October 2023

It was a busy month, but I don't have the pictures to back it up!

• I've been helping teach a financial stewardship class to this year's apprentice class—helping them think through how to be responsible with the money that their supporters have generously given to them and used in a God-honoring way. It has been a great experience to help answer questions that they have regarding budgeting, saving, investing, and more!
• I recently started taking allergy shots. The doctor told me that I'm basically allergic to anything with four legs. And nature. So we're starting shots to hopefully tone that down a little. Supposedly this may help my eczema as well! It's been a battle with my eczema for over two decades, so I'm excited to see if this makes a difference.
• My church had a retreat a Lake Lavon Camp. It was such a great time getting to know some people in the church that I normally don't get time with, connecting with everyone, and feeling more unified! I had riveting conversations until 3 am both nights at retreat, one about racism and the other about where someone should go on their honeymoon.
• The Rangers are in the World Series (and game 5 is tonight)! It's been fun having people over lately to watch the games—I always tell Steph, any excuse to host people, I'll take! I love getting to feed people and bring them together. Not that we care much about baseball, but it's fun to pretend when the local team is in the championship game. ;-)

Every year, FOCUS holds an annual fundraiser called Keep FOCUS Growing (or KFG for short). While all of our pastors fundraise their own salaries, we also need funds to pay for basically anything that supports our pastors to be on campus effectively! Our big push for donations will come on Giving Tuesday, November 28th, but you can give anytime at anyfocus.org/kfg. I pray that you'll consider contributing and continuing to partner with us to shine brightly on our campuses!

Pickleball is still going strong! Though we'll have to see how the turnout is now that the temperature is getting close to freezing. Thursdays at 6 pm at Central Park TC in Garland.

I had the opportunity to go back home for a weekend to see my family; especially my cousin (not pictured), who has been living in Japan the past few years, who returned to the States for the first time in close to half a decade (partly due to COVID restrictions). He now has a son who is about a year and a half old that I met for the first time! (Due to personal preference, I can't post their faces publicly.) Growing up, my cousins lived a neighborhood block away—I timed myself once and I could run to their house and back to mine in less than a minute—so they feel like siblings more than cousins. 

UTD FOCUS had another Asian American outreach event that I was able to attend and help out at. How fun it is to be able to create a space where students who may be timid about joining a large(r) group can come and feel comfortable. The event pitted teams in Minute to Win It games, with time in between events to get to know your team better. (Though they didn't do the cookie game that I perfected—see last month's blog post for a video.)

Just a few reminders: Pizza Theology is this coming weekend!

Put UTD FOCUS Alumni night in your calendar if you're in the area! I'd love to see you there!