Kevin Kwak’s Blog

There is so much things I am so thankful for and I want to take this brief time to thank you Lord for inviting me to many church retreats. You’ve used me in many great ways and I am blessed to know that I can continue to serve you Lord. I was once worried that if I become an old man, I won’t be able to serve God because of my physical condition. But my pastor encouraged me. “God will use you in all ways possible regardless of your age and condition.” He was right. A pastor I’ve met once was a very old lady but don’t let her age (82 years old) and her appearance fool you. The old lady is one exemplary pastor. She is inspiring, energetic, enthusiastic, charming, and in great shape. Where does she get her energy and the motivation to go on? She rely everything on God and God has definitely provided everything for her. Her vision? To continue to plant new churches in Brazil until her time is up here on Earth.

I had the privilege to serve in different ministries and handle multi-tasks and responsibilities in few churches. However, when I reminisce the times I’ve been serving, I realized that I was too occupied with serving that I had missed the real purpose, the real meaning. I was not fully content. I felt overwhelmed and overworked from the responsibilities. Serving in church ministries are important but maintaining a personal relationship with God was more important. I needed to work with God rather than for God all the time.

I’ve recognized my flaws and learned from my mistakes over the retreats. I have more room for improvements. I have one last winter retreat coming up shortly and I look forward to it. I’m going to rely everything to God because God is great.

Ten Things I Learned From The Church Retreats:
1. Mafia game is endless of fun. Great all-nighter activity.
2. I need more practice on drumming, especially the tempo and volume control.
3. Recognized a new characteristic about myself that I’ve never realized until recently.
4. Retreat speakers are simply amazing.
5. Need to rely on the Holy Spirit rather than my own ability.
6. It is all about attitude. I’m going to make the best out of the upcoming winter retreat. Carpe diem!
7. Don’t take anything and anybody for granted.
8. Because I am a horrible singer, God blessed me to with the ability to play an instrument.
9. You can never satisfy everyone. If you’ve satisfied one, you accomplished.
10. Christianity is a life-long journey.

It has been a very long time since my family and relatives have gathered for a feast. The food was fantastic.

Joseph and Joshua Kwak with my uncle being the excellent chef he is.

We bbq LA galbi, samgyupsal, and ranchera/flap meat.

Another shot of Joseph. One lucky guy with a PSP.

We had platters of sashimi! Sashimi is my #1 favorite food.

Jacob taking a nap before the evening.

Mom is preparing platters of vegetables.

Cramming textbooks and pulling all-nighter is now over for this year. I can finally sleep over 7 hours, drive to Denny’s for breakfast, read Da Vinci Code, revamp website designs, read more books, and work on personal projects.

Here are two photos, one from the 20th Los Angeles Marathon (don’t have the finisher photo although I’ve completed it) and the 1st Las Vegas Marathon photo.

After watching the ‘Chronicles of Narnia,’ some of us were chilling outside the parking lot and chatting about xanga. Almost everyone there had a xanga account except myself and a few. And someone mentioned that one of his friends check IP addresses to see who is “stalking” who’s xanga entries. And he mentioned the stalkers name.
HAHAHA, I thought it was funny but then I realized, I was a xanga stalker myself. @__@
I never considered myself to be a stalker but I guess if you visit other people’s xanga (or myspace) and not input a comment, you are labeled as a xanga “stalker.” I hope they don’t find out about me hehehe. Jokes aside, I think what that guy is doing with IP address and finding out additional information with it such as searching for the city the IP address is coming from is a trespass of other people’s privacy. I am a webmaster myself but I never tried learning how to find personal information with IP address because I think it is unethical in the first place. But maybe I am just defend the xanga stalkers because I am one myself. I should simply stop visiting xanga sites because they are a waste of a time anyways (with the exception of a few, which are really informative).

Alrighty folks, this concludes tonight’s ‘xanga’ entry.

Yes, I’ve COMPLETED the First ever Annual Las Vegas Marathon this past Sunday.
The overall trip was satisfying (with the exception of the final 3 miles) and I thank my cousins who let me stay at their place for two nights. Thanks for the delicious dinner after the run. They’re just awesome and they’re going to be excellent doctor and a nurse.

It was crazy in Vegas. The WORLD’s biggest rodeo competition is being held in Las Vegas from December 2nd through the 10th. The National Finals Rodeo event is huge! Plus, a huge boxing match between Jermain Taylor and former champ Bernard Hopkins all within the weekend.

Two final exams left. You know God is good.

edit: I was studying and for some reason, I was thinking about the high school salutatorian in my class year. She was shy and a bit introverted. She was very nice and pretty too. Intelligent and most importantly, diligent, hence the highest GPA in our class. The sad thing is, she decided to attend a nearby community college. Don’t ask me why because I don’t have a clue. I bet the teachers and the college counselor were pushing her to go to the top-tier universities. I think the reason was the financial matters of her parents. But come on, loans, financial aid, scholarships, and other aids would’ve and could’ve covered the entire 2 to 4 years of her college tuition. Maybe it was not only financial difficulties, maybe she and/or her parents were too attached with each other. Or maybe other legitimate reasons.

Anyways, in the midst of the finals cram, I managed to write a tutorial on how to prepare for a samgyupsar (Korean bacon) party. HAHAHAHA, I’m going to work on it after the finals.