Something to think about (and look back on later)

Today's service was a missions-focused sermon regarding the missions work being done in the Caribbean Sun. This sermon got me thinking again about missions and what God is slowly teaching and calling me to do. I'm still waiting on Him to see if/when He requires me to go somewhere overseas to do some short or long term missions, but in the meantime, I know I've got lots of inner-city missions (or even near church) to be involved with. Anyway, one interesting reminder was mentioned today, and that is whether I'm looking at missions as a way to satisfy my needs or am I viewing missions as an opportunity to satisfy the needs of those people I serve. I feel that I still have this selfish attitude regarding missions because a lot of times I'm tempted to think of missions trip as a way to fulfill another missing aspect of my life. Rather, I should be focused on just having the right mindset to just go out there and serve people. I still have lots to learn and grow. Maybe that is something I need to focus on in preparation for Urbana 09!

Just some NHL predictions for 2009-2010 season

So the NHL season is starting soon, and I just want to make some predictions because I haven't done that in a while. There's no harm in doing them again, right? Hopefully I'll do better than my MLB picks last year! Anyway, here are my predictions before the start of the 2009-2010 season!

Eastern Conference Teams to Make the Playoffs (from 1st to 8th):
Bruins, Penguins, Capitals, Devils, Flyers, Hurricanes, Sabres, Leafs

Western Conference Teams to Make the Playoffs (from 1st to 8th):
Sharks, Blackhawks, Canucks, Red Wings, Flames, Blue Jackets, Ducks, Oilers

Stanley Cup Winner: Penguins over Blackhawks (really wanted to write Sharks, but they always screw up in the playoffs...)

Hart: Alexander Ovechkin
Rocket Richard: Alexander Ovechkin
Art Ross: Evgeni Malkin
Vezina: Roberto Luongo
Calder: Victor Hedman
Norris: Zdeno Chara
Selke: Mike Richards
Lady Byng: Pavel Datsyuk
Jack Adams: Joel Quenneville

Congratulations Kim Clijsters!

For those of you who do not watch tennis, Kim Clijsters is a tennis player who just recently came back out of retirement to play tennis again after taking time off to have a kid and get her injuries healed. This past Sunday, she became the first unseeded woman to win a US Open, and she also became the first mother to win since the 1980. She also won with grace and sportsmanship, unlike Serena Williams. The scene when she posed with her winning trophy (with her tiny daughter playing with the trophy) was probably one of the best moments I've ever saw in sports. What an amazing story!

Time to start my Master's Degree!!!

It's going to be interesting these next two years. I'm starting my Master's of Science degree in Biomedical Physics. Hopefully things will work out and I can balance courses, research, and TA-ing. I'm going to be TA-ing a first year Physics course this Fall and it'll be very challenging because I've never done anything like this before. I hope I learn a lot and gain valuable teaching skills. Also, I hope I can maintain my research focus as time management will very important.

Another thing would be to balance devotional life and serving the church (DIDOMI!!!) with all of the school stuff. I know it'll be tough, but I pray that God will continue to lead me to do my very best with what He has given me.

This should be an interesting year being a grad student. I hope I continue to learn and grow closer to God through my studies and my church commitments.