Mabinogi: Fantasy Life to Reality

My character in Mabinogi

When I was a kid I loved going to the homes of other church members' houses in order to watch the children play video games. Not owning a console of my own and being forever too shy to take people up on their offers when they asked if I wanted to play I actually almost never played video games when I was younger. But nevertheless those games fascinated me. I could spend hours just watching over people play. Even after they got tired of playing I still silently willed them to go on. You see, the characters captivated me. The worlds fascinated me. I was transported to somewhere I could only reach in my dreams. A fantasy life that always eluded me in reality.

During my freshman year in high school I got my first video game handheld. A gameboy advance sp. I was ecstatic. At the time I told my brother that it was the first step. Having worked many months to convince my parents to first allow me and my brother to have the gameboy and then secondly to convince them to purchase it for us, I felt as if I had just bypassed a milestone. I believed that from there on out the rest of the consoles would line up to meet me and their games would soon be my prized possessions. I was right. It wasn't long before we received a gamecube for Christmas and then my brother purchased a ps2 from a mutual friend. Around the same time, I began to take computer animation courses at my high school. My imagination flared and went wild. I was dreaming, but I was wide awake. It was then with all those games available to me and my teacher's encouragement that I discovered my passion as if for the first time. I wanted to make games. I wanted to make my fantasy life become real.

Fast forward a couple of years and through all the following roadblocks:

• My mom told me to go for it, but to use it for God (aka. make Christian games)
• I told her she was crazy and then changed my mind. Today I'm probably one of the strongest advocates for Christian gaming you'll meet
• I didn't get into USC my GeorgeLucasWentHereSoTheirAnimationProgramMustBeBallerDreamSchool
• I decided to attend UCLA, entering as a computer science major instead
• I completely and utterly failed at being a programmer
• After two very painful quarters at UCLA and the lowest gpa imaginable I switched majors
• I thought I couldn't make games anymore after switching to be an English major
• God proved me wrong...very very wrong

and this is where I am today:

• I currently am writing a fantasy novel for Lamplight Media LLC. a Christian entertainment company who is gunning for releasing a Christian computer game in the near future
• I have a volunteer position as a Quest Writer for Heaven's Blessings Tiny Zoo a Christian video game company who has already released one computer game and is working on their next: Visions, a historical mmorpg
• Yesterday I received a call from Nexon America LLC. Guess who's going to be their new editorial intern? Yes that's right. Me.

Who would have thought. I remember distinctly turning my future over to God on a Thursday night on campus as I listened to a message. I knew that at that point there was nothing else I could do. I had dreamed of reality my whole life, but it wasn't until I let go of it that it appeared again right in front of me, as if that's all I had to do all along...because of course, it was. 

I just wanted to shout out a thank you to everyone who prayed for me, not just for this recent internship decision but for everything. I would never have gotten here without all your support and encouragement and I'm hoping I can count on all of you, in all the years to come, as He continues to make our wildest dreams a reality. 

Take a moment today to reflect on how far he's brought you and then drink in the joy. Cheers!

[ps. thanks to shivate, taevas, jwow, and Qranberry for playing with me!]