So eerily quiet...

I came into the office at 8:45 this morning. For an engineer, this is way early. Proof of this came when I pulled into the parking lot to the side of the building where the engineers usually park, and lo and behold, just about every space was empty.

It was quite odd to sit at my desk, getting some things done and munching on my breakfast cereal, and watching just about each and every one of my coworkers walk in over the next hour. I'm sure that those of you reading this who have to get in early probably feel like reaching through the computer screen and slapping me around a bit.

War

I'll start out with a quote from David Robinson, a basketball player and Christian who attended the U.S. Naval Academy, when asked about all of the war protests: "I get a little bit upset. The time for debate is really beforehand. Obviously history will speak on whether this was the right thing or the wrong thing, but right now (the soldiers) are out there. Support 'em. There's plenty of time for commentary later."

As an American, I think that's my current opinion. I do happen to have opinions about social justice on a world scale, and I believe that those with the power to free the oppressed ought to do so. I don't know whether the timing of this particular war could have been better, seeing as how the U.S. is acting without the popular support of many nations and many people within the U.S. are questioning possible ulterior motives of our country's leaders. It's a rather complex situation, with the whole Israel-Palestine history coming in, Kuwait, the economic factor of oil, insinuated ties between Iraqi leadership and terrorist groups that have struck against the U.S., and I don't pretend to know enough about everything to have a really hard and fast opinion. What I do know is that the American men and women who are over there right now, bleeding and dying, need our prayer and our support... and so do the innocent civilians who are waking up each morning wondering if they're going to live out the day. And, widening the scope of our worldview - the need for justice isn't just in Iraq, but countless other places on this planet - from the AIDS-stricken/treatment-barren lands of Africa to the deadly cycle of drugs in the inner cities of the United States.

I hope and pray that this war will end soon, with minimal casualties. I pray that Hussein and his leaders, as well as Al-Qaida and whoever else is out there wreaking havoc in the world, might be brought to earthly justice - but that they might also experience God's mercy. I pray for those who are suffering in all parts of the world, wherever they might be. I pray that God would move people to act as His vessels for His mercy to the suffering. I pray for the courage to be one of those people.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." - Matthew 22:36-40

Week just started and I'm already swamped. Quick takes:

- I don't envy weathermen their job. They spend all of last week saying that there's gonna be a huge storm blowing into the Bay Area from Thursday through Sunday, and it turns out that Saturday and Sunday afternoon are gorgeous.
- Congrats to my friends B and M, who got engaged on Saturday! I got to see the ring last week... bling, bling. These two friends, who I met at church in Jan of 2001, helped me transition to post-college life since they were also new to the area.
- March Madness is here. Unfortunately, I'm not really a college hoops kind of guy. This year, I'm in 3 brackets - 2 Yahoo ones (men's group and Cal buddies) and an office one... I think I'll just go through and pick by hunches. Why not? Go Bears!
- Good sermon on Sunday from Dr. Hans Wilhelm, one of the missionaries that my church supports, speaking on the topic of "Fear" from Psalm 46. In times as unsettled as this around the world - trusting God in the midst of turmoil takes on a whole new meaning.
- While the G35 is a nice car to drive... it gets pretty bad gas mileage... I drive fairly conservatively and only got 20 mpg. I get 23.5-24.5 regularly on my Volvo.

Quick weekend recap and other musings

Spent lots of time outdoors this past weekend in the gorgeous, mid-60s California weather. As my mom said - "You can travel to lots of different places on this globe, but when you get back home, you realize that California is about as good as it gets."

- My dad's currently on a business trip until the 20th, so while he's been gone I've been driving the Infiniti G35 sedan. Sweet car. Basically, everything related to driving - maneuvering, accelerating, braking, cornering - becomes so easy.

Friday
- At youth group, Mark taught on the topic of spiritual gifts at youth group, with a particular emphasis on their purpose - being used by the fellowship of Christian believers to build up the church on both an individual and global basis. Through the discussion that followed, it seemed that several youth are interested in trying to discover some of the ways that they might be spiritually gifted to serve others inside and outside the church.

From observing the questions that some of the youth raised, talking to some of them, and reading some of their various blogged thoughts... it seems to me that particularly in this generation of high schoolers, there's a trend where many young people are considering serious issues like meaning and purpose in their lives at a relatively early age. Perhaps this can be traced to impending war, perhaps kids are just maturing at an earlier age in general... either way, in one sense I'm glad for this because I believe that it is in this searching stage of life where God's message of hope can really take root. My entire purpose in serving with the youth group is that they might have the chance to understand more of the fullness of life that Jesus promises (John 10:10b) at an earlier age than I did... so I'll continue to pray for them and see how I can encourage them as they take steps of faith.

Some lyrics I heard recently on the radio, from Seventh Day Slumber's "I Know" - I particularly like the last line:
And I know it's hard to take what's happening
And I know life is tough sometimes
And I know it seems like there's no hope for you
And I know your life is worth more than you can see

- Interestingly enough, I think I'm in a searching stage of my life as well. I believe that over the past few years I've been able to come to at least some appreciation of the "big picture" meaning and purpose in my life - taking joy in magnifying God in my life - and now, I'm seeking for a more specific purpose to work towards. The way that this was phrased at WCC: "What role has God created me to play?" This is something that I'm still working out... been planning for over a month to set aside some time to consider who I am when I'm real, the experiences that have shaped me, my values, my personality (personality tests seem to be popular these days), and my talents and gifts, with the hope that through the searching process, I might get some elucidation into next steps to take. Maybe I can grow alongside the youth.

- That night, the young adults serenaded Karen and Maria for their birthdays. I believe they busted out a karaoke machine and the guys broke out into Sinatra's "New York, New York". Funny stuff...

Saturday and Sunday
- Had praise band practice in the morning. Included MercyMe's 2002 Song of the Year "I Can Only Imagine" as part of the set for this past Sunday. Afterwards, went to lunch in Mtn View, then sat and soaked in the sun outside Tapioca Express. Even though I'll take a good smoothie over a tapioca drink any day of the week, I must admit that it was a brilliant idea for whoever that brought it into the Bay Area, giving people an alternative to coffee.

- Hung out and shot around with Byron and Tomio that afternoon while Tomio's fiancee was conducting a fellowship meeting. After the meeting a bunch of us played HORSE, where Alice did surprisingly well. Lesson: Even if you don't play basketball on a regular basis, if you can hit a 7-ft straight-on set shot, you'll do pretty well at HORSE.

- Later that evening, went up to Milpitas to get together with Cal and Danny for dinner. Went to Applebee's where we watched Cal basketball lose to Stanford, conceding second place in the Pac-10. Ah well. Also went to Sportsmart and on their urging, bought some finger sleeves for my previously-injured pinky fingers. Incidentally, I used them Sunday afternoon to play and found that they actually helped - provided some support against overextension for my fingers. A bonus was that I actually shot better because the sleeves made me consciously spread my fingers out more, and thus I had a better grip on the ball and follow-through. I still look like a major dork while wearing them though.

Two Years in the Rat Race

Today is my 2-year anniversary with this company, and since this is my first full-time job, as of today I've worked for 2 years.

This is where I'm obligated to say, "Where did those 2 years go? Man, time flies by so fast." Thankfully, I can't really say that... while it amazes me that I've been in this working stage of my life for 2 years already, it doesn't feel like the time flew by... I can look back at those 2 years and see all the things I've learned about people and about the working world, and it's been worthwhile. Career-wise, this is apparently a significant milestone for me as well - I remember back when I was looking for a job, whenever I was at a job fair talking to a recruiter, their first question was always, "Do you have 2 years of experience?" When I answered that I was a new college grad, their level of interest seemed to drop precipitously. So, from here on out, at least I'll be able to get past the recruiters' initial question.

Still planning to blog on the weekend and other random musings that I've been thinking about lately... hopefully that'll come soon (tonight perhaps).

Some more rambles...

- Watched the end of the Kings-T-Wolves game last night. Great game... I remember a few years ago, watching Kevin Garnett play, I couldn't help but think that he was just a great athlete that was too weak to score inside. As I watched yesterday however, it's obvious that he's worked on his post footwork with his back to the basket, while still facing up his man regularly and using his quickness and length to take him off the dribble. Awesome player. Webber showed a lot of heart in the overtime as well, hitting a few tough jump hooks over KG and finding Divac with a behind-the-back pass for a layup. Along with McGrady, Kobe, Duncan, and Kidd, the league's in pretty good shape.

- Ford's commercial for the new Explorer (with the guys in the car wash) is officially the most annoying thing on TV right now. They just keep spouting off hip-hop catchphrases from yesteryear, like "I can dig it", "No doubt", "Tight"... grah. The fact that they play it on every commercial break during NBA games on ESPN (I'm guessing Ford's a sponsor of something) makes matters that much worse. So aggravating. Thank goodness for the mute button... and for ESPN2.

- CDs to buy:
Furthermore, Jars of Clay
Back Home, Caedmon's Call
The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot
No Name Face and Stanley Climbfall, Lifehouse
Divine Discontent, Sixpence None The Richer

Feeling pretty out of it today... not sick, but didn't get as much rest over the weekend as I would have liked. Quick takes:

- Went up to Tahoe on Friday night. Hit a snowstorm as we were coming down out of the mountains to the South Tahoe area... kinda surreal seeing that cloud of snowflakes flowing towards your windshield; kinda like going into hyperspace. Heheh...

- The weather in Tahoe on Saturday was gorgeous. Went snowshoeing with a few people rather than ski/snowboard. It was pretty cool because the snowshoes allowed us to walk in areas of deep snow without sinking, and thus we could go off the trails and all over the place. It was nice to go walking in the back country where everything was relatively undisturbed, and the layers of snow covering rocks, trees, and fields were completely undisturbed. Very peaceful.

- Good sermon at Canaan on Sunday. P. Dan spoke about the difficulty of remaining faithful during the different stages of one's life, both the good and the bad, using Abraham as a case example from Romans 6. He identified 5 stages of repeating themes in life: dream, decision, delay, difficulty, and deliverance. I'm still reflecting on some of these, specifically in relation to some reflections I'm still pondering from 2002 and from WCC, and perhaps I'll post some of what I learn in the future.

- Warriors are 1 win away from reaching .500 this late in a season since the '93-94 season - nearly a decade of frustration. As a Warriors fan for over a decade, I can honestly say that this team is the most fun to watch that it's been in a while. Arenas is the only one I see with "superstar" quality at this point, and Dunleavy has become much more aggressive lately (if you go back into my archives, you can find the "scouting report" I wrote on my game as a basketball player where I compared myself to MDJ), so it's a good time to be a fan. Bring on the playoffs!

- Baseball spring training is here. The Giants lineup looks very good. Here's hoping they can put it all together this year, or sometime soon before Barry goes off into retirement.

- My VCR messed up and I only got the last half hour of Alias on tape, but I was able to pick up most of what was going on halfway through. Great ending... (click and drag) knowing that Irina and Sloane have been collaborating for this entire season really causes you to think back to all of the interactions that Irina had with Jack and Sydney, where she nearly succeeds in drawing the viewer in to even root for her, which just intensifies that sense of betrayal that Jack must feel at the end of the episode, because it's made real to the viewer. Good stuff.