we were housemates for 1 or 2 terms.

For a while, he has been working in Japan as a teacher, and though I have seen him when he visits Toronto, we rarely do one-on-one catch up. So that was very neat, because we were able to easily "continue" our friendship from where we left, by sharing stories and struggles about our lives, on what God is teaching us. It is encouraging to hear that he is helping at a church by teaching bible study to a group of younger Christians. 

He also shared with me about the "differences" in community he has experienced in Japan. In Canada, it is very common hangout at someone's place for fellowship, and usually a lot of great conversations can potentially happen. But in Japan, houses are not big, so most people hangout outside (like in restaurants), so he feels that it is challenging to grow as a community. So this is an example on how culture, society, and city-lifestyle can affect how members of church community "implement" fellowship. It triggered me to think more about what the core values of fellowship are. But now that I think about it, as I was chatting with him, we were two people with same mind and goal to "catch up" (sharing with each other about our lives,  listening and spurring one another towards love, encouraging each other), so I hope that we were in the right track of doing fellowship.

This reminded me on how grateful I am to have meet great brothers and sisters, and that even if I don't keep up with them regularly, there is the assurance that God is actively working in their lives as they serve the Kingdom, and this is a deep connection that we all share.

quick tips about Japan

Since I spent much time planning on Japan trip, here are some high level tips:

• googlemaps is a great way to find directions as it is well integrated with the schedule of public transit (local trains, subways, bullet trains), 
• but if you want more options (more alternative routes, or avoid certain railways), Hyperdia is very helpful: http://www.hyperdia.com/en/
• bring enough cash, as it is more common to pay in cash on restaurants, convenience stores, and train tickets.
•  Though credit cards are accepted in various restaurants, it is still a good idea to bring cash so that you can eat anywhere (especially Ramen, where you usually have to pay at a "order machine"). For shopping, credit cards are fine.
• get internet, either SIM card or pocket wifi. 
• There are many companies that offer affordable prepaid SIM cards for tourists (e.g. $20 for 8 days). 
• It is almost essential to have internet if you want to find directions or use google translate. Saves time, and it is convenient.
• Note that SIM cards provide only data, and no phone number (you have to be a Japanese resident), so you might want to have a skype account with money on it to make calls for any emergency.
• if you are travelling various cities, consider getting JR (Japan Railways) Pass. The basic pass allows you to travel in JR which owns the bullet trains unlimited within 7 days. I used it to travel Osaka-Hiroshima (with stops at Kobe and Himeji), Osaka-Kyoto various times, Osaka-Tokyo, so it was definitely worth it for me. Plus, you can use it for some local train lines.
• when you are not using the JR pass (e.g. taking a local non-JR train, subway), get an IC card (equivalent of "Octopus Card" in HK) so that you can enter and exit faster (not having to buy a ticket every single time)
• ask for English menu on restaurants. Probably one of the harder things is to order food since English is limited there, but most places have an English menu (eigo no menyu), so ask for one! 
• Tax free shopping, on some larger clothing, electronics, or department stores, you can avoid paying the 8% tax if you show your passport (foreigner). You will usually need to purchase more than 10,000 yen worth of goods, which can be easy for some people, but hard for others. So if you are travelling with others, combine them into one bill.
• Accommodations choice and location are important. Airbnb is usually a good choice in Japan as the places are clean and well maintained. In terms of location, it is good to be closer to a convenient train station, so that you can save time travelling and as well get back to the airport with ease.

reasons for Japan

I just came back from relatively long vacation of about a month to Asia, which included visiting Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan. It was a very rewarding vacations, with both good times and challenging times. The trip to Hong Kong was mainly to visit family, while Taiwan was a short trip (mainly because I found cheap tickets) in which I actually visited two cousins who are studying at a college, and Japan was the main "meat". 

One interesting point is that the "service" I received from restaurants got better during the trip... in Hong Kong I felt that I had to rush eating so that I don't get kicked out, Taiwan was a lot more chilled, and Japan I was treated nicer that I deserved (something I blogged about a year ago).

Actually I have been planning the Japan trip for like 10 months, since I got very excited after I visited Tokyo for 5 days last year, and wanted to travel again and get to know the country more. Even when I I arrived Japan, I still felt very surreal that the trip was actually happening.

Why would I be excited about Japan? Here are some reasons:

• food is excellent (this is good enough reason for me to go back again)
• interest in culture
• this is mainly due to my interest in reading manga and watching anime, as it's kind of neat to see in real life the cultural aspects portrayed from manga in real life (both old and modern culture)
• also, I think the extreme politeness from Japanese people is something that interests me,
• cherry blossoms 
• it's actually cooler and prettier than I thought
• "technology and efficiency"
• it is the country that builds very reliable cars and also builds a huge array of consumer electronics
• public transportation (really enjoyed taking many forms of trains)
• toilet with bidet 
• final fantasy games

Moreover, I have many friends who share in these common interests, so I am grateful to travel with these friends (in total, there are 9 other people who traveled with me, in different stages of the trip).

I am very grateful to God, who has blessed me with opportunity to travel, including finances and flexibility from workplace, as well for the smoothness during the trip. It is a real blessing to be able to travel, and though most of the focus is on enjoying the vacation, I also think travelling is an opportunity to learn. I really appreciate observing how people from other countries behave and work, how their society works, and learn from the good and bad things. Sometimes it can be a mind-opening experience, and sometimes it can be a source of inspiration.

On a more personal level, I decided to go on such trip as a "small sabbatical". In a way, it is a break from work, that has driven me to some mental exhaustion. But also, a break to reflect. I think that the busyness and routine of work has made me too comfortable and detracted me to think more about my "vocation".  So really, the main goal was to get away, and spend time to reflect about my life and my future pursuits. By talking to family, spending leisure time, and learning about new culture, have given me some thoughts, and I hope to refine and consolidate them in the next few weeks. 

It is always challenging to discern what God has next for me, I feel that a clear answer might not be given, but might be a journey of searching and having faith in midst of uncertainty.