Supernova LIFE Group 2008-2009

City Serve 4-19-2009

2009-04-19T17:14:00.003-05:00

Today, Supernova was supposed to bring a bunch of stuff to this house reserved for a Nepali refugee family and set their house up. Unfortunately, we got lost on the way and circled around Lake Shore and went back and forth between Chicago and Evanston approximately 532 times. So in the end, we just dropped the stuff off and went to have lunch at Indiatown. Most of us stuffed ourselves at this Indian buffet, and we managed to squeeze free beverages out of the restaurant!

You might find this funny. Courtesy of NotAlwaysRight.com:

Tech Support: “All right…now double-click on the File Manager icon.”

Customer: “That’s why I hate this ‘Windows’–because of the icons–I’m a Protestant, and I don’t believe in icons.”

Tech Support: “Well, that’s just an industry term sir. I don’t believe it was meant to-”

Customer: “I don’t care about any ‘industry terms’. I don’t believe in icons.”

Tech Support: “Well…why don’t you click on the ‘little picture’ of a file cabinet…it’s a ‘little picture’, okay?”

Customer: *hangs up*

LIFE Group 4.15.2009

2009-04-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

Last night we had a great LIFE group gathering at Penny's apartment, where we ate brownies and strawberries (yum!) and had a very great discussion about faith, deeds, and even the hardening of the Pharaoh's heart. We are looking forward to City Serve this Sunday!!

If anyone has prayer requests, please post them!

Welcome Spring Quarter!

2009-04-01T21:34:00.002-05:00

Today was the first Life Group of spring quarter, we met in the Kemper lounge and had a great time sharing about our various spring break experiences and also looking forward to the rest of this quarter. We want to finish strong and on a high note! Hannah passed back the letters that we wrote to ourselves earlier this year, back on 10/22/2008, almost half a year ago, and many of us were surprised by how much we have/have not changed since then.

Things to look forward to and pray for:
1) our own themes for this upcoming quarter like discernment, engage, finish strong, love, don't forget God, humility, witnessing, get out.
2) The upcoming all-night prayer night this Friday.
3) Witnessing to our dorm mates next Wednesday! (baking perhaps?)

Lifegroup March 18, 2009

2009-03-19T23:35:00.002-05:00

This was the last Lifegroup for the winter quarter. Byron came to join us! We walked to Stacy's house and had grilled cheese and bacon sandwich, dumplings, tomato soup, and root beer float. We talked about Northwestern and stuff... and Albert forced most of us to this sports thing and whoever wins gets a free meal...?? Later, we disbanded.

Have a great spring break everyone! Good luck to those on the mission trip!

Lent

2009-03-03T13:59:00.004-06:00

Hey guys, just wanted to share with you that I am giving up TV shows for Lent this year. That includes watching TV leisurely as well, especially watching sports highlights or games on television (I'm going to allow movies for now). To give you an idea of how this has consumed a lot of time in my life, below is a list of TV shows I was up to date with at one point in time since my JUNIOR year of high school:

Battlestar Galactica, 24, The Office, Friday Night Lights, House, Lost, Veronica Mars, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, Heroes, One Tree Hill, Prison Break, Grey's Anatomy, Family Guy, The Unit, Las Vegas, Numb3rs, Bones, Eureka, Jericho, October Road.

Since then, I've given up at least 80% of these shows, however I still ended up spending 4-5 hours a week keeping up to date with my favorite ones.

One thing that I wanted to do was to watch each episode with a group of people from my floor every week, and during Fall Quarter, this happened quite a lot, which was great for community and to give each of us something to talk about. But since then, less people have joined me in my room to watch the weekly House episode or the Office episode, and I ended up watching these shows by myself.

So during ACCESS on Friday, I thought it would be a good idea to give up another facet of entertainment in my life (last year, it was video games and computer games).

During these 40 or so days, I hope to spend those hours I would've spent on a television show by meditating on the Lord and His Word. I also hope that after this Lenten season is over, that my focus on TV shows would greatly diminish, as well as the time I spend on them per week. Most of all, I want to redirect my desire for earthly things and possessions, and place that focus towards God, our LIFE group, people, studies, etc. Please pray for me during these times =).

Lifegroup 2-25-2009

2009-02-25T22:45:00.004-06:00

Today, we all plotted a special type of graph: level of exuberance or spirituality (spiritons) as a function of time. Everyone had a nice curve for their function, whether it be piecewise smooth, high curvature, linear, exponential, logarithmic, asymptotic, undefined at certain intervals of the domain, or just plainly has a high positive y-intercept. We've all had our local and absolute minima and maxima, but let's hope that the graph of our entire life turns out to be concave up in its entirety with a high positive value for the first-order and second-order derivatives for the most part and near the end. Life is not a state function, so let's give everything we have got along every infinitesmal segment of our arc lengths.

Broomball

2009-02-22T23:42:00.000-06:00

GO SUPERNOVA! SECOND PLACE!

Daniel 3

2009-02-19T19:58:00.002-06:00

At yesterday's LIFE Group we went over Daniel 3. We discussed the distinction between how King Nebby, the people, and Rack, Shack, and Benny viewed worship and reacted to the gold idol. After our discussion we prayed together, and then spent a long while discussing the rules and strategies of BROOMBALL. The annual broomball tournament is coming up this Saturday and Hannah/Albert are getting rather excited about it!!

Later at night we gave Teddy a birthday cake. He declared it the best cake that he's had yet, and I totally agree (good choice, Penny. Berries & cream, it was delicious). Happy 19th birthday Teddy!

2009-02-15T14:20:00.002-06:00

hi supernovians! please pray for me...not to be critical and judgmental of people, and to know how to love people around me. i'm struggling with that lately, and i just get to the point where i'm unsure of what it means to "love" anymore...

i think sometimes i force myself too hard to do the "right" things, without keeping in mind it's God's love for me that should motivate me to love and care for others.

thanks!

-p

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T22:39:00.002-06:00

THE STORY OF SUPERNOVA VALENTINE'S DAY:

Hannah told the girls we would have a "surprise" at 6 PM. So at 6:10 PM she parked on a random street, telling me, Chrissy, Stacy, and Grace that we had to walk to her house. She ended up bringing us to a Thai restaurant instead. At which point we accepted the "surprise" to be Hannah treating us to dinner.

BUT! As we walked to the back of the restaurant, we saw all the Supernova guys there, dressed up in matching shirts. They immediately stood up, pulled out our chairs for us, and offered to take our coats. Behind our menus they had hidden Ghiradelli chocolates for us. And they poured our water.

Thanks guys!! It was a huge blessing. =D Happy Valentine's Day everyone! <3

LIFE Group Recap 2/11/09

2009-02-11T22:48:00.003-06:00

Today we started off LIFE group with two very intense matches of the couch game. The "wise" team won the first time, and then the guys won the second time. We then went into a topical Bible study about suffering that included verses like James 1:1-4, Romans 5:3-4, 2 Corinthians 7:10, and Luke 9:23-24.

We should rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance, maturity, character, and hope! Also, we know that all our hardships are really acts of discipline from God, and God only does this because He loves us so much. Praise the Lord!

After LIFE group some of us went to the churchwide prayer meeting at Chambers Hall where we got the opportunity to spend 40 minutes in personal prayer before praying with others. =)

Also, we had a great time eating at Argyle last Friday when there was no Access. Yay for pho and Bible tripe and invading the Free Radicals party!

Any prayer requests? Please post!

Summary LIFE group 2/4/09

2009-02-04T21:15:00.004-06:00

Inductive Bible Study on Galatians 5:16-6:10

Pride often hinders us from developing deeper relationships with others.
We must learn to restore others gently, and move from secondary relationships to primary relationships. If you can confront a friend about a relationship, then you are already moving into the level of primary relationships.

Ground yourself! Develop selflessness and humility, and view relationships with others (and time spent in LIFE group) as an investment.

A different perspective... Galatians 6:1-3 from The Message
"If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived."

REAL
Rewarding
Edifying
Accountability(ing)
Loving

Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for Hannah as she travels to Ann Arbor this Friday night to speak about eating disorders with the women of HMCC Ann Arbor.
2. Pray for your fellow LIFE group members as we step up to become more actively involved in the running of our own group. Go Supernova!

PRs

2009-01-25T18:11:00.003-06:00

Desiring God:

I came across this during devos a few days ago and it's something that I've been praying for -- Ezekiel 11:19-20: "'I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.'"

Being responsible for the things that God has given me, in the area of my studies:

Proverbs 21:31: "The horse is made ready for battle, but victory rests with the Lord."

Although ultimately, "victory [doing well in school] rests with the Lord," the horse still needs to be made ready for battle (I still need to be a good student, study, and try my best). Right now, I'm struggling more with getting the horse ready for battle.

Martha/Mary/Nancy:

My attitude towards Nancy (2nd fl, CCI) is more like that of Martha's (Luke 10:38-42). My heart is not in developing a more solid friendship with Nancy and caring for her salvation as a friend would; "reaching out" to Nancy is done more so out of obligation that she is my hall-mate. My prayer request is to actually care for her as a person (not just the spiritual aspect) and joyfully invest time and energy into our relationship.

My Prayer Request

2009-01-21T13:19:00.003-06:00

Thanks for sharing your prayer requests everyone!! I'll be praying for you:

Here are my prayer requests:

Greater Dependence on God - Learning how to really lean on God and to be able to trust in His wisdom/guidance/help.

Transitioning - As I go through another transition this summer (moving back to Ann Arbor) pray that I will trust in the Lord and also be obedient to his voice.

Prayer Request

2009-01-20T17:46:00.003-06:00

To integrate devotion into daily life (Bible reading + prayer), give more time to God - this I must word hard on
To be a better steward of time: no wasting time, get work done beforehand, etc. - time is a gift from God ("The Parable of the Talents" from Matthew 25:14-30)
To earnestly put in practice what I learn, whether from Lifegroup, the retreat etc. and encourage others to do the same

Prayer Requests

2009-01-20T16:48:00.002-06:00

1) Obedience and submission to God. Learning that obedience to God may mean abandoning my personal plans or calculations, and that obedience may also come at a cost to other people.

2) Loving others. My family, my brothers and sisters in Christ, those who I might not get along with. God's love transcends all circumstances and conditions and I'm praying that God would teach me to love like Him.

3) More prayer! Alone, with others, morning, night, whenever, wherever. Also to pray in full faith, knowing that God will do amazing things that glorify Him, and also that I would have longer and more effective prayers.

Prayer Request

2009-01-17T11:17:00.002-06:00

My prayer request for this quarter is to be able to pray more openly and honestly to God. Sometimes it feels like I'm not sure what to pray to God about and it sometimes feels like it gets repetitive because I'm always praying for the same things, but during the Awakening movement I hope that through constant praying that I'll be able to communicate with God better.

My next two prayer requests are kind of related. They are to strengthen core relationships and to get to know more people who are not Christians yet. I hope to do this by spending less time alone and more time getting to know people.

2009 Prayer Request

2009-01-16T08:22:00.002-06:00

During the Awakening movement I want to ask God to help me to really manage my time well. It feels like I'm still on winter break, so I don't feel any motivation to do homework, study for class, read the Bible, etc. We only have 24 hours in a day and certain amount of days to live, and we don't know when it could be our die to move on from this life on Earth. I pray that God will help me to make use of the precious time here and to have His will be done in me.
I would also like to pray that I would better understand the passages that I read in the Bible. I want to be able to find the messages that He is giving to us instead of reading the Bible just to say that I did. I want to be more knowledgeable in the Word so I can apply it to my life.
My third request is for my brother. I pray that he will realize that things don't come easily in life, that it's going to require him to work hard. For him right now it's school, and I pray that he would become more focused, become more disciplined in his studies and not let other things distract him from that (internet, texting, recently acquired girlfriend, etc.). I also pray that he will learn to love the Lord more, that he will seek the Lord in his daily life.

Prayer Request

2009-01-15T11:15:00.002-06:00

My prayer request for this quarter is to develop a prayer life, such that daily extended prayer becomes an integral part of my life (aka: I can't go to sleep at night without having that extended prayer time).

God has been pressing into my heart the importance of prayer and this huge desire and need to pray since I came to Northwestern. I now have a prayer journal, where I write down every person that I need to pray for, all the things on my mind, and it has helped me to organize my prayers and be able to pray for more things. (So hurry and put your prayer requests up so I can add that to my prayer journal!!!)

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:18

quick update

2008-12-27T19:46:00.007-06:00

Hi Everyone,
Hope you're all doing well! I miss you all very much. I have some updates in the technology realm. My dad is going to purchase a new mac (one of those need dual core ones) and he is giving me his old fifteen inch power book) hurrah! I am more of a mac person than I am a PC though I have gotten strangely attached to my thinkpad. Anyways in formatting the sweet ipod nano that y'all gave me for my birthday to the powerbook, I ran into a lot of glitches. I'm still working hard at trying to hear all the neat songs you've donated to me on the flash drive. It's the gift that keeps on giving. I'm thinking by the end of the year, I'll finally have my nano up and running. As you may have guessed I'm not necessarily having the most "spiritual" of vacations, particularly if my main update has to do with macs and nanos. note to self:) nonetheless, in the spirit of sharing what I've been reflecting on or learning - i'm just learning how great it is to "just be" whether it is spending time with the family, catching up on sleep, watching old reruns of Veronica Mars (don't ask) or fiddling with technology. one particularly sweet tradition we've developed is going to Saddleback for Christmas Eve. usually they have a candle lighting at the end of the service which is a real high light for me.

Hannah

from 852

2008-12-26T02:43:00.003-06:00

hi everyone, just wanted to say merry christmas and to let y'all know i'm still alive and thinking of you guys!

Rewind and replay

2008-12-22T18:21:00.006-06:00

Wow, I've been home for a week! o.O
Today, I was thinking about how God has been showing me the same things over and over again this past quarter (and in life, in general). It's kind of like math class; every year, I learn the same things. For example, calculus is pretty much differentiation and integration and so every calculus class goes over differentiating and integrating. The thing is though, every time the math gets a bit more in-depth. First there was calculus with one variable, then with two variables, then with three variables ...then I stopped taking calc, haha. In a similar way, God keeps teaching me the same lessons, but each time, I feel like I'm taking one step further back and seeing the bigger picture a bit more and "getting it" a bit more.

Some things God has been showing me:

I am a sinner (like everyone else) - Consequently, I am not in any way better than any one else and do not have the right to condemn others. [John 8:3-11]

Love = obedience - At one point in time these past months, I was doubting what love meant and whether or not I loved God. A friend of mine told me to look up John 14:21: "21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

I do not understand grace - This past quarter, I have been "rationalizing" that I am not forgiving other people because I do not understand God's grace, yet, but once I finally do fully understand it, then I can forgive. I still do not understand it, but I think that's the whole point. God's grace is greater than anything that any human can comprehend because He is an infinite God and we are merely finite beings.

Hong Kong --> Irvine, CA

2008-12-19T23:10:00.005-06:00

Hey all,

Just wanted to check in with you and let you know what I've been up to since we all left Evanston. Going back home to Hong Kong was good, as it was good to see parents and catch up with friends as always. Somehow though, it didn't quite have the same effect as when I came home last year. After the first Fall Quarter I had during freshman year, going home seemed so surreal. It was like I had spent years away from Hong Kong with all its skyscrapers and the rush of the cosmopolitan life. I remember going down the roads of Causeway Bay (Chicago analogy: Michigan Avenue) with my friends, and it seemed like we were decades older then. This time, it seemed like I was home only yesterday. I did the same routines of seeing some of my good friends, and we did the same things like going to someone's house and playing Xbox, or playing basketball, or sitting in Starbucks doing nothing but chatting. However, there isn't the same sort of "I can't believe I'm home" feeling. Maybe I'm getting old. Or insensitive.

Grace and I got a chance to have lunch with Mr. Thompson, our old middle school teacher and friend, who is now married with a 3-month old boy named Jack (HE'S SO CUTE.) She shared about her extreme happiness and the place she found at NU, while I shared about HMCC and Access, as well as my experiences co-leading a LIFE group.

I also got to have dinner with my former youth pastor. Last time I had met him during the summer, there were real needs in the youth group ministry at our church, as many of the students were not connected well with one another, be it different schools or lack of interest in community at church. During dinner, I got to hear new developments from my youth pastor, that they have been doing a better job of bringing together the youth through prayer boxes and meetings, as well as movie nights and BNO/GNOs (boys night out, girls night out). My youth pastor has a newfound vision for the youth that I used to be a part of before going off to college, and it is our hope that they will develop a weekly youth group in addition to hangouts and Sundays, kind of like our ACCESS to our Sunday Celebrations.

I would like to really be able to reflect the past quarter with my parents especially. I am sharing with them my experiences as a first-time LIFE group co-leader, the challenges and the joys of leading and serving you guys. My mom is a full-time minister at our church back home, and she has the dream of serving in mainland China by reaching out to Chinese scholars (she spent a week in Shanghai a few weeks ago). She has a lot of experience, and is a warrior of prayer, and I have taken that for granted for 20 years of my life.

Overall, while this is a time for me to pause in my studies, I do not want to be complacent in my walk with the Lord. I want to be able to come back to Winter Quarter ready and willing to serve, as well as continue application in my life by learning from the mistakes I have made during Fall Quarter.

In terms of prayer, I would just like to you guys to pray that I be humble and vulnerable these next few weeks in reflection of struggles and mistakes the past quarter. My mom has been my spiritual mentor for my whole life now, and I will need prayer in order to truly open up to her and take her advice. I also would like to take this time to pray fervently for each and every one of you as you continue your journeys.

Sorry for such a long post, but take care of yourselves guys! Whatever you are going through right now, continue depending on the Lord's guidance, and let's all rejoice the birth of Jesus as Christmas is just around the corner!

What's happenin' in Ohio

2008-12-17T21:29:00.002-06:00

Hello all. I am freezing in Columbus, Ohio, and I decided it was time to update on my life! So far break has been really busy. I have been out spending time with my church friends, sleepovers, shopping like crazy (I haven't purchased much though... it's just that the only thing to do in Ohio is to visit stores), worship practices, and spending time with my family. I haven't had much time to just sit and take a breath, and this is the first time this week that I've finally forced myself to sit and reflect and journal a bit. I'm really happy to see all my friends again, tomorrow I'm visiting my high school, which I'm sure will be a lovely trip down memory lane.

I do have a prayer request... on Dec 27 - Jan 1 I am attending my Youth Group Winter Retreat, and I am singing on the worship team. We have practices twice a week, and we are slowly but steadily trying to improve, so please pray that we can be unified as a team and really learn to WORSHIP God during our practices and when we play, as opposed to just "playing music."

I am 95% certain that I'll be going on the Spring Break mission trip, my mom just hasn't given the full out "GO FOR IT" sign of approval yet. I'm still praying for that!

I miss you all!! I definitely feel like I'm missing this huge part of my life, which would be NORTHWESTERN PEOPLE. You guys should write posts too. =P

On Christmas

2008-12-13T09:50:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,
I hope you're all doing well! We just had our Christmas party last night at my place. It was "different" in the sense that we had a good handful of visitors come and play with us - Jen, Pup and Christina. I admit that it was a bit rushed on my end because I had to attend a work function straight afterwards and didn't get to REALLY hang out with the group. Needless to say, I had fun eating chicken shack and just enjoying the crazy gifts we were able to give to each other. To those of you who jetted out and left for home, we missed you!!! I hope that you'll continue to stay in touch through this blog as much as possible throughout the break. Keep your relationship with God alive and give me an email or call if you want to chat!
Hannah

Home Sweet Home

2008-12-08T16:59:00.000-06:00

Hey Supernova!

I thought it would be a good idea to start up this blog so that we could keep in touch with the group as a whole during the Christmas break, and see how everyone is doing, if we're not able to call or facebook or chat with one another.

Feel free to post any random things that you have been doing during the winter break, prayer requests, praises, how your spiritual life is going, and just what you've been doing with your time. You can use this blog to spur one another on, and also share about your life back at home.

I put this up a bit earlier just so people can vent about their finals if they want to, haha. Here's to a wonderful, relaxing winter break for everyone in our LIFE group! Good luck with your finals (or projects) and let's continue being in prayer for one another and our campus!