Best Christmas Holiday Up-To-Date
2004 has been my “Best Christmas Holiday Up-To-Date” and I am truly thankful.
I had finally COMPLETED editing all my families’ dv archives! From the day I started capturing (importing to PC) all the videos, to the day I had published the output videos into a DVD, the entire project took 2 weeks! A minute of an edited video takes an average of one hour, so you do the math. I feel great now since I have organized all the archives and no longer need to rely on the camcorder and Hi-8 tapes to watch the videos. Now we all can select the chapter and scenes from the dvd, with a push of a button.
The best part of the project is yet to come. The main purpose of spending a good two and a half weeks on this single project was for the upcoming Christmas Holiday. I really did not want to purchase a gift card because there is not a significant meaning when you present such a lame gift to those that you care about. (I mostly received gift cards this year, lame) I wanted to surprise my relatives and my parents when I present them our very own DVDs of our family vacations and social gatherings. [b]It was a success![/b]
In one of the DVD, I had compiled all the videos of my grandmother (she is in heaven now). My father could not be any happier. I heard from my cousin that my uncle had teary eyes when he saw the video. I know that my family and relatives will treasure the videos and can now easily access our family videos in few seconds, rather than several minutes.
The 2004 Sarang English College Church winter retreat, titled “Powered By Prayer,” was splendid. Three nights and four days high [b][i]well[/i][/b] spent in the Lake Arrowhead mountains. I did not have a specific prayer topic prepared ahead of the winter retreat. But that was taken care of during the retreat.
This winter retreat was a unique experience for me. I can’t quite grasp why the retreat was unique but it sure was different from all other retreats that I have attended.
I carpooled with Peter Kim and Pastor David in his car. Peter Kim is such a [em]cool[/em] brother! We were on our way to the retreat site when Pastor David needed to stop by his house. The house resides in a secured community within a gated community (Irvine is such a beautiful & expensive city to live in). Continuing on our drive to the mountain, Pastor David receives a phone call, informing Pastor David that John Cho was left behind. Scott was supposed to wait for John after picking up the U-Haul van. Thus, we drove back and picked up John. The sun was setting and we headed down the same highway once again. Wait! Another phone call from a church member. The praise team had forgotten a music box from church! Pastor David was frustrated because of the back and forth drive and the fact that he had to be present in the retreat site. We drove back to church and fortunately, there was a huge banquet and we had our dinner there.
The discussions that we had in our drive to Lake Arrowhead was a great learning experience. One topic that I like to share with you is a charismatic church. “Generally a Charismatic church has a more independent, non denominational tone, sometimes with more emphasis on spiritual exploration, and less emphasis on established tradition.”
The topic was new and when I heard what a charismatic church was and which Korean church was a charismatic church, I was immediately saddened. Reason will be disclosed but I was deeply saddened at that moment. I also like to note, shouldn’t we not judge which church is [b]good[/b] and which are [b]bad[/b]? We are worshipping the same Lord, our father Jesus Christ.
-This is the longest blog I have ever written.
During the retreat, Pastor Steve from EM came on the first night and gave us a seminar. We also had a Q&A session after the sermon. It was great. The 3rd night, Senior Pastor Daniel Kim drove to the retreat site during the night, in a hazardous condition. A strong rainstorm in the windy highway is not a pleasant drive. The sermon was powerful and the prayer time was overwhelming. We also had a Q&A session afterwards.
The praise was awesome.
The seminar was awesome.
The meals was awesome.
The outdoor activities was awesome.
The entire retreat was awesome.
Wednesday was our departure date. And guess what, we had a snowstorm early in the morning. Well, not actually a snowstorm but it was raining pellets of ice. The roads were now icy and all the FWD and RWD vehicles had a difficult time climbing hills. While our drive down the mountain, only 5 to 10 feet were visible outside of the front windshield because of the snow fog and the rainstorm. It was a very dangerous condition to be driving, especially for vehicles without a tire chain.
I am truly thankful to have the opportunity to go the winter retreat. I look forward for the next retreat.