April 21, 2003 - 10.58PM

Weather was really nice this past weekend in Arizona. It was probably in the 80s most of the time and if not at least mid to upper 70s. Nice to get some sun, but sadly I think I'm just as pale as I was when I left haha.

Here's an update on Madison. If you didn't read the prayer request from a couple weeks ago... it's on the April 8th entry.

Dear Christian Friends,

I have a praise report for you! :)

After hovering near death for nearly two weeks, little Madison has been recovering over the past few days and is going home from the hospital
this afternoon. Doctors and nurses are amazed at her progress, but we know it is God's miraculous healing power that has touched her little body and is restoring it to health.

She is still ill and extremely weak, barely able to take nourishment. She also has drop foot and can't really walk right now. Any effort to
walk is very painful and difficult for her. Her mother, Nicole, is still ill and needs prayer for strength and health. Her husband and father are now back home and being supportive, which is a great help.

Current prayer requests for Madison are that she will regain her appetite and be able to eat and that she will be able to walk again. All praise to our mighty God, and many thanks to you for your prayers!!

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April 14, 2003 - 9.29PM

So I talked with the director of the motorcycle class today. He didn't sound too pleased, but I think it was more of his frustrations with how one of his instructors isn't being a good representative of the program. I got my money back of course, but I wanted to definitely make sure he knew I felt about the class and how the instructor led it. Funny thing is that a couple of my brother's friends took the same class with the same instructor a couple of weeks before me... and one of them was given the same line as I was! The director told me that they do tell the instructors to say something like that if there seems to be a language difficulty because they have a lot of ESL students take the classes, but he said that in my case it was "stupid" because she talked to me in class and that it was obvious that I was most likely born in here. Anyways, he said that he'd much rather fix a problem than just get rid of it, which I don't have a problem with. If she really can change then great, but he said that if she can't then he's gonna have to let her go. Which is the right thing to do if she can't do the job.

April 10, 2003 - 9.21PM

You Are Holy - Nichole Nordeman

Praise Father God
Giver of life
Power and might
Goodness and light
Ruler of all
Praise to the Son
The living Christ
Body and blood
Mercy and love
Sweet sacrifice

You are holy, holy
You are holy, holy

Praise Holy Ghost
Voice in the dark
Healer and friend
Fire and wind
Lord of our hearts
Praise Father God
Praise to the Son
Praise Holy Ghost
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost

You are holy...

It's weird. I have cd's that I've only listened to a couple times and by now they're quite old but I'm just starting to listen to them. Currently listening to City on a Hill: Sing Alleluia. It's quite good. The song above is from the cd.

Hmm... sometimes I feel like I'm the type that is willing and ready to go wherever, to move away, to do something new, to make a change, to get up and go, etc. But then other times I feel like I'm the type that is content with what I have and where I'm at and what I'm doing, etc. Is this normal or are most people usually one or the other? I guess that's normal... yeah, most people probably feel one way or the other at different points in their lives.

April 8, 2003 - 10.28PM

Wow, three days in a row. I'm on a roll!

So, I received an email from a co-worker (whom I've actually never met) a couple weeks ago asking for prayer for a family. She's on the daily morning devotional distro list that another co-worker sends out. Anyways, the youngest daughter in this family (4 years old) is suffering from an unknown illness and is very sick at Children's Hospital right now. The mother is also in pretty bad shape. I received a follow up email regarding there situation.

Dear Christian Friends,

Thank you for your prayers for little 4-year-old Madison and her mother Nicole. I'm sorry to say that Madison is unimproved. She remains in
critical condition at Seattle Children's Hospital in the intensive care unit, on life supports. Doctors still do not know for sure what is wrong with her but still believe it is viral in nature. Yesterday she went into seizures again and added vomiting and intestinal distress to her respiratory symptoms and double pneumonia.

Her mother has had a relapse of the dangerous sores in her mouth that are part of her own serious illness. And, very sadly, Madison's father and grandfather have been unable to take the stress and have both left town. This family needs a lot of prayer and grace.

If you have some time... say a prayer for them?

Just found out that my cousin is coming to town tommorrow. I haven't seen him in forever. It'll be great to catch up with him and see how things are treating him in Hong Kong... now that he's stationed there for work. Maybe I should make sure he doesn't have any SARS symptoms first? ;) Now that I found out he's coming over.... that means I have to clean my room. Sigh, yes I know... that's the Chinese part of me coming out. haha.

Off to clean my room, which will no doubt get cluttered again. Might as well just leave it as is :P

April 7, 2003 - 8.50PM

Scottie gave TJ this little hamburger chew toy thing that squeaks everytime he chews on it. TJ seems to love that thing and is always playing with it... in fact I can hear it squeaking in the background as I'm typing this.

So I shared with a few people at work today how my weekend went. They all couldn't believe that there would be an instructor so bad. Though I think I helped make their days a little better though haha. Al said that he can't get her voice out of his head.... and I can't get her face out of my head. She's haunting us :P I called them up on the phone today to log a complaint (I already did on the comment card, but I wanted to tell it to them as well) and get my money back. The lady said that she'd have the director of the program give me a call in the next couple days. Saga to continue...

Griffey... poor guy... shoulda never left Seattle... http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2003/0407/1535251.html

April 6, 2003 - 5.53PM

OK, so this has to be one of the most miserable experiences of my life... and sadly it was supposed to be really fun. I took the Washington State Beginning motorcycle class this weekend. I was looking forward to it all week, but the anticipation turned out to be far worse than disappointment. First off, yes I did fail the road test by 3 points. But to anyone else who was there they can probably attest to the fact that it seemed as if I was set up to do poorly on it. The instructer was... hmm... to put it nicely... terrible at teaching. Her form of teaching was

"You're doing it wrong!!!"

"Do it better!!!"

"You're not doing it right!!!"

"Try again and next time do it right!!!"

Great teaching huh? Isn't the point of the beginner class to correct the mistakes instead of beraiting those who are just trying to learn for the first time? The whole first day of riding was an absolute nightmare...in fact I'm surprised that I actually learned enough to get as close to the final score as I did. Out of the 11 people in the class I think 8 have already riden a motorcycle quite a few times already. One guy had been riding for 20 years. Think they'll need help on the basics like someone like me would? Probably not... so was I given a little bit more attention? No... instead I was pulled aside and asked if the reason why I wasn't getting it was because... get this...

"Is there a language problem?"

A language problem?!?!?! Where in the world did that come from. She heard me speak and read out loud in class.... did it sound like I had a language problem? Yes, yes it was out of concern for me to pick up on the skills of smooth clutch working, but how about trying to explain what I'm doing wrong and helping me learn how to get better at it rather than assume because I'm getting it wrong a few times and because I have different colored hair than you (why else would she ask if I had a language problem?) that I have a language problem.

Anyways, she's just about taken away any enthusiam I have had for this. Now whenever I see a motorcycle I will have unpleasant thoughts about my experiences this weekend. That's unfortunate as it was supposed to be fun. Here's the kick... she's had complaints about her before. One lady didn't even come to the second day because (most likely because) she was beraited so much the day before. I should have been smart like Al and bounced in the morning . At least I could have saved myself a few hours. Oh well... it's a learning experience and to be truthful I don't hate her as a person, but I believe as an instructor she is terrible. As far as her little comment goes... I'll probably just phone in a complaint about that. I don't really care that she said it to me cause those sorts of things I get over really quick, but it's still not something I'd want someone else to have to go through in the future.

Hmm... maybe this was punishment for not making it to Bible Study and Church this morning because of the class???? :P

After reading this I hope you all feel better about your weekends. Haha, I know I'll enjoy this week a whole lot more.

April 2, 2003 - 9.28PM


Guess I shouldn't leave March up for too long, time to move onto April :)