10 Days, 2 Hours, 35 Minutes, and 00 Seconds

Graduation approaching.

Dad has been putting together "daily" reports on how things are going. To read them go to:
http://biang.pbwiki.com/VirginiaUpdates
Password: alpine

And if you have time, check out the Biang pure fun page and play Bob's game. It's a blast.

This past year has easily been the hardest year of my life, especially the last 4 months. There has just been a huge amount of things that God has brought into my life and things He has brought to attention in my life that needed to be taken care of. He's taught me to pray... often, and to trust Him in more circumstances than I thought I need to trust him in. God is good. I'm not going to go into the trials I've been going through, but I'm just glad that God is looking out for me, because if he wasn't, I'd been in big trouble.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Also, if anyone happens to run into Rex Grossman, tell him I have some superglue to help hime hold onto that football.

Well, I'll be praying that God uses this conference to touch the lives of the students (and former students) in attendance. Pray that God uses me and my conversations this coming weekend to testify to our great God.

Thanks, that's all for now.

1) The Nasenex Bee: I really hate him. He sounds to much like Antonio Banderas, and just isn't funny or cool. He's just creepy. I want to swat him so bad, but the TV screen gets in the way each time.

And, of Course

2) The Burger King King: I only need to say one thing... "Wake up with the King!" AGHHHHHH! Someone get me some mace.

So, what else is there? Who boils your blood every time you see them advertising their product? What characters just make you grind your teeth with fear at night, knowing that once you slip into unconsciousness you may very well be visited by them? Any thoughts?

God, call my bluff. Put me in situations where I can't run, or at least I would not dare to try. I feel like I don't have any support right know. I know where I need to be, but I'm unwilling to go there by myself. I need to give my whole life to you. I don't want you to just be part of my life; I want you to BE my life. I want to live totally and completely devoted to you, but I'm so afraid that I'll be alone in this new place and it will be dark there. Lord, Show me who to follow. Open my eyes to the examples in the church that are truly following after you with their whole heart, because right now I must be blind to them because I don't see them. Where did my faith go? I feel like I was doing so well at the beginning of the summer, but at the end of SALT, I felt like a shipwreck. Where are you God? Where must I go to follow you? What am I missing? Where is the wrong in my thoughts; because I know it's there somewhere, but I can't identify the root? Why can't I give up my life? It's as if I'm Your child, holy and new, but I am trying to hold on to the rotting ball of decay that is my "life." I hold on to the things I want to do and try to pretend like I'm not doing anything wrong, but that it's ok for me to live this way.

Lord show me your way, and help me run after you, again.

Tom Biang
8/28/06

"Though none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back. No turning back."

"Doubt sees the obstacle, Faith sees the way!
Doubt sees the darkest night, Faith sees the Day!
Doubt dreads to take a step, Faith soars on High:
Doubt questions, 'Who believes?' Faith answers, 'I.'"
-Author Unknown

2.) I know this is old news, but I just think it's really funny. NASA wanted to find out what comets where really made out of, so they came up with the "Deep Impact" project. I'm pretty sure that the planning meeting went something like this:

NASA Head Researcher - "Hey, I wonder what comets are made out of. Let's figure out how to get some chunks to break off"
Researcher Guy #1 - "I know! Let’s ram it really hard with a refrigerator and see what happens!"

This doesn't sound like a very scientific approach to me, but I guess it worked. I'm sure that it was a man who came up with this idea, because I don't know any female scientists who would suggest smashing things together in order to see what happens. I wonder if they got any video clips.

I guess God is trying to teach me something also. Since I am so wet, I tried to venture inside to find a dry place to sit and wait out the remainder of my 5 hour interclass period. The only problem is that this university is owned by a bunch of Eskimos or something, and they like to keep the temperature at a balmy 50 deg F (I may be exaggerating). I finally found one hallway that is kept really warm, and that even has some couches in it. Of course, I take the first opportunity to sit down and take off my shoes. Not three minutes later, the security officers come in and tell everyone that they need to evacuate the building due to a gas leak. Great. Now, I'm back in the chilly computer lab (is that an oxymoron?) with nowhere warm to go. Oh well.

Except I have a new friend in Chicago :)

Welcome Peter Lammers to the Glen Arbor Crew!

Anyway, I can't wait to get back to Chicago and throw myself into the SALT progam. I've been asking God to bless the rest of the SALTers in my return. I just pray that I'll be as much of an encouragement to them as they will be to me.

I am GREATLY looking forward to beeing back with like-minded people who are all driven by one purpose. God taught me a lot of really cool things about discipline, prayer, love, and pride. I'm glad I came to Wyoming this summer, but I'll be more glad to be with my brothers and sisters back in the church.

Thanks God for keeping me going.

1.) At Field camp, each student was given (loaned) an instrument known as a Brunton Compass. It does a bunch of cool stuff and is very precise. The only problem is that it is also very expensive ($250-$350). Well, I just happened to misplace mine last Thursday afternoon, and spent the next three days worrying about it and tearing through my room and the vans looking for it. No luck. So as I starting to get really worried that I might have to replace it with the money I was going to use to pay for SALT and another field trip next semester, I think "Hey, I can trust God for this!" This is where I start to pray and tell God that I am going to believe that He will work this out for good and that I will trust that I can either find it or that I would grow from this experience, or both. So I decided no to worry about it, and just go tell my instructor what happened (which would have been the smart thing to do to begin with). He said that he hadn't seen it, but that I wouldn't be held responsible for the compass, and that I should ask our TA (who happens to have a broken foot at the moment). So I ask Brandi the TA about it, and she smiles at me and hands me a Brunton, which isn't mine (to find out what I would do in this situation, read about the case of the missing calculator). So I tell her that it isn’t mine, and she manages to produce another one, which was the right one. I am really grateful right now, not just because I found the Brunton, but also because I trusted God for it, and he came through.

2.) This one is a little more fun. I was walking and praying in Shell Creek, which runs right behind camp, and I asked God that He would show me something cool out there. As I was walking, I noticed something streaming from a rock in the water. When I looked closer, I found that it was a fishing line and lure which someone had snagged on the rock. I pulled it out and found a stick which I snugly tied it to. As I started walking back down stream, I told God that it would be really cool if I caught a fish out there. Now to set the stage a little more, I've been fishing with a lures and sticks I've found for years, but never caught anything. Also, this stream isn't very big and I hadn't seen any fish in it at all (except for a minnow). On top of this, some of the guys who are good fishermen with all the best tackle and rods have been out there every weekend and have not caught anything. So let us go back to the stream. I continued praying, and saw this deep part of the stream where the water gets really narrow and fast. Something in the back of my mind told me to cast my 7 foot line into the water, so I did. As I was pulling it back in, I hear this 'BLOOOP' noise, and I feel a tug on my line! It was a Rainbow Trout! I was really amazed as I pulled it off the hook and let it go. It was a small 8 inch trout, but just the fact that no one else had caught ANYTHING really made it cool. Thanks God!

1) The first is my physical home in the Chicago area, which I am away from. It consists of my family, which includes both my biological family, but also my spiritual one. Right now if I wasn't here at geology field camp, I would be living downtown for the SALT program with some of my closest friends. Every day that goes by, I think about this home, and what joy will fill me when I get back in two weeks. I can't wait to be with someone who actually knows me and laughs at my stupid jokes, someone I can share cool moments with. Here at camp, I see a lot of cool stuff like Yellowstone and cool geological stuff, and I do fun things like wrestle pigs and swim in the really cold creek. But these things seem empty because, even though there are people around, I long to share them with my family so that we can cherish the memory together.

"I thank God [...] as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I remember your tears, so that I may be filled with joy." - II Timothy 1:3-4

2) The second home is that which I have in Jesus Christ. Like in the story of the prodigal son, once we were lost, running from what we knew was right. But one day, we realized that there is a place where we have unconditional love. This place is our home, and the one waiting for us is Jesus, arms open, running toward us, because He truly does love us. This home is the home which keeps me going out here. I can come to this home and rest. I start getting teary eyed when I think that Jesus was not only waiting for me, but RAN to me with open arms, hugged, and called me His son.

"Oh heart of mine, come back home. You've been too long out on your own, and He's been there all along, watching for you down the road.
So come home running. His arms are open wide. His name is Jesus. He understands. He is the answer you are looking for, so come home running just as you are"
'Come Home Running' Chris Tomlin -Not to Us CD-

3) The last home is my eternal home which I long to see. Here we will be able to spend ETERNITY with the one being in the universe that is truly worthy of our worship, and we will worship all the time, singing 'Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.' It is the place where everything is good. There will be no more pain or tears, no more corruption or sin, only love. We can leave these crumbling bodies behind and receive our new spiritual bodies, which will never die. The more I think about it, the more excited I get, because the day that I get to go there is only getting closer. Not only do I want this home for myself, but I want it for all of my friends also. This is why I reach out to my friends who don't know Christ as their Savior. Thus I remain here, longing to someday be with my best friend face to face.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, mad ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, of crying, or pain; the first things have passed away"
Revelation 21:1-4

These are the thing which I consider of most value. The beautiful thing is that the absence of my family home has caused me to draw closer to the relationship I have with Christ, and to cling to Him. I still can't wait to be at home with them, but I rejoice, because when I do see them, it will be all the sweeter due to our common Lord and Savior.