g. day 39 the beauty that cannot be described

Today...the air, the chillness, the after-rain...it was beautiful.

f. day 32 the eternal inner murmur

So 4 classes and 2 fellowships, mainly describes the how i spend most of my time, perhaps all my time. Classes involve hw and studying and projects. Fellowships involve sg, lg, church, outreach and random hangouts. Certainly getting to know people more now though so that's cool.

Anyways, something I realized this week was my earthly desire to seek the approval of man. I was hit upon the question of whether heaven excites me or not and to be honest, not really. To keep it short, I pondered why this was the case and realized that I still wish to accomplish something great on this earth- something that will give myself glory- inventing something revolutionary, design something cool, do well in school so others look up to me, etc, not necessarily in a large scale but amongst a decent crowd, this desire to impress and prove my worth. Yet, i'm reminded time and time that my identity rests in Christ. sometimes, it's hard to see, and when we see, to accept.

e. day 27 fifty word literature

so i started a new blog on tumblr, which i agree with yang that it's confusing to use. still have problems with the layout and all but sticking with it for now. (http://fiftywordstory.tumblr.com/)

anyways, school's kicked in quite a bit more now. it's certainly getting more intense, especially the one class that I like most (the one that i am not required to take). started to motivate myself to work hard and to learn more about mat sci outside of what i'm taught in my classes. grad school is for learning after all, and research is more important i'd say, than classes. want to figure out what field i want to do research in as soon as possible and learn all i can so that i can approach professors with more credibility. can't get caught up with getting A+ in class, though i'd love to do so.

d. day 22 ambition

So I went to HMCC's life group (essential a small group, except with 20ish people) last night and was seriously blessed. Our theme for the semester was something along the lines of "expecting the extraordinary." When was the last time you woke up in the morning expected something great to happen? How can our lives be anything less of extraordinary when we live it out for God? Do our lives really look different from the lives of other people on campus? Extraordinarily so?

Our vision was along the lines of "living as a biblical community," and it's crazy how much last night reminded me of the early church in Acts. Leaders were great, members were excited to see each other and interested in getting to know others, there was food, a home-y environment, creativity, etc. I was very amazed. It's humbling to see God place me in such an environment of growth where I can truly say that it's all Him who's working and teaching and lifting me up and nothing on my part, no leadership or talents or dedication or righteousness.

It's crazy cause the theme relates to the book I JUST started reading called 'The Slumber of Christianity' by Ted Dekker, talking about how Christians have settled for less than what God intended. No one thinks about heaven with excitement anymore. Everyone's motto has become, "life sucks, and then we die." We take in earthly pleasures as if they're the best thing on earth and we stop longing for greater things.

I need to start doing some homework now.

c. day 19 what i ate for dinner

UMich experience has certainly been wonderful. Still bothered by the fact that i'm taking out mad loans. Still in midst of making sure everything is good in terms of requirements, doing well, applying for positions, meeting faculty, getting my priviledges, keeping count of how many pages i print, etc. Still in midst of meeting people and building relationships and finding time and energy to invite others to fellowship or whatnot. Time.

highlights of the week:
-had a taste of all four grad MSE classes. like 2 of the professors a lot and the other 2 are alright. classes seem pretty intense so i'm a tad worried. also, schedule sucks.
-applied to be research assistant to make some money. quite busy and weird schedule so not sure if it's good for me.
-got my pair of boots in the mail.
-internet's been terrible, well more of my computer's fault i believe...have no idea why and not sure how i'll get it fixed.
-went to aivcf (i've been so used to saying aacf it's weird) for sg and lg. met some cool people. apparently, the first iv chapter was started at umich.
-went to Knox Presbyterian Church today. a lot different to Redeemer than i thought it'd be. i miss Redeemer. oh wells.
-crazy excitign football game last night with umich winning at the last 2 seconds. i didn't watch it, but heard much about it.

b. day 14 first day of school

taking four grad mat sci engg classes- intro to mat sci, materials chemistry, adv thermo, and material structures. tempted to take more but decided to hold back, especially as it is the first semester.

had two of my classes today. materials chemistry was great. loved the professor and the way it was taught. good slides too. excited for the semester. textbooks are expensive though.

classes everyday- MTuWThF 10-11:30, TuTh 1:30-3, MW 3-4:30.
sg- Tu 7 pm (hmcc), W 7 pm (aivcf)

a. day 13 here at ann arbor

It's Labor Day and school starts tomorrow. I've forgotten what it felt like to not know anyone and to make new friends in the midst of not knowing anyone, until this past week. I find blessing in this for I can better identify with those who are new to a fellowship or to a church or to any kind of organization. I only wish I do not forget this.

Highlights so far:
--all three roommates are white and from Michigan, one is 5th year, a 3rd year, and a transfer freshmen (who's probably the same age as a third year).
--three orientations where I got good info on the school and everything (madonna and lucy lui attended umich, as well as the co-founder of google and a lead engineer in ipod)
--walked around north and central campuses quite a lot (i live in north campus and central is a 40 minute walk)
--played bball and vball and the NCRB, rec center which is less than a block from where I live.
--found out there's a cube, identical to the one on Astor Place, near a building called the Michigan Union
--met ppl from IV GCF (grad) and AIVCF (asian) at a BBQ event
--went to New Life Church and First Presbyterian Church
--went to Harvest Missions Community Church and was blown away by the excellence in which they run services and the quality in their welcoming. praise was great, media team was great, sermon was great. plugging ppl into community and making them feel welcomed was great.

I tried my best to be brief but it's been 13 days since i've arrived.