Chris Ong is Wrong

Apple picking at Edwards Orchids

A few weekends ago we decided to take a 1.5 hour drive out to the Midwest Country-side to do some apple picking before the weather turned bad. The day was forecasted to be raining and wet, but praise God! it was perfect weather. It turned out to be a really great day. We picked a stack of apples (and gave them away to our neighbours, made apple pie and ate it every day for weeks), got to pet animals, ate apple cinnamon donuts and got to shop at a country barn kinda shop.

Here are my thoughts on the whole thing:

1. Wow. It was really run and the kids loved it. The apples (Gala) were really yummy, and it was great to eat them straight from the tree. I think I ate 5 apples. Each kid ate at least 3 each (and err. wasted many more than that).

2. I can't believe the whole farm looks so much like the american farms look like in TV (like Smallville or something). It's as if they model the farms after watching heaps and heaps of American TV (or maybe American TV is err ... reflective of their culture and decoration ... can't be .. ;)). If we were to head to a farm that looked like this in Australia, it would just be sooo pretentious/try hard. Everything is stylised to make it have that errr. "Country" look. Nice though.

3. I can't believe that good weather is ending. Food was great and very very yummy. Ah. I wish could have an apple cinnamon right now.

Anyways. I've posted the pics on facebook. You can see them here: Facebook Album

Our first street/block party

I'm sure I've said this before, but in case I haven't .. the street that we live on is ABSOLUTELY fantastic. Firstly, I'm convinced that it was God's providence and grace that placed us on this street. I arrived with only one week to find a place. I go for dinner at the Harrower's place and as I drive there ... just days before a "for rent" sign goes up. We now are neighbours with the amazing Harrowers (Kate is pictured above with May Yen), Scott studies with me and we car-pool and their kids and our kids get along great (they're coming over this weekend). But that's not all. This street is full of kids under 10 (I think there's at least over 15) who go to the same school as our kids. Everyone is so friendly and very helpful. So far we've had bikes donated to us, tennis rackets and even a kiddie slide lent to us. There's a real great sense of community here, and I'm so thankful to be on this street. Not to mention the fact that, by being on this street, we get allocated to this really amazing elementary school! Rachel and Nicky are thriving in the school. They have a high tech multi-touch whiteboard, and Nicky has a wireless voting console in his class so that each student can vote (real-time) for answers so that the teacher gets immediate feedback. Crazy. I'm so proud of Rach too. She just got her result back for her ISAT test (all of america standardisation test) and came in the top 2% of america for maths, and some other ridiculously high number (that I can't remember right now .. sitting in OT class) for reading. She's a champ.

OK, I'm digressing. The main point of that previous paragraph was. God has brought us to this place that is amazing and it really had nothing to do with our planning. So when the street decides to have a block party (as they do every year), we were so thrilled. I've put in a few pictures of the event (trying to avoid pictures of neighbours and kids because I haven't asked their permission to put them online). We hired a huge bouncy castle that we put infront of our house. The guy who rented it to us let us keep it all weekend. The kids had a blast! It was a great time. It feels like we all get along. I got to meet the many other people on the street. Topics of conversation were so natural too. There's disney fanatic on the street (no .. not me .. another one), there's a tech person (works with Western Digital), there's a theology major (PhD in Theology), there's an asian, there are young families .. ah .. so fun.

So we chat for ages, stay up till late, and generally have a great time.I don't think I've ever had a street like this in Australia or in Malaysia.

So, I would like to dedicate this post to our street and the many fantastic neighbours that live on it. You may never read this blog, but I think that you guys are great!

Summer activities for the kids

I know that summer is long gone and that I'm now into my third week of the Fall semester, but there's just a long lag of blog posts that I need to do. It was a fantastic summer here in Chicago. I was kept very busy learning a great new language and the kids and May Yen got to experience the richness of the summer period here in Chicago. For all the aussie readers out there (I've checked the logs, most ... but not all of you are in Australia), summer is a weird phenomenon here. Firstly, kids have something like 3 months off school! Then everyone is enrolled into summer camps. But these camps aren't camps. They are just ... mmm ... summer day programs, the bulk of which is just fun, sports or arts. The picture above is Rachel showing some of her artwork at her Art Summer Camp. Nicky did Sports summer camp and then Tennis camp.

On top of camp, our kids have been practising piano. They have really improved heaps while they have been here and I'm so thankful that we have had a digital weighted piano "lent" to us by a friend we just met. This allows both Rachel and Nicky to take lessons and practice. Wonder if the worship team at home could use a few more budding pianists ;)

Also, Rachel has started learning how to cook from May Yen. Already she's a way better cook than her dad! (I think that's the start of an omelette).

And what has Gracie been up to? I think this picture summarises it well ... as she's just been smiling heaps, enjoying life and working on being cheeky enough to get out of trouble!

Ok. time to put these lovely kids to bed. I'll blog more later.

Summer Greek and a whole new world

Wow. its been just very very long since I've had the spare time to write on the blog. This doesn't mean that a lot hasn't been going on, its just that I've been keen to discharge all my responsibilities before I get on to things that I really like doing (like writing on this blog). So, over the next few days/weeks you'll hear a lot more from me and you'll see alot more on this blog. Noticed that Typepad has upgraded some of the functionality ... great (has it been that long?).

Firstly, I'd like to write about Summer Greek. It was my first foray into a new language since French as a kid and so I really didn't know what to expect. The picture above is a shot of all my classmates and my teacher for the class. We had classes pretty much every day for 4-5 weeks and homework which consumed the rest of the afternoon, night and the morning before class started. If you're wondering why there's so much of a backlog of stuff to do, I think it can mostly be explained by two words - Summer Greek. Basically, I pulled so many favours over that period (with my wife, kids and with these books that I was supposed to do for pre-reading) ... that I've spent the last few weeks kinda repaying that debt. Kids went to Disneyworld, May Yen flew to New York, we've had guests over (Jon and Seki) and I've been pushing double-time to catch up on pre-assigned reading and learning Biblical Hebrew. Also, I've been prepping up material for the Young Adults retreat I'm running when I head back home in October for a week.

It might seem like Summer Greek was the worst thing ever, but you know what ... I think it was the BEST thing ever. I'm so thrilled that I can now read Koine. I know it really sounds cliche, but I love the way it makes the Bible come alive for me. Especially sitting in Prof. Harris' Hebrews class ... wow .. I'm just amazed at how the bible sounds when I'm reading it Greek. It also slows me down when I'm reading scripture to see the real meaning and links in the text.

I had been holding off doing Biblical Hebrew until I saw what Greek was like and how I'd handle it (I'm by no means a Greek expert ... and I'm sure there's going to be a lifetime of learning Greek ahead of me), but seeing as I loved it so much ... I'm right into Hebrew now.

It's been great having this opportunity to learn two new languages. I feel like its like a door has opened to all kinds of future growth and learning. That, and now I've got a whole bunch of friends ... great ... as I'm sure they are going to know Greek heaps better than me ... I can just see myself emailing them 10 years from now.

Right now we're translating through Colossians in Greek Exegesis, and I'm also translating (albeit REALLY BADLY) the book of Hebrews. K. Enough for me tonight. May Yen has gone off to a Bible study on Psalms and I've got to prep up for my weekend intensive on Proverbs that starts Friday night. 

Amanda visits us

I'm really still completely engulfed with Greek (hence the lack of updates on here), but I thought I'd take a moment from the ancient world of Koine to write about a surprise guest we had last week. Amanda (who's now in Canada for a bit) decided to come down to Chicago and crash with us. I can't tell you how good it was to see someone we knew ... after so long. Seriously, more of you need to make the trek to Chicago!

Anyways. Her timing couldn't have been better. She was such a great help, and it was just when I was super busy with Greek (the starting bit). I just got an A for my first semester of Greek, and honestly ... I mostly credit that to her! (being around). Thanks Amanda.

Here are some pics of what we did. She also took some videos. If I get some time ... I'll upload them too.

I've got to keep this short. For those of you who are wondering what I'm up to besides Greek here's what's coming up for our family:

- end Aug: We're heading to Disneyworld again. Great deal

- Jon Siow and Selina Mok are coming to Chicago (and joining us for Disney)

- May Yen may take a trip to New York (while I watch the kids) .. with Seki

- I start the Fall semester at trinity (So far it looks like i'll be doing Old Testament Survey, The book of Hebrews, Elementary Hebrew, Greek Exegesis I, The book of Proverbs and possibly one more subject ... maybe pastoral leadership).

- I head back to Australia for 10 days in October to run a Young Adults Leadership camp and speaking at church (as well as working on all the 2010 planning).

- My dad comes over in Oct (that'll be great)

Also .. all our birthdays are towards the end of the year .. Anyways. thats it from me. Thanks for following my blog. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter. My iPhone no longer takes pictures (long story) so I'm not twitpiccing as often as I would like.

Leave you with this pic of us with Amanda (we went to the beach and I studied Greek while the kids played)

Greek Greek Greek

Greek is pretty much the whole world for me for the next five weeks. I'm in classes from 8:30am to 12 everyday. That's not too bad if that's all there is but I'm really finding that it requires much more than this. Everyday there's new vocabulary, translations, new tenses and chapters. Also there's a test everyday that I have to cram for. So I'm up when Grace gets up at 6:30am and doing last minute review before the exam. But then there's class. During lunch i'm revising. Quick nap (thanks to my lovely wife who covers for me). Then a few hours of study (usually memorizing vocabulary). Then its dinner and some family time, putting the kids to bed and then its a few hours of exercises and Greek reading.

I'm quite used to doing big spurts of study, but man this is pretty rough. Fortunately,in five weeks I'll be in a good position to read Greek for Exegesis class. Already beginning to see some pay off as I'm now actually able to "read" (not fully understand) Greek, and somewhat breakdown the sentences. But wow, there's a whole massive road ahead. also, it seems like everytime we get the hang of a particular paradigm or rule, we're learning the next day how to break it. sigh.

I'm really liking the language though. Better get back to study .. this' is Grace's impression of her Dad studying:

Ong Family 4th of July

Wow, the 4th of July is somewhat of a big deal here (picture taken on the walk to the park). Americans really go out of their way to celebrate their Independence. I've grown up in two countries, both of which have gotten independence from England, and really ... they don't bring on the fireworks, petting zoos and kids play equipment in anywhere near the same magnitude. Nothing like celebrating freedom in a definitive way by eating overpriced hot dogs in a park.

Seriously though, it was a great day out for our kids. The night before (3rd July), Jono, Debs, Nicky, May Yen and I went out to see the fireworks. Very impressive. It went for 20 minutes, and although there was no music, you really got the sense that they spent a TONNE of our council rates on the thing. A lot of people were out, and people were just parking everywhere. We got blocked off on our way there, so we just pulled over, got out and watched the fireworks. Nicky got very excited waving the American flag while it was all going on. People were clapping and cheering!! Never knew my son was so patriotic ;)

The next day we went to the Deerfield celebration. It was a super huge kids fair. Can't believe it was only $5 for a pass to do everything there all day. There were games, giant slides, petting zoo, horse rides and even a train! There was a parade, with a marching band and everything. Its hard not to get into the spirit of things. We have an aussie neighbour friend (the Harrowers) and they went marching in the parade with their church. Their church is a Chinese church called North Shore Chinese Christian Church ... they aren't even Chinese .. and they aren't even American! hilarious.

Kids did the games and won quite alot of prized (including this sticky globby thing), and we ate hot dogs and pizza. All in all, a great day. In the afternoon Rachel went cycling with the Harrowers, and then we had dinner (Mediterranean) over at the Hsieh's.

 

Learning to cycle for summer

We've been doing a lot this summer. Way too much for me to even take a break to blog! I think, when I'm not in my regular class routine ... it is just hard to spend a tonne of time on the computer (yes, that's why I'm not scoring high on Typing Maniac). Instead, with my last week of holidays before 'suicide' Greek ... I'm trying to spend as much time as I can with my family.

My mum just headed back to Australia. Just got an email from her saying that her flight was good and that she arrived safely. It was a real blessing to have her around for the last few months. Not only was a great physical help, it was really like a touch of home over here. Great having chats with her, talking theology and playing scrabble. Going to miss her. The kids are already asking about her. We skype tonight.

Well .. better get to the point of this post. We decided to get bikes for the kids and teach them to bike. So many kids on our street cycle, and there are so many friends on our street ... its a great opportunity for our kids to learn over summer. Neighbourhoods here are so different from what we've seen in Malaysia or in Australia. Kids are out and playing with each other, kids come over and invite our kids to play. Oftentimes a few families will be out with their kids playing on the street and so all of us can chat. Its a real close neighbourhood. 

Our neighbour (opposite), the Hsiehs, have lent us their bike (for Nicky) so we only had to buy a bike for Rachel. We thought it would take a few hours or even a few days for our kids to learn (seeing as their dad is so bad at cycling), but Hannah (Hsieh) has this technique for teaching kids to bike and our kids were cycling in minutes! Crazy.

Well, next post will be soon hopefully. So many things going on.

Holiday at Wisconsin Dells

We just got back from a great holiday at Wisconsin Dells. It was a great 7 days away at the Water Park capital of the US, staying at a lovely apartment inside a water park resort (Thanks Mum!). I'm right now rushing two major assignments so I don't really have time to update the blog too much and to give you alot of details about the trip. Fortunately, Apple makes slides, videos and photo uploading happen in the background ... so I was able to make this video clip of our trip:

And I was able to post these photos up on Facebook. 

Link

Ahhh.. I love my mac. Also, if you're following me on Twitter (@ebusinessguru), you'd have gotten a few more close up shots of our holiday.

Here's a shot of my lovely wife ;)

Grace's 2nd Birthday

Grace just turned 2 this week and we had a very small celebration in our home. Went for dinner with Jono and Debs for Buffalo Wings (wow .. were they hot!!) and May Yen made chocolate cupcakes for her birthday cake. Grace had an absolute blast through the night and stayed up till late fuelled by chocolate, sugar and celebration.

Here's a quick video I took of the tail end of the singing. You see Grace try to blow the candles (praise God for older sisters) and she says (if you can hear it) that she's two years old:

Brookfield Zoo

Still trying to catch up with the things we did over the two week holiday last week (while sitting in class doing Ecclesiology, theology of the church). We signed up for a year long membership with Brookfield because we really liked it so much. We get to go as often as we want, park for free and bring a guest (that's right Jon and Seki ... we can bring you along). Seriously the place is huge and it is amazing. I love zoos. Not so much for the animals that are there, or what it is doing to preserve life (though both of these things are great) ... I love it for its environment and atmosphere. There's so much life and beauty in the zoo. You get a chance to see so much of God's creation all around you.

We got to release over 1,000 ladybirds to the wild. Really liked that, but man ... those ladybirds went everywhere. Kept finding them in my clothes and in the kids hair!

Overall, we had a blast with the animals (Real and Not Real). Definitely have to go there again.

I've put up pics on facebook: 

   

Spring projects with the Kids

Things have really eased up (I say that because I've just finished my two weeks of holidays). Basically spent it around Chicago and with the family. There were a few assignments and work projects to clear (did two videos for Trinity) but mostly I was just doing really fun things with my mum and wife and the kids. We did Chicago's Field museum:

(they have the largest T-Rex in the world ?!?)

We did Legoland:

And we're doing a whole bunch of small projects with the kids. Nicky and I worked on a homemade volcano:

Rachel (and Nicky) has been doing sowing with my mum (still WIP, I'll post the finished product soon):

And Grace is riding, skipping and doing sack races!

 

If you are interested in seeing more of our family life, you may have realised that I've gotten more into Twitter as a publication medium. I can snap shots from my phone and Twitter it immediately. So if you look at the sidebar you'll see links to many many activities in our day. Why you would be interested in my daughter's piano recital and our trip to KFC i don't know, but if you are .. you can tweet me!

Our family and a contribution to the poor and hungry

A few weeks ago we joined our church's "Celebration of Hope" and signed up for packing food to be shipped to the poor in Africa. We went on three days of minimal eating (just water and simple food) and started conversations with the kids about people less privileged than us. At night and at our meals, we incorporated a prayer for the poor and we even spoke to the kids about donating some of their pocket money to the special offering.

What we didn't realise when we started this journey with Willow was how much it would affect us. We rocked up (with Debs) on Friday (pulled the kids from school that day) along with hundreds of other people at the Willow South Barrington church. We were only able to get this slot because the many many other slots were already full. Once there though, we were given plastic covers for our heads and directed to an instructional meeting. We learned that the food we were packing was specially developed so as to bring a kid back from severe malnutrition. We heard that there are kids so hungry they would regularly eat "Mudcakes" just to stave off the hunger so they could sleep at night. Mudcakes would be purchased at markets and only comprise of hardened dirt. Kids would have to chew and eat it fast because the taste would be unbearable ... but hunger at that point was apparently more unbearable. 

We learned of the story of the girl who was discovered with a stomach full of stones because she would swallow stones to fill her tummy. Skinny all over, except a bulging belly full of stones. If not treated with the right nutrition, kids would not be able to handle normal food, so what we pack is nutritional and used to restore. It was basically a combination of rice, vegetables, some soy and chicken flavouring. We even got a chance to taste it afterwards! quite nice actually. Quite embarrassing though when nicky said loudly (after trying it), "eww. its yucky, I don't want to eat this". How fortunate it is that my son has the luxury to refuse food that many will search, work, slave long and hard for. Obviously I have a lot more parenting work ahead of me!

Anyway. We worked for 2 hours or so. All as a team. I scooped rice and soy. Rachel did vegie and chicken flavour. May Yen and debs did the plastic packing and nicky sealed. Our group (the whole hall for that afternoon) did 66,744 packs of food. That will feed 183 kids for a WHOLE YEAR. Seriously, I can't think of anything I did that week/month/year that comes close to accomplishing something as rewarding. I hope the kid I fed will feel the love of Christ as he/she eats his/her way back to health. I'm so glad Christian organisations are doing great acts of mercy and love! That is what we should be known for!

Spring family pictures up on facebook

I've put up an album of pics on facebook. If there's anyone following me on this blog and not already my friend on facebook, please feel free to add me.

Click on this to see more photos

Grace, growing up in America

(Caption: Powerwalking down our street. imagine this image with pumping rock soundtrack, slow mo action and wind blowing ... don't mess with this girl haha)

I'm quite amazed at how fast Grace is going. She's talking alot now, using phrases, heaps and heaps of words, and she's not even two yet. I can't imagine what she's going be like when she figures out how to make sentences and use the phone. I'll have to have a conversation with Daniel about parenting a household of Ling girls ... hehe. (fortunately, Grace and Jenny don't really read my blog!). But seriously, last week, Grace figured out how to unlock my iPhone, navigate to the iPod section, find the videos on the menu and fire up her download YouTube video of Little Einsteins.

She's learning to talk here in America and she's growing up into her own individuality and personality. We've got a huge bundle of energy and fire with Grace. Its pretty fun, but talk to me in 13 years time :) I hope she uses what God put in her to shine the light to Jesus to the world around her. She is certainly shining a bright light in our home.

Here are some pics with Grace. We took a day out at the park.

NOTE: That's a kids baseball game going on in the background. Its something they take reasonably seriously here (we're in baseball season now)

Spring and flowers

It really is changing. Flowers  are coming up. Green grass where we are. Really reminds me of the parable of the sower. There's a real difference when the soil and the environment that the seed goes in to changes. In Australia I've gotta battle against the world to produce flowers like these in my garden. I kill plants so readily. Now I'm seeing with my garden over here (where it rains alot, where the sun is out), I'm probably even doing less with my garden (if it is possible to do less than what I do in Australia), but we are getting the most beautiful flowers and green grass over here.

I really hope my life is like that. A soil that takes God's word and lets it thrive and flourish in me. I wanna be my spring garden!

Here are the kids celebrating the great weather ...

Tiny Tim comes to visit ...

I'm a little behind posts, so you're going to get a recap of the last few weeks of our family life. I'm keen to make this blog mostly personal and so you're going to hear about the exciting events of our family. A few weeks ago, Nicky brought back the pet turtle from school - Tiny Tim. Was great having a pet around, and it was really fun seeing him crawl around the whole house. Grace was so fascinated by him, and Nicky now ranks turtles as his number one choice for pets.

I think its a great example of how a living breathing example of something can be so much more life transforming, intimate and convincing than just reading about something or seeing it from a distance. I'm a huge fan of books, but the Christian life is supposed to be lived and shared. I just attended a great Asian Pastors conference yesterday (and the day before) and what I found most impactful was the genuine conversation and life connection with fellow asian pastors. We need to be Tiny Tim's that people can live next to, touch feel and connect with :) 

Here's a quote from Romans 10:13-15. How will people know unless someone goes to them? A real living breathing person who they can touch and interact with. Ok. My turtle didn't actually talk, or preach. But, its amazing how much preaching we can do without even saying a single word.

Romans 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”   14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 

Yay! the grass is green

Wow. Can't believe we're into the thick of Spring now here in Chicago. Seriously, it makes everything wonderful when you look outside and it isn't snowing and freezing. Its still a bit cold (10-20C), but the sun is out and nature is blooming in full swing.

The picture above is our kids at church (Willow Creek) running down the small hill they have at the front of the church. Man. Next church building we get, its gotta have a green green hill! Seriously, so many kids just climb up there and roll down. Great way to burn some energy. Don't know if you can see but that's Rachel and Nick going full speed down the hill. Grace is waiting for her brother and sister to take her up ... and I'm trying to capture the moment with my iPhone.

PS: You're gonna get a lot of posts from me this week. I'm done with one semester and i'm in for an all day 5 days intensive conference on church planting (for credit). Its really great, and I'm learning alot, but its a much easier pace than heavy theology. So I get to update my blog during the day :)

Celebration of Hope

Thought I'd write something serious on here for a change. Mostly I've tried to keep this blog highly personal and family oriented. A lot of my theological thinking and writing is going into my private journal as is becoming fodder for mentoring sessions, preaching sessions and series. I'm currently also working on some pretty big ideas. The reality is that God has really caught hold of me here in Chicago, and He's radically transforming me on the inside. I wish I could share some of the things on here, but now isn't the time ... except to say (in case you're worried) that I've never been so aware of the fact that my life isn't completely Centred on Christ than now. I'm realising more and more the kind of personal sacrifice it is going to take to be come a true disciple of Jesus and how much we'll have to do if we're going to accurately reflect the Gospel.

On a practical level, our church (Willow Creek) is doing something pretty cool this week. All of us are eating/drinking like poor people (words my kids use, nothing derogatory meant by it). The concept is that for a week (we're only doing 3 days), we'll only drink water and eat minimal basic food (rice, eggs) and no special good meals. Its based around the fact that most of us can't even in our wildest imagination imagine what it might be to have physical needs (food, shelter etc.). As a side point, the money we save from not eating out or eating fancy, we are to save and donate to the poor.

We're then also, practically going to help out with some food packing (with the kids) at Barrington. This will help get food to malnourished countries.

You can read more about it at: http://www.willowcreek.org/coh/mealpack/

Kids are excited to be doing it. We're talking about what its like to be poor. They are grumbling with the food that we are eating and the restrictions on supper and dessert. But you know, that's great. My kids are way too spoilt (hey, I'm too spoilt!) and there's the whole effect of 'entitlement' that's creeping in into this generation that we really need to counter. I'd recommend reading up on the entitlement phenomena, pretty good stuff.

Thanks so much for the many prayers, and the great chats. Feel free to catch me when I'm online at facebook, msn or skype. 

Ahhh .. the Ong Family Band

Thought I'd write something else on here other than Disney and give you an insight into the recreational life of the Ong Family. We just got Guitar Hero World Tour on a big big discount and so we've been jamming. To quote Audio Adrenaline ... "We're a Band, We're a Band, We're a Band" (ok, what? no one has heard of Audio Adrenaline ... aw c'mon.) Anyway, its really fun because over here we don't play for church and we don't jam. The kids like it, Grace plays drums even. May Yen drums and sings ... I'm loving the guitar.

Just last weekend we had Jono and Debs come over for a great dinner. I love having them over, especially our chats (but May Yen reckons I talk too much 'shop' when they are around). We you know ... had normal conversation about Armenian vs Calvinist views on providence and salvation, Complimentarian vs Egalitarian views on women in family and church ... and kinda .. ended with dessert and conversation about biblical inerrancy and infallibility.

Well .. after that super fun chat, they were keen to see our new band kit so we went down for a quick jam. It was only after a couple hours and many many songs later that we stopped. I'd like to say we chatted more about theology than banging out rock songs (and singing out of tune), but I think the reality was we only talked theology for a max of two hours ... and jammed for more than that :)

Oh well ... I'll have to make sure the balance is right the next time we catch up... there's this really interesting topic imago dei in an anthropological context ... functional, substantive or my personal favourite ... relational. Till then .. here's the video:

7 Disney observations

1. Economy is really hitting Disney hard: There's definitely a reduction in numbers of people going to Disneyworld (great for us while we were there). It was supposed to be their peak period AND they were having their best sale in over 10 years going on. I mean c'mon ... pay for 4 days and 3 days free (including accommodation). That's awesome. But on top of that, they threw in a $200 voucher that can be used for anything. You'd think they'd be able to reach numbers. But apparently not. Disneyland is less affected because they have a large population base nearby (mostly people travel to Disneyworld in Florida). Also (for any of you going in the next month), most Disney merchandise is on sale 25% to 40% for most types of merchandise.

2. Their staff are absolutely wonderful: I posted about this before, but did I tell the story about how we lost Grace's shoe (just one side) at a ride. Well after helping us look for the shoe for ages, the Disney staff member at the ride called us back when we started leaving and said that Disney would cover the cost of the lost shoe. He then gave us a $30 voucher to buy new shoes. So Gracie got a brand new set of Disney-themed original Crocs in place of a set of shoes that Rachel wore, got passed to Nicky and then got passed to Grace. Gotta love their commitment to customer service.

3. Calling someone "princess" doesn't make them one: OK, this may not go down too well, but I've got to say it. There's a habit in Disneyworld (and also in America) where parents call their little girls "princess" or "sweetie" or some other really nice sounding name. I kid you not. Almost every time I heard that, it was said by some lady talking to some bratty out of control kid who was doing everything BESIDES acting like a sweetie or princess (or maybe princess are really like that). "C'mon sweetie. Don't do that princess" .. "No! No! I HATE YOU! WAAAHAH". Mmmm.. maybe if they called it as it is. I know the Bible doesn't shy away from calling fools fools, or labelling behaviour as sinful, rebellious or foolish.

4. There are ALOT of variables: I'm always amazed that families make it through alive after a Disney vacation. There are so many variables to consider from showtime schedules, dining reservations, park opening times, crowd levels etc. Combine that with the fact that your kids have different sleeping schedules and different tastes. Its like a huge mathematical equation with 100s of variables none of which are linear or correlated in a meaningful way. Praise God we were able to navigate our way through it ... largely due to the fact that we did a lot of planning and the fact that we just weren't that glued to doing any particular ride/show.

5. Pin trading is fun: I'm secretly jealous of Rachel, who got to trade pins everyday at Disney. Its such a cool idea. Basically, once she got her starter pack of pins, she could just go up to any staff member (Cast Member) and ask to swap pins. Makes it really great for getting a collection of pins that you really want. Next time ... I'll start pin trading. Nicky collected pressed coins (thats cool too, but i like the social aspect of trading pins)

6. Disney is great doing things seamlessly: I love the Magical Express. We arrive in Orlando Airport. Our bags automatically go to our room (we don't even pick them up). We get into a Disney bus and although its an hour trip, we're not bored because we see a VIDEO explaining all the rides and activities on in Disneyworld (done really well). When we arrive we just pick up our room key (no queue) because of the newly implemented ONLINE check in. Awesome. Then, we don't even need to carry our wallet around cause everything is linked to the room key. When we check out, our bags are taken from our room straight to the plane (and we see them in Chicago next) AND we don't even need to return keys or check out .. its done automatically. Nice.

7. I wanna be Walt Disney: Just being at the park just makes you realise how hard it must have been to go from Cartooning artist to American Icon and CEO. I'm going to read his biography again (I highly recommend it by the way) cause I'm still impressed by how he brought his vision to pass and that I got the opportunity to walk through a living representation of his vision. Wild.

See .. even my kids think its wild!

A beautiful world

When I retire, I want to work in Disneyworld. This is the first of many posts that I'll be writing about our family's time at Disney. Seriously, it was a great time spent with the kids, and May Yen really seemed to be able to just relax and enjoy Disney (she's very busy at home usually holding the fort while I'm off reading or at lectures). 

Despite the may things to say, I'll start off with something very personal. It was an early morning at EPCOT, and I was watching Grace while May Yen took the older kids to do Test Track and Mission:SPACE. The crowd hadn't really picked up, and I had taken Grace to an obscure corner of EPCOT to see the jumping water fountain (I don't know why people don't go to Journey Into Your Imagination, it looks awesome). Anyway, I was just playing with Grace when two Disney employees walked by (a guy and a gal). The gal stopped and looked out and just stared. The sun was just rising, the park was empty but just beautiful and she said something like: "Isn't this just fantastic. Working here at Disney is like a dream. This is so beautiful", and then the guy (older) said something like, "yeah, I love waking up in the morning to come here everyday to work".

ARGGHH! That was the moment. That. Right there. I really wanted to just run over to Disney HR somewhere and just apply for a job, any job ... I'll pick up the rubbish at Disney. The picture I took above (was around the same place) but doesn't really do it justice. The place just looks wonderful. I love to just sit there and think and dream. I love the themeing, the music ... but you know what makes the whole thing so much more authentic for me?

Its when I hear that their staff (those who do Disney day in and day out) are bursting with enthusiasm about the place. How they see it as a dream come true.

Sitting here now in a New Testament lecture, this is what I'm thinking. How do we feel about working at church, our pastoral calling ... or (if you're not full time like me) .. how do you feel when you're volunteering at church. The Bible says that people will know Christ through us, through our testimony and our lives. Nothing speaks better about Christ than the candid, honest enthusiasm and love for Christ in the heart and life of the believer.

I love my job. Sure, FGA is not Disney ... but I was only half serious about working at Disney. Our cause and purpose is much more noble and significant than bringing fictional happiness to starry-eyed kids and the parents they drag along. Our vision is definitely more beautiful as its not just linked to the physical and the temporary, but the spiritual and the eternal. 

Thanks Walter Elias for reminding me that however beautiful your big dream is - the one I live for is much much grander.

Disneyworld Pictures online

I've posted up some pictures from our recent trip to Disneyworld on Facebook. I'll be doing quite a few posts about the trip (cause I'm a complete Disney nut and it was such a great trip) in the next few days. I've got a mid-term today and i'm rushing out the FGA Easter play for Quentin at the moment. No more posts until my work is done :) The picture above is of the newly refurbished rooms at Port Orleans Riverside. Really love the new themeing (big improvement on the old one). I love how the lantern lights can dim ... also the wooden beds look so realistic. If only May Yen will let me decorate my house this way.

Click this link to see the pics.

Buh-uhn dat calm

Wow, its happening very quickly. Just recently I was talking to Nicky and he was talking about this rocket and then he talked about a guy with a controller for the rocket and then he said the magical words. He said, "and then he hit the Buh-uhn". And I said. "The what ?!", and Nicky said, "Buh-uhn, the buh-uhn". Seriously, my kids are turning american. My daughter (Grace) already absolutely loves american food, and her favourite word is now "Lollies", and now Nick is picking up the slang.

In case you haven't picked it up from the title, dat calm is what my kids say whenever they are referring to a website. 

On the good side, they are settling into life in America a lot better than May Yen and I had hoped for. We were quite worried. Praise God for great neighbours, good friends and a good school.

Perspective does amazing things ...

Wow, its three weeks after the fall and I can finally look at those steps and laugh. I seriously should have been paying more attention. In case some of you haven't heard, I slipped and fell one wet, icy day on these steps and really hurt my back. I was bedridden for almost a week, it was so painful. First question May Yen asked was, "didn't they put any warning signs up" ... I was like .. "Yeah! I hit them as I fell!". Crazy. In fact the caution its slippery signs were still there when I took this picture - do you like the recreation? Thanks Jono, appreciate that.

Anyways, just wanted to post to say that so much changes when you're sick, in bed, with assignments due and exams around the corner. I'm convinced things look much worse. The natural tendency is to take your perspective at that moment and then project forward. Or maybe if you're not that way inclined, you worry that your dropping of one ball will mean that you're juggling two the next day, and then more and more because you're not at 100%.

Well, whatever the dodgy reason, its amazing how things change after all the hardwork is done, and after the recovery has occurred. Now, sitting here in my last lecture before I head off to Disneyworld, all well from my flu and mostly recovered from my back pain ... having blitzed the preaching mid-term exam, handed in two major papers and having just gotten an two As from my last submitted papers ... things are definitely looking UP!

I'm pumped.

Sitting here in the New Testament lecture, hearing about the spread of the gospel and the miraculous work of Jesus on the Cross and the supreme significance of what took place there at that First Easter ... I'm so glad that we get to see the world from the perspective of the New Testament :)

Me and all Christians are about to rejoice (as Easter approaches). Me .. cause I'm going to Disneyworld. All Christians because Christ is risen and he has defeated Sin and Death!

It's time to celebrate :)

Roley Poley

Grace has learnt a new trick (thanks to her brother and sister). We're really having a blast with our kids over here. Its quite good to have some time with them. It makes for a great break from reading and studying (something that I'm doing very intensely at the moment because exams and assignments are coming up). You won't get many posts from me in the next week - bogged down with work.

For those of you who are following this blog, I will be making a guest appearance in Melbourne next Friday (via Skype unfortunately). Ps Quentin has kindly invited me to speak at Fungus. Something that i'm very thrilled about actually. Maybe I'll see some of you there. I'm doing the life-changing book of Leviticus! If you've never really known why its there in the Bible, or never really cared for it ... I'd encourage you to come along. My mum (and ALL of the Young Adults of the church) have just finished the book of Leviticus, so there are a lot of Leviticus experts around. You can read a bit about the book here: http://fgaya.blogspot.com/

1 + 1 = 11

Well, its our 11th year anniversary today. I'm stuck in classes from 8:30am till 3pm (Systematic Theology II), and May Yen is taking the kids for their swimming lesson. Also, I spent last night sleeping on the 'couch' (no I didn't get into trouble by forgetting the anniversary or anything) because my back just can't take our soft bed. Started the day shovelling snow with my bad back, which i think made it a bit worse (praise God for my neighbour who came over with his snow machine to give me a hand!)

Fortunately, Jono and Debs have very kindly offered to babysit for us tonight while we head out for a wild night of fun.

Just wanted to write a quick note to say how much I've grown to love May Yen. I choose those words carefully because if I was really honest, even though I would have said that I loved her completely when we dated and when we first got married, the reality is ... i didn't really know what I was talking about. However with each passing day, each challenge life presented and each joy that unfolded ... I began to see that she was indeed more and more a great partner to share life with. 

Its funny to say this (and maybe because I'm here reading the Bible everyday and studying theology all the time), but it makes me think about my relationship with God. As I spend more time with God, the more I'm discovering that .. God's great to share life with. I also am realising that there's so much I have yet to discover and know about God.

So, on my 11th year anniversary, I'm finding myself looking forward to knowing and loving my wife even more as well as knowing and loving God even more (not necessarily in that order! hehe).

Attack of the penguins ...

Just thought I'd post up a really quick picture taken yesterday of Grace all decked up in her snow gear. She's been cooped up for ages, and May Yen decided to take her out to pick up the kids from the bus (since most of the snow had melted). It looks warm out there but its still -8 C ... we just had a warm spell that melted the snow and then it became cold again.

I just think she looks like a little penguin. I wish I had a video camera to film her waddle. The picture below is May Yen and gracie on our couch (good dental hygiene is very important):

Back on track

After at least a week of really bad back pain and a whole lot of just lying in bed and being a complete wimp regarding pain tolerance (don't ask me to ever give birth to children or anything ... I couldn't hack it) ... I'm back on track. I'm still in pain, and still have to be really careful about how I move and what I carry. Having said that, I'm back to classes, just finished off 2 assignments and I'm back to my reading schedule.

Got my first major paper back - 91% (jono and debs beat me), and I've just sat another test. Next week we've got two more papers due before I start "Spring Break" a week's holiday in Disneyworld.

Tomorrow I'm filming the International Student Orientation video for TEDS, so Jono and I are interviewing overseas students and compiling this video. We need to work in order to get our social security number. Should be fun doing videos again.

The picture I've put up is of the Daddy/Daughters date I went on about a week ago (pre-Fall .. hehe .. haha. . oh .. haha. ok. I'm the only one who gets it cause I'm in a Biblical Theology class right now.. aw man, i'm gonna come back with so much Bible-geek humour). Anyways, I took my two girls to Walker Brothers and we had pancakes for breakfast. Its important for dads to be close to their daughters and to give them attention - so that when they grow up they aren't needy for male attention (Thanks Mark Driscoll)

Meet the new superhero of the family...

Nicky just got a brand new toy. We're running a pocket money system for our kids, where they get money for doing chores. They get a whopping 5 cents per chore. I know, I know, you're all thinking we're exploiting child labour in our home, but seriously, the chores are very simple AND thanks to May Yen's detail consciousness, there are alot of them. If they successfully do chores every day, across seven days our kids could get a whopping $5 (usually they just get about $3-4). Lots of these 5 cents add up. They are things like "make your bed", "do maths homework", "set up table" etc. 

Anyways, Rachel is saving her money up, and Nicky's already spent it. On the omnitrix. Ben 10 Alien Force is not only Nicky's favourite cartoon, but its mine too (well that and Star Wars: Clone Wars). So, while I'm stuck bedridden and in pain, I thought I'd post up something fun. Enjoy.

Arrrgh ... i've gone and done a Wu!

Ah .. today was a really warm day (16C) and all the snow melted. I went to uni for my lecture and there was just slosh and water everywhere. Well .. on my way down a flight of steps in one of the buildings, I slipped and fell. Seriously, very painful. Landed on my bum and on my back. Now I have this excruciating pain every time i bend or go up steps or put any weight on my back. 

May Yen reckons I've got a mini-fracture ... and she reckons I've hurt my coxix - which is why i've titled this blog .. the Wu. Its a bit too expensive to go and see the doctor so i'm going to wait at least till after tonight to see if I recover. In the meanwhile, I'm just resting in bed. 3 assignments due next week. Just got my second test back. first one was 90%, and my second was 100%. But there's alot more work to be done.

My prayers are with all the people in Victoria who are suffering from the fires. My thoughts and prayers are with you as I lay here in bed.

Chris 

Love my hairdresser

Praise God! I just got a long overdue haircut yesterday. Took ages to get an appointment with my hairdresser, but i finally managed to squeeze one in. Fortunately for me, I was able to fly in my hairdresser to Chicago. Don't know what I would do without her. Here are some before and after shots.

This is me, slowly morphing into wolverine:

and here's me after the chop (sitting in my office, in front of the computer typing up this blog):

Chicago City Video uploaded

Hey. Went down to the city a while ago, but only managed to get around to editing it recently. Seriously, iLife 09 is so awesome, I love the new iMovie and the new iPhoto. Look out for more videos from me, I've gotta play with iLife more. Too bad there's so much reading to do. Back to my assignments.

Reading reading reading

Well it looks like it's not just dad who I'd massively reading. Our kids have taken to going to the great deerfield library. It's a fantastic resource. There are books galore and we can borrow 7 DVDs for a week at a time. That and CDs and Wii games. It's crazy. However, we're mainly reading books. How nerdy hehe :) Oh did I mention free Internet. This is posted from the library

No time for rest

Well, play time is now well and truly over. Just sat through my first test, and wrote my first paper. Seriously there's a lot of reading and prep work to do for the classes. Just as an example I've read four complete books (ok fairly thin ones) last week, and a couple of chapters of some real big complicated chapters. Honestly, if I have another child i'll name him Irenaeus after the founding of Biblical Theology and for his courage in the fight against Gnosticism and Marcionism (joke). There's just so much stuff that I just need to power through. So I'm going to do it. You probably won't see some posts from me for a while (I'm posting in the middle of my Intro to NT lecture right now) because I'll be using my free time to study.

I think my priorities are definitely going to be towards letting the things I read (which includes systematically going through the whole Bible as well as the many books on the reading lists of the 6 subjects I'm doing this semester) filter into my philosophy of ministry. I don't think I'm going to be focussed on marks. There are some guys here who have that down pat. They don't have family here, they basically live in the library and they want the grades. They've got my blessing. I'll just sit next to them and borrow notes. I'm already writing stuff for messages when I get back, and leadership/bible training classes.

Also, its an important time for my family. We're gearing up for a major shift in our life calling. I'm no longer just testing out pastoring, I've committed to getting a Masters degree for it. We're all sold out and there's no turning back. So work needs to balance well with my family life. I don't want to pastor a family church and leave behind a family wreck. US has been great for the kids so far. Rachel and Nicky have really adapted well and have been stretched beyond their comfort zone. They lived fairly sheltered lives in Melbourne (same church, same school etc.), but here I'm seeing Rachel talk confidently to new kids, I'm seeing Nicky get more accustomed to different situations .. I'm really liking the effect this is having on them. Its rough for May Yen though I imagine .. constantly holding the fort with Grace and the kids while I'm away studying .. though she's loving it too (but I suspect mainly because of the positive effect it is having on the kids). Tuesday I was up at 5am to send my parents and sis to the airport, then we were busy right up until 1am the next day (study, class, kids and cleaning), only to get up at 6am to start today with classes from 8:15am to 9:30pm. Its rough, fortunately thats my worst day. All the other days are pretty light.

Well, all this to say that, I have allocated time to help out the family and to enrich the the US experience for us as a priority. (OK OK, I know what some of you are thinking, that's a long winded way to say I'm going to DISNEY WORLD!!. . but yeah, we're heading down in spring break ;)) Seriously though, I think how this year goes will form for my wife and kids a view of how life with a busy pastor is going to be like. So I'm conscious that its gotta be enriching for them too. Each week, I'm alternating daddy dates with my kids one on one. Saw Bedtime Stories with Rach, and did Chuck E Cheese (arcade food place) with Nick.

I hope my marks hold up. I'll know next week. Did the assignment in 45 mins and studied for the test sitting at Potbelly eating dinner just an hour before the test. I'll report in next week. Ok, Dr. Harris is up to Herod Antipas (4 BC to AD 39), better pay attention ;)

Flat tire in the snow

May Yen got a flat tire a few days ago. Praise God that I checked all the boxes when I applied for car insurance. I didn't even realise it, but I had opted for roadside assistance. Can you imagine, May Yen and my parents in the car with Grace (and Debs) stuck on the side of the road in the snow (-20C outside). Turns out our spare tire is located UNDERNEATH the car. Yup, you have to crawl under the car (on the snow) to get access to it. Crazy. Fortunately, the Roadside assistance guy came in 30 minutes and saved my wife.

I'm beginning to like my speedy philosophy for life. I just focus on the big picture, and then make quick decisions erring on BETTER vs CRAPPIER. If we were here for many years, our insurance plan choice would make a real substantial difference cost-wise. But we're here for a year. I looked at 4 quotes and did a stack of comparison, but the differences in coverage between different types of coverage was a couple of hundred bucks. So I just went for the top coverage (too bad my wife hadn't arrived yet and she left the insurance picking to me). Praise God I did! Got our money's worth already. I'd hate to be that guy under our car :)

PS: Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place to save money (we're certainly doing alot of that over here now that i'm living off savings), I'm just advocating having a big picture context of things. Detailed bargain hunters (like my lovely wife... hehe) can sometimes lose sight of the materiality/priority of their decisions. (ok, hopefully May Yen doesn't read my blog hehe).

Starting School

Well .. here I am in the library again. I'm going to make it a habit to take a break from reading by writing on my blog. So that ... you know, instead of looking at my computer screen reading lots and lots of material, I'm ... err.. on my computer looking at the screen mmm writing material. My fingers are definitely going to love the exercise :)

Today's post is all about school. As many of you know, our kids have been very nervous about heading to school. Its Thursday today and kids have now been to school for three days. Rachel is in class all day 8.45am  to 3.10pm in Grade 3, while Nicky is in Kindergarden (like Prep) for the afternoon session 12:30 to 3:10pm. We had the option of either fast forwarding our kids by 6 months or holding them back by 6 months. We decided to hold them back for half a year so that they could really spend their energy adjusting and making friends. That way they will be able to cope with the workload and be able to adjust in a comfortable, secure way. I know its not the 'Chinese' thing to do, but I think our trip to America is not going to be about academics (mmm.. says the guy sitting in the library doing his second Masters degree), but developing social and people skills.

Anyways. Praise God! School went well. They both loved it, and they have already made friends (we've found Americans to be very friendly). The next step was getting them on the bus. They've never taken a bus to school before in Australia, and over here the bus picks them up and drops them off. Actually, God was really good, and we got FREE bus trips because of the location of our house (across a main road, so kids can't walk).

The pictures above show May Yen and Rachel waiting for the bus, and the bus arriving. Seriously, everything here looks like the MOVIES! Look at the street that our house is on (ours is the cheapest looking house on the street).. its seriously like from a movie. Our friends the Harrowers (from Australia) say that our street is the "As-Seen-On-TV" street. haha .. cracks me up. But, seriously, all the busses are these Yellow Busses you see in movies. Can't believe its the same all across america. Now my kids go on one every day.

Me ... I get the classic america library. looks like the one in Australia. bummer.

My Birthday

Just thought I'd write a little bit about what I did on my birthday. The 30th of December seems so far away now ... while I'm sitting at the library reading "To Know and Love God" by David K. Clark. That's a picture of what's in front of me on this nice fresh snow-fallen day.

My birthday was the day that we (my Dad, Jono and I) were going to pick up stuff from Denesh's apartment. Denesh and his family (Denesh is the Masters of Theology student who sold me my car .. he picked me up from the airport) have been really helpful and they have a two bedroom apartment at the uni. He's got lots of stuff that he's selling cheap or giving away free. Mostly, Jono got his things. What little I ended up picking ... Jono ended up paying for anyways. Seems kind of that way with Jono. I think I need to be a bit more sneaky. That guy (Jono) has stolen items from my shopping trolley and paid for it (thanks for the leather jacket as my b'day present jono), he has gone to toilet only to pay the bill at restaurants (i'm always timing your toilet breaks now jono) and he has seen items that we liked for Grace and just bought them behind our backs! Anyways .. back to the story.

9am was heading to Denesh to help him move, by putting things into the TEDS furniture room. The TEDS furniture store was filled with all kinds of things that we can just take for free. Its awesome actually, and it has saved us a tonne of money. Here are some things we've take for our house:

I seriously need to get more fit. Fortunately, just as we started the heavy lifting. I went to my first appointment of the day. I met up with George (the gatekeeper for getting into subjects at TEDS) to discuss subject choices for Spring 2009. After I got back from that meeting (20 mins meeting) we just moved the whole day.

My parents had cooked chinese that day, but I was seriously all Chinese fooded out, so I used my birthday credits to sneak a meal at my favourite subs place: Potbelly. The girls didn't want to eat subs, so Jono and I went (he paid again).

Denesh was meant to come over for dinner that night, but he ended up falling behind on his packing so it was just us, my parents and the Moks for dinner.

Kids made me a great craft uh.. thingy for my birthday, and I swapped having Guitar Hero World Tour for a birthday present with getting a HOT leather jacket for my wife (more about that later).

All in all, it was a really good birthday. Kinda missing the wild DOTA gaming that usually accompanies my growing a year older, but quiet is beginning to suit me. Also, I've notice a clump of white hair on my left. sigh. here's to getting older.

Our first white Christmas

Ok, I'm really behind with the posts. I've done SEVEN draft posts (in skeleton form) which I'm aiming to update on Wednesday. Once school starts I think I'm going to set a specific DATE for post updating so that everyone who regularly checks my blog knows when there'll be an update.

Our Christmas was mmm.. very different. It was heaps of fun, and Chicago looked wonderful all covered in snow. Christmas music was in the air and Willow's Christmas service (as previously posted) was absolutely awesome. I think the best thing was that I was able to spend my first Christmas in so many years with my family. Its surprising the the things you give up as a pastor. I never noticed that I had worked through so many Christmases. Ps. Roland and our pastoral team (and the many ministers reading this post) will know what I'm talking about. So often we give up the big days to create a great environment for everyone else. Well this year, I'm really thankful that I was able to create some great memories for my kids and family.

Christmas Eve we were invited to our neighbours house (didn't think it would be nice to start filming and snapping pictures in a strange house). It was really nice of Bonnie to invite us. I think there were at least 60 people at her place. All friends and family, and a lot of neighbours from the street. Santa Claus was there and I'll talk about this in another post, but seriously ... I felt like I walked into a Christmas movie.

While the day was really fun and quite spectacular, I've gotta say, the downside was that we couldn't share it with friends. Really missing church and everyone back in Melbourne. Merry Christmas guys.

Since a picture is worth a 1,000 words and a video is full of pictures, i thought i'd describe our Christmas day via video. Here's what we did 25th December 2008. Please post and let me know how Christmas was for you.

Shovelling snow

Ok. We are well and trying into Winter right now. Today is -19C but with windchill, they reckon its -28C. That's pretty cold. Also, we had a massive dump of snow over the weekend. I think shovelling snow is going to be a regular phenomenon here in the Ong household in Chicago. I've put in a before and after pic of our driveway with a very LIGHT snowfall. I know what you're thinking ... how come I've got the whole family working hard. I had to be the one to TAKE the PIC! hehe. A few days after this pic, we had a massive dump and I was out alone shovelling snow for 2 hours.

Here's a video of our kids helping me out.

Our new house

So you know that we found this place in Deerfield, just two houses down from our new good friends the Harrowers. The Harrowers are such an amazing family (Scott shares very similar ministry views, is very pastoral and not only is he working with Dr. Carson, his dad FOUNDED GWAC! and took it from 40 to 1,200 ... in Glen Waverley!). Kate is so friendly, and has been an amazing help, my mum likes the cooking pan she gave us so much she wants to take one back to Melbourne. Kids get along great (already come over for plays 3 times or more). Do check out their blog, I've got it linked on mine.

In fact the whole street has been super friendly. We've had three neighbours come over with cookies already, and because we live in a cul de sac with young families with about 16 kids under 9, our kids have already made friends playing outside in the snow. Honestly, I don't think I remember Melbourne being that friendly even. Our neighbour on the right has invited us to her house for Christmas eve dinner, and we met the Jewish family on our left while I was out shovelling snow (for 2 hours). Its amazing how easy it is to make friends when you and the other guy are both outside slaving away shovelling snow!

Ok, back to our house (see that's what happens when I don't post for ages, there's so much to talk about). Its a four bedroom place. We've got a basement with one bedroom and a study. My parents are there at the moment, and on the 27th of December the Moks (Jono and Debs) will arrive. They'll probably stay in the study on the sofa bed. I think we can easily squeeze in about 4 guests in our house (if they don't mind roughing it out slightly) so if anyone is thinking of coming over, consider this an invitation to stay.

Upstairs we have three bedrooms. Rachel and Nicky are in a room together and Grace has her own room (because she wakes up at the slightest noise). May Yen and I have an ensuite in our master. Fast Internet, Basic Cable TV package and a Nintendo Wii (second hand for very cheap) make it easy to entertain the kids while we are super busy setting everything up.

Its been crazy busy coping with the jet lag (not mine, but my family's) and setting up at the same time. Grace will wake up at 6:30am (I take morning shift), while the rest of the family only goes to sleep at 2am at night. We spent a day at the outlet malls, one day at IKEA, one day at uni, a couple of days driving all around the northern Suburbs picking up second hand stuff sourced from craigslist (www.craigslist.com). Then there was a WHOLE day spent at H-Mart, this mega asian supermarket. My parents have been fantastic helping and cooking and setting everything up.

I think we're all set now. We've had countless issues and problems to solve, but most of them are now sorted out. I think my biggest issue now is health insurance. We're about 3 weeks away from getting that for the kids, but Grace has already fallen sick (some sty or something in her eye). Fortunately, my mum has a friend here in Chicago who is a specialist doctor, who was able to call his Opthomologist friend, who was able to do a diagnosis over the phone and order a prescription for us to pick up that very night on our way back from ... shopping at SEARS. Crazy. God is very good (so are mums).

Back to regular posting, watch this space ...

Alright! My family has finally arrived. The picture above was taken at the arrivals area of the Chicago O'Hare airport. They had a trip (again) filled with miracles. It seems like I keep barking up the same tree by saying that God is so good and everything, and I know that there are some people out there who reckon that I'm so optimistic that I only ever see the good side of things, but seriously, God has done some pretty awesome things during this trip and it would not be right if I didn't give Him some kind of credit.

 

So, with my family's trip over here:

1. They were late getting to the plane due to a traffic jam (not your fault Stan), and Jetstar actually called Chicago to get their number to call them on the car to let them know that they had been given an alternative flight which suited better.

2. When they arrived in Hawaii, it turns out that the hotel room they booked for 2 days stay was not actually booked (due to a faulty email address), but God provided them with the LAST room available AND they managed to save ONE day stay because the manager let them stay for longer on both ends.

3. They were charged for extra baggage (which A. Eve/U. Roland and my sister had to pay), but when my mum asked about it (must be the fierce look on her face) they just gave her a refund!

I'm going to break up the many things that have happened over the last week into many manageable posts. I just want to say how absolutely amazing it is to have my whole family here. All you single guys out there, you've just got to hurry up and get married (yes, I'm talking to you ... Mr. DOTA players out there) ... it just feels like home whenever they are around, and it feels like some kind of limbo waiting room when they aren't.

Welcome to Chicago Ong Family :)

Thanks for the farewell party!

I'm sure this story will haunt me for years. 4pm farewell party at the park. Its 4:15 and I'm sitting alone (no one at the whole park) waiting for the party to arrive. I had gotten there 45 minutes before, no one there. Then the whole 'fungus' crew arrive, guys I used to pastor ... they see me sitting all alone at the park and they have a blast .. i'm never gonna live it down...

Thank you 'fungus' people, you know who you are, you'll always be my "party people for hire" top choice! It was so dull before you arrived. On a serious note, thank you everyone who came. I had originally suggested a .. uhm .. 'night' only party, but the day park farewell was pretty fun (once everyone arrived).  Pretty soon, all the food was snapped up, and most of the hard core people moved on to the 'secret' event of the night. The DOTA game to end all DOTA games. If you want to see what we got up to at night, i've uploaded this onto youtube. If you're a neighbour and you were wondering why there was a temporary power blackout across Kew on Sunday the 30th .. you now have your answer (if it hasn't loaded, just wait .. its processing):

Finally received our visa

Just a quick post to say that we have received our visa, so now I'm definitely confirmed to leave for Chicago on the 3rd of December. Pretty quick really. We had an interview with the US Consulate on Monday and the passports arrived all approved on Wednesday. Last year, the wait was 4 weeks (just to get an interview) and a few weeks to get your passport. I guess there aren't that many people travelling to the US given the Economic Crisis and the ailing exchange rate. err.. except uhm. us.

Praise God.

A new Nicky ...

Seems like it was Nicky's big weekend last week. So far most of the posts on here have been about him (for some reason its his month, I assure you I love all my kids the same and they are all wonderful, I just blog about the things that happen).

He turned 6 on Monday, and last Saturday we celebrated his birthday. Thanks to Ben and Debs who hand- made a super fantastic Pikachu birthday cake for him (he said it was the best cake he's ever had in his life). I'll do a quick plug for Ben and Debbie Loke right here because they are able to make the most wonderful custom cakes, just email me or write in the comments section and i'll happily pass you their contact details. 

Nicky's got the best friends. His aunty makes custom Pikachu cakes, and his Dad used to work with a Clown! Thanks Barry for the most hilarious clown/magic act I've seen in a long while. Here's another plug for one of my friends. Squirt the clown is the best clown/magician party act in Melbourne bar none (and as a kids pastor and dad of 3 kids, I've seen quite a few). If you'd like him to perform at your party, contact me. wow. I'm going to have to sell advertising spots on my blog at this rate. Anyways, thanks Barry, you're a champ!

On Monday, Nicky not only turned 6, he got glasses! Here's a shot of him with his brand new specs. Another testimony flew our way, when we went to pick up the specs. Turns out the glasses company accidently gave nicky a $75 special non-reflective coating on his glasses (something we didn't opt for because of price), and because it was their mistake, they didn't charge us for it (happy birthday nicky! :))

He picked up his Wall-E toy, and two Nerf guns for his birthday present (great deal for $10 each), and went with us for a family birthday dinner. You're on your way to being a big boy now Nick! 6 years old, glasses and a new start in Chicago. I pray that God will lead you in your journey to grow in His maturity.

Dad

Family Summer Fun

Just a quick post to say that my family (Rachel, Nicky and Grace) are soaking in the last few bits of Aussie summer sun before we scoot off to the US for a year. Just sat down and finished filling up at least 20 pages of forms for our Visa Appointment on Monday. It's going to be close, getting the visa in time for us to make our pre-booked flights. I fly off on the 3rd of December and the rest of the family go on the 10th.

All our weekends and nights are fully booked from now on. 

Fri: Speaking at fungus (highschool) tonight. 

Sat: Nicky's 6 yo birthday party, engagement party (FGA member), Young Adults Special Meeting.

Sun: Two services, Marriage Counselling, Dinner with Ps. Tim Goh (and fiancé) 

Mon: Visa interview, eye checks, super birthday dinner for Nicky (its his actual birthday)

Tues: Staff Meet, YWAM contract re-negotiation, Vision Team and Board meeting, dinner with U. Leong

Wed ... it goes on.

Pray for us, that we'll make it through the visa application (and the hectic schedule) in one piece.

Bad news + good timing = testimony

We just found out that our son Nicky (5 years old) is legally blind in one eye.

Nicky has been getting occasional night seizures (probably 2-3 times a year) and so we finally got to the stage of taking him to a paediatric neurologist (who diagnosed him with benign focal epilepsy in children .. something not as scary as it sounds and possibly something he can grow out of). As part of the consult, the doctor did a routine eye check, and we discovered Nicky couldn't really see well from his left eye.

The thing that is really amazing about this is that there was absolutely NO sign at all that Nicky had a problem with his eye. He catches well, reads well and even aces computer games ;)

Its great news that we caught this early because after 8, the eye stops growing. God's hand-prints are all over this situation, and its a great testimony. Nicky is getting funky new glasses, undergoing drop treatment for his eye and now has a fighting chance of tackling this issue before it becomes too late to do anything. Praise God.

Starting the blogging habit

I've always admired people who develop great habits. They make doing really incredible things so easy! The thing with a good habit is that after a while you begin to see pretty amazing results. Over time it gets easier and easier, and the result gets better and better. I'm never going to start an exercising habit, but I've seen guys who regularly go to the gym or run ... man are they toned. My personal experience with this is giving up SOFT DRINKS. Crazy I know, but I'm getting older, and I had to choose between doing actual exercise and cutting out something from my very unhealthy eating routine.

Anyway, since January of this year, I haven't touched a single can of coke. I was downing a minimum of a can of coke a day (sometimes two) for the last .. i dunno 15 years. They say you have to jog for a few kilometres just to burn the fat from a can of coke. Well, there you go. I'm jogging every day now (from the fat i'm not consuming and not burning off. A real short cut to the whole process.

At the start, it was ridiculously hard. Every meal tasted bland. I couldn't believe how hard it was (mmm. at Maccas and other fast food places) to get a drink that wasn't a soft drink. And, I desperately craved the refreshing taste of coca cola. But soon, days became weeks and weeks became months. And within a couple of months, I went down 2 waist sizes. Crazy.

Rituals, habits, systems, methods ... have been getting a bad rap at Church. Way too closely linked to the Catholic Church or other forms of "High Religion", where we HAVE to do certain things because they are good for us. Most of us over time forget the real reason why we do some things, and then we're just left with .. oh, my mum's nagging me, or arrgh, I said I'd do it so I have to. However, I'm keen to give habits a fair go.

We're (and by we I mean the senior leadership of FGA Melbourne) are planning to bring back journalling habits to our church next year as part of our ASSIST theme. For so long, we have been focussing on intent and motivation as the main drivers of change. However, we keep meeting people (myself included in this) who are always high on intention to read the Bible and pray, but somewhere between the wanting to do it and the doing it .. something gets in the way.

i guess that's why the personal trainer business is growing so fast. We lack the discipline to get a habit going, so we pay someone to start it for us. Good for them.

Good habits are hard to form, but they are amazing when it comes to getting returns. Do something again and again, day after day, and pretty much a year will pass you'll be changed because of it.

So, today I'm starting a new habit. I'm journalling my thoughts, and I'm starting a blog. Our family is heading to Chicago next month and I thought i'd share my journey with everyone who is reading this.

Please feel free to write comments and messages. And please, stay in touch.