Upside Down Chin Face

When I was younger, I used to talk to people upside down. I would flip myself 180 on the couch and have conversations with people like that. The blood rushing to my head was a bit annoying but looking at people's upside down chin face makes up for it.

You know... an upside down chin face. Whenever you're flipped upside down and you only focus on the lips and chin. And you imagine their face is smushed while their lips are still normal-sized! Isn't that the best??




not my chin.

His lead of love

Looking back at the road so far
The journey’s left its share of scars
mostly from leaving the narrow and straight

Looking back it is clear to me
That a man is more than the sum of his deeds
and how You’ve made good of this mess I’ve made
is a profound mystery

Looking back You know You had to bring me through
All that I was so afraid of
Though I questioned the sky, now I see why
Had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view
Looking back I see the lead of love

Looking back I can finally see
How failures bring humility
Brings me to my knees
Helps me see my need for thee

-Caedmon's Call ( whoops sorry, not Casting Crowns but same initials though =P )

Chan can't cook

I don't think I'll be having a meal plan next semester because the price of North apartments + ridiculously overpriced Umass meal plan is just too much financially. The good news... we will be having our own kitchen (and our own CLEAN bathrooms!) so we can cook our own meals. The bad news: Chan can't cook. *side note - the dude from Yan can cook came to Umass last week and not only is he a cook, dude was hysterical. I guess Yan got jokes too!*

Over the summer, I've already asked my parents and my sisters to teach me how to cook. They've already agreed to teach me how to cook a few chinese dishes and I'm very excited because I am a huge fan of mah po tofu. But as much as I love my mah po tofu, I can't eat that every single day. You may be asking yourself, "what can I do, Jeffrey??" Mmm yes my loyal readers, here's where you can help me!

Please share your recipes with me! Or better yet, please teach me how to cook! I know you guys are out there! My goal is to learn at least 7 so that can cover a week. Or enough so I can go up to my roommates next year and go... STICK WITH ME AND YOU'LL NEVER GO HUNGRY AGAIN! (Shoutout to my Lion King fans out there)

Mah Po deliciousness

Christ is risen!

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride

See from his head, his hands, his feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet?
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die
And find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near
And bless Your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all

What's so good about Good Friday?

(This post was originally intended for Friday)
I've always wondered why we call this day "Good Friday." It didn't make sense in my head. Every year, we observe the death of Jesus Christ. He is the perfect lamb, the most innocent blood, the ultimate form of love... slain, murdered. And not just any death, but death in the most gruesome form humans ever conceived in history. *Side note - I remember a few years back I heard a talk about how hideous the crucifixion actually was. Ask me about it some other day. The pastor put it in such great detail that I remember it brought me to tears.* And all that just added to my confusion. I didn't understand how any "good" could come from this. I mean, we don't look at MLK's death and call it "Good MLK's assasination day" right? Well, as I grew more in my faith and more in my knowledge of the Gospel, I began to see why we name it such. There is a clear distinction between historical moral teachers like MLK and Jesus Christ. But it still didn't fully click in my mind. Wouldn't some other word like "dark" or "gloomy" be more fitting and appropriate? Why GOOD?

This morning it bothered me so much that I even googled it, hoping it would clear up some of my confusion. The Wikipedia page (the most reliable source of course) gave it a few alternate names: Holy Friday, Black Friday or Great Friday. Holy Friday fits but we rarely use that (i think). Black Friday would make more sense but Americans already use that for the annual official start to Christmas shopping. Great Friday is an even stronger word than good so that didn't really help me. I was not satisfied.

Later on that night AKC had a joint Good Friday service with Amherst Christian Fellowship. The theme for the night? What's so good about Good Friday. Mmm! Exactly what I was looking for! An answered prayer! Needless to say, I was more than excited to hear the message and what the pastor had to say.

The guy (who's actually not a pastor but an Amherst College alum currently in seminary) offered some really good insight. He broke it down to three reasons why this is truly a GOOD friday.

1. Good Friday is good because it demonstrates God's love
2. Good Friday is good because it fulfills all that which Jesus Christ came down to earth to do
3. Good Friday is good because it subsequently led to Jesus' triumphant rise from the dead = our salvation, and our hope for abundant and eternal life. Our relationship with God is reconciled through Jesus Christ

- It demonstrated God's love because it was not out of obligation or duty. It was out of love, God's love for us. John 3:16 tells us that He loved the world so much that He sent his one and only son down to die on the cross for all of us so through that act of love, our broken relationship is fully healed.

- Jesus Christ did many wonderful things here on earth. Like the long list of great moral leaders in history, he taught many valuable lessons; lessons that teach us how to live everyday. He was here to heal the sick. He came to show us how to care for the ones that are oppressed and ignored by everyone. But ultimately, he was sent to die on the cross and rise on the third day. He even predicts this in Luke 9:22, when he was speaking to Nicodemus. He was sent to fulfill God's sovereign plan and he achieved that through the cross.

- Jesus' death made it possible for me and for you to opt back into life with God. It is possible now for us to finally and truly live. It is possible now to experience all that God has to offer to us. And it is only possible because of His love.


Mmmm a good lesson learned on a very good friday. Hi mom!

A Lion King moment

Pumbaa: Hey, Timon, ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there? (referring to stars)
Timon: Pumbaa, I don't wonder... I know.
Pumbaa: Oh. What are they?
Timon: They're fireflies. Fireflies that, uh... got stuck up on that big bluish-black thing.
Pumbaa: Oh, gee. I always thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away.
Timon: Pumbaa, with you, everything's gas.

=D
I can watch that movie over and over again and still not get sick of it... OK, back to studying!!

Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow... there'll be sun!

Whoops I was supposed to edit and finish this a week ago. No work and all play makes Jeff a lazy boy. No work and all play makes Jeff a lazy boy. No work and all play makes Jeff a lazy boy. No work and all play makes Jeff a lazy boy. OK let's continue.

Amherst is a such a beautiful place. But I didn't always feel that way. All of high school senior year, I tried all that I could to stay in Boston. I applied to mostly Boston schools and thought to myself I would be a city boy forever. I had a strong foundation of friends, family and church in the city. Where else could I be? I'm a perfect fit for Boston!

Little did I know that in a few months, I would start my freshman year in the small college town of Amherst. The only other time I've been in Western Massachusetts was for Six Flags... I was not thrilled to spend the next few months in the middle of nowhere. But now I look back and I see that God has placed me in a wonderfully amazing place. Over the past year and a half, I've come to not only appreciate Amherst, but I call this place my second home. One thing that's great about Amherst is the surrounding beauty. The Pioneer Valley (the name they gave to this region) is filled with greenness everywhere. The night sky is filled with bright shining stars that stretch for miles in every direction. And when the sun rises above the mountains in the morning, it reminds me that *cue teacher Adrian's voice* "this is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!" This bible verse also pops into my mind:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
- Lamentations 3:22-23

Mmmm as beautiful as the sun rise may be, isn't this promise much more beautiful? As definite as the sun will rise each morning, His grace and mercy is just as certain to come. They're neverending and his love for us everlasting! Great is His faithfulness! Hi Mom!

Muk was a terrible Pokemon

Today someone told me that the color of your mucus is an indicator of whether or not you have a bacterial or viral infection. Next time you blow your nose, look down and see what color you get. If it's green, then you have bacterial. If it's yellow, then you have viral. If it's clear, then you're... in the clear and it's only dust, pollen, etc

Is this true? Why am I still awake?

Cry In My Heart

I always feel like music is one of the greatest gifts God has given to us. Using our mouths and words to speak about God's awesomeness just isn't enough sometimes and I think when you throw in music into the mix, it creates a very special way of praising Him. (edit - what I meant to say was, words that speak of God's awesomeness is more than enough already but that praising God through music is equally as fulfilling. After all, God is the creator of both the music we hum and the words we speak.)

Lately I've been listening to Starfield and this song caught my ears. It's called Cry In My Heart and the lyrics are very simple yet it's so profound at the same time... I'll let you check it out

There's a cry in my heart
For Your glory to fall
For Your presence to fill up my senses
There's a yearning again
A thirst for discipline
A hunger for things that are deeper

Could You take me beyond?
Could You carry me through?
If I open my heart?
Could I go there with You?
(For I've been here before
But I know there's still more
Oh, Lord, I need to know You)

For what do I have
If I don't have You, Jesus?
What in this life
Could mean any more?
You are my rock
You are my glory
You are the lifter
Of my head
Lifter of this head

Mmmm let that be my life purpose - to do all that I can to see His glory fall and for me to surrender my all to Him in His presence.

Oh and quick prayer request if you're reading this. Please pray for AKC Praise Night and BCEC college retreat (both happening this weekend!) Pray for the people who are attending and that our hearts will be receptive to God's word. Pray for the event speakers and that God will use them mightily this weekend. Last and most importantly, pray that God's glory shines through!

Hi mom!

In the beginning

God created the heavens and the earth! It's true!

So I've been meaning to start a blog up for some time now but I never got around to creating one, mainly because I still have that fear of showing people how poor my writing skills are. But after a lot of thinking, I feel like this will be good for me because this will...

- serve as another journal
- help me overcome my fear i just mentioned
- hone my writing skills
- help put my ideas down into concrete words
- keep my friends (sort of) in touch with me. or at least in some kind of loop
- let my mom know that i'm still alive out in amherst (hi mom!)
- also be another great tool to glorify God!

So I apologize in advance if my grammar is off or if some of the sentences are worded awkwardly! Feel free to help me out here. And feel free to ask me anytime about specific posts. I guess it's impossible to jot down all the ideas that I have in my head onto a piece of paper... or a board of keys... but this is definitely a good start! Mmmm that's all I have to say for now, oh wait

HI MOM!