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Book I'm currenty reading: Les Miserables Music I'm listening to: Essential Ella, U2 Compilation, Sarah McLaughlin Mirrorball E-mail your comments or responses :) |
Feb 11, 2002 It's been a while since I last wrote, partly cause I went home for the weekend to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family. It was soooo good to go home. I can't believe how much I missed it, but I was for sure feeling it by Friday and so anxious to go home. My dad drove me back and we got to chat a lot about school and of course all this cool projects at work, and updates on family and stuff. It's so funny how my dad get so passionate and excited about his job and water treatment project even thought it's about water treatment! I hope that I can be as excited about my job in the future. I think that's where my whole family get it.. especially me and my sister, to be excited about our work and do things that we love! My parents are so cool!! SO thankful, so thankful for them. As soon as I came home I wanted to make some chocolate banana muffins cause I promised a friend I'd bring them some, but one batch became 3 batches as I made another one for Sunday refreshments, some for my sister, and some for my grandfather! So much for my relaxing weekend of being pampered! No really I don't mind, I just don't like mashing bananas!! I so wish I had a food processor to do all the work for me!! Hee hee! I also ended up making 2 quiches for the Church Chinese New Year Potluck! Yum! So easy! I'll post the instructions on my food section. I had an awesome weekend, with so many thing to Praise God for, but also many things to start or continue lifting up to God. Most of these burdens had to do with my extended family. We're all really close. My aunt's in laws have recently gotten really sick. Her father in law had a severe stroke, and underwent surgery and for sometime things were very uncertain. For a while all he could do was blink one eye. Meanwhile during this difficult and stressful period, my aunt's mother in law had what everyone suspected must have been a small stroke, but it wasn't until she started saying bizzare things, and started to exhibit some strange behaviours that her family started to realize something was wrong. She was sent to a hospital where she was under observation. Her condition continued to progressively deteriorate as she would forget who people around her were, her blood pressure rose steadily until just a couple days ago, she had what the doctors suspect was another stroke on a much more severe level rendering her comatose. Stress in my family as well as in my aunt's family has been high, and much prayer and thought has been upon me. I also had a chance to go shopping for some birthday gifts, and had a good time to chat over some cafe latte. Banana chocolate wasn't so tasty, but the fudge brownie one was good! The company and conversation was so good!! Got some Monsieur Felix and Mr Norton cookies as my reward for my cookie fast!! YUM!! I promised to share.. so 3 went to my family and I took three!! :( It was so cool cause I got to share with my mom some of the stuff I was talking about and ask her opinion which is rare, but I'm glad that I could feel I could and wanted to share those things with her. Feb 12, 2002 But when I came to church on Sunday, I felt my burden lifted, worries about family, all brought up to God and through my worship time, my faith was restored, renewed and refilled! The songs we sang were those of simple faith, of simple declarations of His promises. "One day every tongue will confess He is God, One day every knee will bow". That was so encouraging to me amidst the struggle to show the realness of God to those around me. "How I want to be Lord just like, and all the good things that you want to do, listen to my heart Lord yes it's true" That song really mirrored the with all sincerity the words of my heart. Sunday school was good as I got to attend class with my dad. It is so amazing the things that we shared about, and even the thankfulness that he shared!! I could tell that he was struck by God's blessing in His life. He shared in the past he may have been a bit rash in saying he never experienced God's love. But in reflection he can see the blessings he has been given, that despite the over 15 years of driving back and forth to Burlington, God has watched over him, and the blessing of our family ! I thought I was going to start crying. Truly, I never ever thought that I would hear my dad say he felt God's love, and even as I type now, tears of joy run down my face and I am so touched that Jesus loves me and my family so much He is extending His hand to my dad and showing how much He loves Him and covering us with all of His love! Praise God! (ok I need a tissue). Despite the strengths and weaknesses of the Sunday school class, God is STILL using people to teach my dad and show him more about God! Praise God!! "He's my saving Grace, my endless love, my one desire, my only truth, deeper and deeper I'm falling in love with you my Lord!"
Sunday night was Church at the John and a few sauga people came up. So I invited Dan over for a chat and to catch up after the event. It was such a good time of sharing, fellowship and prayer. We got to talk about cool things that God has been teaching us and spent a lot of time in prayer along with my housemate Lon. It was truly effortless fellowship and good to see the way that God moves in the lives of my friends too. Sharing about God in our lives is so faith renewing! Praise God! Happy Birthday to my cousin Nancy today. She turns 24!! It's always nice to have her a week older then me.. it gives me a bit of time to prepare for my own impending doom as my birthday nears.. AHHHHH!!! Lucky girl gets to go on a cruise in the Caribbean.. sigh.. must be nice to have money to do fun stuff like that.. alas.. student life ...there are no such dreams. Feb 13 2002 My wednesdays are usually my day off to do research for class, but this day my group went on a trip to Kingston to visit the Penitentiary Kingston Penitentury to do some research for our project on Socioadaptive Theory and the corrections system. It was an amazing experience!! One of those experiences that changes your life and your entire perspective. I'll hopefully get more of a chance to write about that experience in my interest section. The trip took all day and I came home to some sticky rice and apple pie with my housemates and our guest for dinner Doris Yan. Good food and good company was a good way of ending a day filled with images of suffering and need. It made me see how blessed I am and the joy I have in my life. Feb 14
2002
Ah, Valentines Day. :) It was a good day. My friend Stephanie was embarrassed to death in class when a dozen red roses came for her. Then it was the mystery of the unsigned card. As suspected it was her sweetie Wil. Filled with happiness for her I came home only to find a rose for me too! It was from Nay Nay! What a sweetie eh? Housemates rock! I had a fabulous time cooking up some scalloped potatoes, baked potato, garlic bread, pitas with hummus, strawberry Jello with fresh mango and some broccoli. Nay Nay made the steak and bought the cheesecake. With our dining table brought out to the living room, the perfect floating candle display, our best china and place settings (well what we think is good) and the best company of the rest of my single housemates, we had a wonderful Valentines dinner. Dinner was so yummy, and the scalloped potatoes turned out really well especially for a first try! I think I like eating at home. Especially when it's really something fancy and special, it just more comfortable, intimate. Mind you I like eating out too.. but for Valentines, it just so crazy and busy, being home is just perfect. I think I would like cooking dinner for a couple, doing the decorations, setting the mood with music, making and serving dinner would be so great! It would just be fun to be able to do that for someone, friends or family. Hee hee.. I think I'm just a hopeless romantic at heart, or maybe I just like playing cupid. Hee hee, yeah.. just a big cheeseball! I also got a chance to talk to Serena about some of the struggles and decisions she has had to make in the area of relationships in her life recently. Praise God, because He loves her so much, He always calls her back just when she feels she doesn't have the strength. :) We were both struck by how GOOD he is to do that for her! The rest of my evening consisted of worship practice with Anita and Tony. I was kinda didn't want to go cause I had so much work, but I'm so glad I had that chance to worship God especially during Valentines Day. Somehow during worship practice, my relationship with God felt so fresh, so new, kind of like falling in love all over again. For me it mirrors my relationship with my parents, when I was young, I always felt like I loved my parents, and I knew they took care of me. Same with God. But now that I'm older I understand more, the simple and powerful sacrifices that God made for me, seems so much more powerful, in the same way, my appreciation for my earthly parents is so much greater and more meaningful now that I can see the depth and reality of their love for me. Perhaps this is a poor explanation. Never the less, I knew this night that there was no other way that I'd rather spend my Valentines, and I felt so glad that I could sing praises to my Lord, and sing of His great love for me. I am so thankful for Him! When I had a chance to share with Lon the way that God has touched me this past week, I could feel the tears fill my eyes and I thought upon and shared about the way that God has made my heart sensitive for some of the brokenness here on Earth. As I have had a chance to share with my other housemates, and even as I write now, a wave of burden fills me, my eyes fill and I can't help but feel compassion. How Deep the Father's Love for Us (Stuart Townend) How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, That He would give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure How
great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away, As wounds which mar the chosen one, brings many sons to glory. Behold
the Man upon a cross, my guilt upon His shoulders, Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice, call out among the scoffers It
was my sin that held Him there, until it was accomplished His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished I
will not boast in anything, no gifts, no pow'r no wisdom But I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection Why
should I gain from His reward, I cannot give an answer But
this I know with ALL my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom Feb 15 2002 I had a great time at lunch with Zack who is my dearest friend Wendy's boyfriend. I came home looking like I robbed a candy store as he gave me a huge bag of candy! YUM! I'm going to get fat for sure now! I also had a chance to share with Steve the cool things that I have been thinking of and things to continue to pray for me as I wait on the Lord and ask Him for answers to my questions. What a blessing my housemates are!! Yay Steve!! He washed the floors and even the wooden ridges that were yucky hee hee.. ok he's gonna kill me now.. thanks Steve! You rock. Sunday me and Nay Nay are going to church cause we're the only two people left in the house! Feb 18 2002 It's been hard keeping up with this journal especially with my presentation today and spending all weekend preparing for it. I love sharing all the good things God has done, and I feel I have even more exciting and amazing things to share. I'm just so happy and so thankful for the wonderful things and people God has given to me. I'm sure I'll share more about this later, just not now. Jan 17 2002 Where do I even begin.. this whole web page things is all new to me. Usually it's my sister who is the tech geek but here I am, creating a web page. It's like anything, seems scary till you try it, then you realize how incredibly easy it is! So here I am sitting at my computer listening to old cheesy songs as I always do and thinking of how to describe who I am, and what is the essence of Karen so I can make a web page that can show it. Just today during class we were talking about play and leisure in the context of occupational therapy. And one of the case studies was about someone with lupus. So we went through and looked at therapeutic interventions and assessments.. the typical academic stuff. But on the forefront of my mind was a girl by the name of Janet. A good friend of Vince's who has lupus. It's like when you know you have the ability to help people and make their lives happier, more meaningful, you find the drive to heal. Maybe it's just a health professional thing, but that's what makes OT real to me, or maybe it's just an unquenchable desire to make people happy. Do you ever feel like things weren't meant to be the way they are in your life, like there is so much more that is intended in this world, in this life. That's how I've been feeling lately. Like "I still haven't found what I'm looking for". Maybe it's my idealistic side and I'm sure tons of people would tell me to stop dreaming and fix my feet on the ground. But how can I not hope for so much more, and believe that the dreams and ideals that I have in my head are good things and they're there planted in my head for a reason. The hard part isn't just convincing myself that the world can change and can be a better place, but that I can have the potential to be a better person. That I can believe that for myself, that all the things that I aspire to be, a woman who loves God whole heartedly and would give anything to bring Him glory, that I could be that person. That the dreams and visions don't fade but that I'll be determined to chase after them, pursing them with reckless abandon. Quote of the Day: "How long until you defend your name and set the record right -Chris Rice
Check this out. This is my friend Allen Ye's site. It has MP3s of me singing at church over Christmas. Mind you this is live recording, so don't' mind all the off tuneyness! http://www.geocities.com/threefore/ Jan 20 2002 Back from the conference. One thing I can say for sure, is I got lots of time to do some reading on one of my favorite books. Becoming Human by Jean Vanier. This book is an incredible example of keeping your life non-compartmentalized rather integrating the example of God into every belief, every situation and all that you know about humankind. I started off reading this book years ago, but threw it aside when I had a hard time believing that who he was writing about was me. All those longing, those dreams for the most idea kind of love and sense of belonging. I'm not just talking about the romantic kind of love, but the kind of love and acceptance that comes from being in a community that embraces and is inclusive rather than exclusive. Excerpts from the book to come soon. In addition, I got a chance to learn about some stuff about OT too and meet some OT's from other schools. It was awesome to see my good friend Isabel who goes to UT. I got a chance to meet up with some Ottawa people too, but one of the most momentous events was talking to Clara Ng. I've been learning and seeing so much of the amazing way God has been faithful to the ACF in Guelph. When I was a frosh, there were very strong role models for me to develop my ideals and goals to be a woman of God who loves the Lord. Clara was definitely one of them who always made me feel accepted, like I belonged and cared for me when I felt lost in the world of secularism in res life. In the same way, some of my peers were Michelle who challenged me and serve with me as a faithful sister in Christ to brave the campus together for God's glory. In the same way I have become a testimony of what it meant to love God and serve Him whole heartedly in my last couple years on camps leading to Wendy and Ariane leading others in the fellowship right now in Guelph. When I look at how much they love God and are so faithful and devoted to Him, I see the legacy of faithful servants and the perfect and complete plan that God has so meticulously sketched and woven through each of us. Soooo much more to share and so little time to write the great and wonderful things that God has done. :) But for now I have a million things I need to do. Praise God for all the good things that I have to tell! I had such wonderful chats with two friends yesterday. I was so encouraged. Sometimes God places in my life these gifts to bring a little light into my life. Albert Woo is one of those people. He came by to chat with me about a vision that I have been having in the area of having compassion for the poor. One day I'll post my ramblings and rough ideas about the project. I send him the document and he came by to share ideas. We ended up having a great talk about our visions and passions and the injustices that we see at our churches and the frustrations that we feel at the apathy. But at the same time it was so good not to feel alone in the battle. It's kind of like a marathon, everyone is running one direction, but it feels like your running in the opposite direction, bumping into people, feeling unsure if maybe it's you or them that have it completely wrong. It feels a little more comforting there someone else who is running against the crowd with me. Talking about the project also felt really overwhelming. It's a big undertaking. Then I had a good chat with my very good friend Jer. It is always a blessing to see the way that he loves God. It is truly amazing that despite the trials that have come his way this past few months, he continues to persevere. He is one of the few people in my life that make me want to be a more godly woman and see the potential and inner beauty in me. I always come away from our conversations challenged and burdened to love my Lord in even greater ways. This conversation was no different. Sharing our dreams for God, our struggles and challenges, dreams and ambitions is always so encouraging and we both came away with prayer requests for one another and the confidence that when we lift all things up to the Lord for one another, He will answer. Quote of the Day: "May nothing stand in the way of what God has intended you to do. Not
Grouchy is the perfect word to describe me in the morning, especially when I haven't had enough sleep. Somehow, it always seems that there are never enough hours in the day to do all the things I need to do. I was really looking forward to today's session on ethics. When I was reading the required readings for the class it challenged me to examine my own perspective of ethics. Am I the kind of person who goes with the flow, or am I the kind of person who will stand up for what I believe in, not just when I'm under the gun and have to decide, but what about everyday, do my actions and thoughts reflect my beliefs and a sense of morality even when people aren't looking? It really made me think that when I was in public school or high school, I used to be the radical kind of person who would want to save the earth and believe that I could do it. I was all for the environmental cause and for justice for all people. But now, with the busyness of university, I find those thoughts of standing up for what's right few and far in between even though my beliefs haven't changed. I hope that I haven't become the kind of person who goes with the flow and does what is easier or what others expect of me, but I hope that rebellious me still lives in me somewhere and hasn't' been tempered by the ways of the world and years of life. On a fun note, I cooked something new today. I made Moussaka. It's a Greek casserole that has potato, cheese, eggplant, beef and tomatoes. If you can imagine a shepherds pie with eggplant, that's what it's like. To be honest, I don't' even like eggplant, but I figured I should probably learn to like it, or maybe try new and exciting ways to make it taste good. What if one day I'm a missionary and the place that God has called me eggplant as it's main sources of sustenance. So I figure if I start now, then maybe when that time comes I'll be ready. At the same time it promotes open-mindedness and was a challenge! So when I was at the grocery store I saw this HUGE eggplant on sale. Truly, it was one of the largest eggplants I have ever seen, almost bigger than my head. Perhaps that was why it was on sale, and if anyone knows me, they know I can never turn down a bargain, so I decided to tackle purple thing in my culinary battles. It's finished cooking, but since my house had a house dinner tonight and Nay Nay cooked, my taste testing will have to wait till tomorrow. Scary :) Jan 22 2002 I had an absolutely frustrating time at my problem based tutorial today. We spent 3 hours as a group talking in circles and really getting no where. We were all really annoyed and upset even our tutor because we all seemed to be on different wavelengths and even though we all had information to share and bring, and for me, I'm usually quite passive during group sessions, but my frustration definitely showed in session today. I just feel like there goes my PBT mark. I was probably too vocal and really aggressive jumping in all the time and cutting people off. Even though I tried to be the mediator, somehow things are still tense and stressful. I guess this is a way to challenge me to be better at communication of my ideas and helping to lead a group to be more effective. I'm just hoping that these struggles with the group won't continue through out the term. On a better note, I finally tried my Moussaka and it was super yummy! I was kind of scared cause I kind of skimmed over some recipes for general ingredients but didn't look for specifics and then just threw everything together. But when I had it for lunch today it was soo good! I think I actually like the eggplant prepared this way. Next I brave the butternut squash. I've also been having this dilemma about this web site. Lots has been happening in the last little while that I would want to write about, but I'm unsure if it is appropriate to put on a public site. Is this stuff that I want everyone to read about? Will the people that I'm writing about be offended? Do I need to ask their permission before indulging in experience that I share with them? Are my perspective ones that I can look back and be proud of and will be a blessing to those around me, or is it just ok to write and let it be a therapeutic medium regardless of content. I bought this really cool tea at the Byward market in Ottawa this past weekend. It was expensive, but so good. I've been drinking it for the last couple of days. It's a blend of chocolate mint and cinnamon tea. Yum! Not only does it smell amazing but it tastes even better with a bit of honey. My friend was telling me today how his devotional time made him think of me. As he read out the devotion, I started to realize that it sounded so familiar, then I realized that it was the exact same devotion that I read myself. Turns out we have the same book, and it's even an old edition of the book that they don't print any more. Pretty funny. But still encouraging. I guess it will keep me on my toes cause when he asks me what I've been learning from my devotion time, I can't lie! Ha Ha!. In addition, I've been reading this book called "In Search of God's Ideal Woman". I think it's because of my feminist side that I read it. But never the less I'm learning lots about women in the Bible and the way that Jesus acted and reacted to them. Here's a cool bit that I really liked. Quote of the Day: "Her sins, which are many are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little" I want to be remembered as a woman who loved God so much and tried to show it in all the ways that she knew how. And part of that is showing love to those around me, being accepting, inclusive, and caring. I think a challenge for me is to be able to be all those things without causing misunderstandings especially in opposite gender friendships. I guess these challenges will help me to be more effective in my current and future ministries, and sometimes I realize that I can just do the best I can, and continue to ask the Lord for discernment. "Oh, knowledge deeper grows with Him alone; In the secret oft His deeper love is shown, And learnt in many an hour of dark distress, Some rare, sweet lesson of His tenderness" Jan 23 2002 Quote of the Day: DREAMER OF DREAMS (excerpt) Jan 24, 2002 Busy day. Woke up so late, that breakfast ended up consisting of chocolate and treats as I circulated around the presentations and displays for our class today. After a few meetings for my upcoming practicum and group projects, I went to meet a student at MAC to interview her and walk around with her and learn more about what it's like to have a disability. She's a first year student in Social Science who has been blind since the age of 2. Despite her disability, she is an amazing person who is warm and friendly. The hour that I spent with her taught me so much about how she is just as capable as any typical person without a disability. She has dreams to be a psychologist, lives on her own, cooks for herself and is still able to do all the things she needs to do to complete her assignments. Even I would have trouble managing a place on my own amidst school responsibilities. She has such a positive attitude about the barriers that she has in her life and the struggles with others' opinions and attitudes. It made me reflect on my strength of the human spirit a person's ability to cope and still find meaning and happiness in life. Quote of the Day: "I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...... Jan 26, 2002 Quote of the Day "She looked in and saw angels at the head and foot of the hewn-out shelf where the body of Christ had lain. They asked her why she wept, and she replied, "Because they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him" (Jn 21:13). She was still evidently thinking of Jesus as a dead body. She turned outside again and saw Jesus without recognizing him until, in his own inimitable, compassionate way he said her name, "Mary." Perhaps the reason Christ first showed himself to women rather than men was because these women showed personal devotion to the Master himself while the male disciples were preoccupied with thoughts of his kingdom and the positions they would have in it. The women were more drawn to the Person of Christ than to his kingdom. Dorothy Sayers describes the situation: Perhaps it was no wonder women were last at the cross. They had never known a man like this Man-there had never been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made sick jokes about them, who rebuked without querulous ness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unself-conscious. There was no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could possibly guess from the words and the deeds of Jesus that there was anything "funny" (or, might add, "inferior") about woman's nature Christ had great concern, compassion and commendation for women in many different circumstances. He also committed to some of them new spiritual revelations and responsibilities. The one condition found for pleasing God was hearing and doing his will, and there is no record in the Gospels that his will for women was in any way different form his will for any other of his followers. " -Pape (In Search of God's Ideal Woman) I have just spent the last 24 hours in the presence of women who love God so much that it emanates from their very being. I was so happy to see all the Guelph girls and to walk around campus soaking up all the fresh air, and reminisce about my years there. It felt like coming home! That's the best way I can describe it. Everything was just as I remembered and the friendships we as warm and special as when I last left. Despite hearts and minds of the Guelph girls that were heavy with impending project deadlines and looming piles of readings, it was truly PURE JOY to have a time of fellowship with them. We shared in yummy pasta and bread with cheese made so thoughtfully by Yin Yin followed with piping hot tea and "cough cough" assorted desserts :). I"m sure I'd become 10 pound heavier if I lived in her place! I told them all my cookie addiction stories and we all some good laughs and relaxed all night giving each other shoulder massages and curling up on couches in Yin Yin's warm and toasty basement. Then Wendy and I stayed up till about 4 in the morning sharing and talking. It was so amazing to hear the true sincere love that Wendy has for the Lord. The stories she shared about her family and about Zack were inspiring and warming. God has blessed her with so much and loves her in so many ways, and in response she can't help but love Him more and more everyday. Whenever she has trusted the Lord with big things, He has blessed her in ways then she cannot even fathom. The intricate way in which He has made possible and continues to make possible her mission trip to China. It is such a blessing to be able to encourage her, and through her faithfulness she has encouraged me even more. It seems like only yesterday that God placed her in my IBS group as a new Christian. I know that our friendship like none other, we can be so honest and open with each other, and can understand one another completely. I wish that I were still in Guelph this year, I feel like I'm missing out on their lives completely. I long for the days of sitting in the daily grind studying and seeing Wendy and Ariane everyday and telling them everything and laughing, crying and cooking with them. What is also amazing is the way that God has changed them both. Ariane has conquered so many of her struggles and is becoming such a woman of God. Her relationship with Shaun continues to be a mutual blessing to one another as well as an example to all of us. God must love her so much to give them both such a special gift. Saturday morning was spent curled up on Ariane's bed with Eeyore till she had to go to school and chatting with Wendy till she went to work out, then Michelle, Yin Yin and Soo came over with the intention to go to the Farmer's Market, but we just ended up flopped on Wendy's bed and sharing stories, laughing, and catching up. It was just so good to see Michelle after so long. Her stories and sharing always are laced with the word of God, and she displays such discernment and longing to run after God full heartedly. I couldn't help beaming when she talked about Jonny, and thier relationship. It seemed so foreign hearing her say " my boyfriend Jonny". But I'm so happy that they found each other, and that Jonny can really encourage her and keep her grounded and organized. It's funny thinking back to the days when I remember Michelle saying that she like engineers and and geeky guys. Ok.. I'll stop there. :) After going to have Vietnamese noodles for lunch, Yin Yin and Soo experimenting with the spicy green chillies and talking some more, Yin Yin and I went shopping and met up with the girls at 4:30 when we met Zack, took a few pictures, said our tearful goodbyes and got ready to head home with bags of candy in hand compliments of Zack and Trebor-Allen Cadbury Candy Company. In the car I got a chance to share with Soo and Michelle all that has been going on in my life, plans for the coming summer and the way that God has been challenging me in Hamilton. Soo got to tell us all about work life and church life in Toronto and as the car slowed to a stop and I gathered my stuff, we gave one another heartfelt hugs and promised to pray for one another and keep in touch. Heading up the stairs to my house, I felt filled with a sense of emptiness, and was sad to be apart from my sisters, but knew that we are all in good hands.. Gods... and in faith trusting, hoping, praying for the day that we'll be able to meet again where our hearts find their home. Jan 27, 2002 It's amazing how when you share about God in your life and other brother and sisters respond by sharing about God in their life and all the blessings, challenges, and the love they have, how encouraging that is!. That's how I felt last night, that as I shared with a fellow brother in Christ, that our faith increased more and God was glorifed even more, it's contageous when other share thanksgiving and praise, you can't help but respond being compelled to believe even more in a Lord that is almighty and wonderful! I was also challenged to continue to give my very best to my Lord. This applies especially to my devotional time. Despite my busy schedule, I want to give Him my very best time, not the end of my day when I'm half asleep and exhausted. So, I started my morning today with some quiet time, and it felt good and refreshing! Church was good, especially the time of music worship. Praise God for coming to meet me. I felt as though He was right there with me as close as a breath away. Then I came home and made a quiche with cheddar cheese and smoked turkey for lunch. Yum! Jan 28, 2002 I'm always so thankful for the way that God provides for me in my life. Last night, just when I needed someone to encourage me in my studies and in my impending exam this Friday, He provided someone to cheer me on, give me really good study tips and give me that sense of confidence. I just felt like God loved me so much! Tonight Nay Nay made a yummy dinner from the Cookbook I gave him. It's called celebration chicken dinner. It consisted of some wine, chicken, tomato sauce, tarragon, and onions. It was fabulous! I can honestly say that our house eats really well even though we are students! How rare is that! My house has become a refuge for all people it seems and an all around hang out spot. Hanna and Shaun came by to study tonight followed by Tony. I love having company so it was good times even though we were all engrossed in our books, it was nice to know other people were around. I guess I just hate being lonely, the more the merrier! :) As I reflect upon the past weekend, I start to see the cracks in my character. I can see how my mean streak can really lash out, and even if it's in a teasing way, I know that God was not pleased. I think it was a really bad example to some of my housemates. But an inspiring quote I found from the book I'm reading "God's Ideal Woman" helps me to address this weakness. "I think the ideal woman's concern will be, in the spirit of Christ and the words of Paul, "Let each esteem other better than themselves" (Phil.2:3) She will be aware of her own weaknesses and tendency to sin and will therefore seek the more to depend on Christ and abide in Him. She will with humility seek to glorify Christ and try to make Him know by others." Jan 29, 2002 I'm exhausted. I was at school from 9 till 7pm today, nonstop. Then came home, ate quickly and practiced with Serena some exam questions..Yawn.. but still so much to do. There are just too many thing swirling in my head.. yawn.. sleepy..sorry no thoughtful insights today.. I'm just way too exhausted. Hey Nay Nay, what's with your funky shaped carrots and bananas? I think it's your unconscious mind speaking to you! Jan 30, 2002 Wednesdays are always my favorite days as I have no class! I woke up late and did a bit of work, and chatted it up with Steve. I think our schedules conflict so I never get to talk to him. I nearly died laughing reading Jer's story about his morning coffee. Moral of the story.. never put change in your pockets with holes lest you go swimming for a dime in your shoe in front of important people from your department. After grabbing a ton of books from the library with Serena, I headed home to partake in some curry chicken fried rice I made yesterday. YUM! Then spent an hour cooking up some green curry with chicken. YUMMY! After being dragged kicking and screaming to the gym by Serena, and working out hard core, we headed back home sweaty and smelly to celebrate Alex Avula's B-day. Steve cooked up some fettuccini alfredo (noodles to represent long life in Philipino culture), crescent rolls with cheese and salad. This followed with peanut free cake for our peanut allergic friend and some experiences shared about being picked up by some people of the same gender. Alex your stories rock! Then Serena and I headed out to meet up with Kelly for bubbles and some good laughs about guys of course. Kelly you kill me with your crazy comments! Girls were made to complain about guys!! Christina got to show off her new arm ornament today. His name is Cute Chris and he sure lives up to his title! It's good to see her so happy. The whole "he is amazing" feeling reminded me of what that felt like. :) Jan 31 2002 Our triple jump exam is postphoned for tomorrow so I have a bit more time to prepare! :) Here's little quote I found kicking around in all the papers that I've been sorting through as I clean my room. "Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find time. The quickest way to receive love is to give, the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly and the best way to keep love is to give it wings." Feb 2 2002 This regular logging things is tough to keep up. The last 4 days of holidays thanks to the white fluffy stuff ;) But alas, I got no work done! I finally finished my book called "God's Ideal Woman" Some excerpts are found in my interests section. I've been learning so much. Praise God! Feb 4 2002 Somehow there never seem to be enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do or even plan to do. This is going to be a crazy week. I had a meeting with my professor about a paper we're trying to publish. At first I really wanted to be primary author, but with some issues, and challenges that were going on this past year, it was really hard, stressful and emotionally draining. So I decided to give part of that up and settle for being one of the authors and not primary author. At first was really hard, all of my work for so long, and I was so proud, more concerned about the recognition and prestige part of the authorship. Boy did God teach me. Looking back, it seems so petty, I'm so much happier where I am now, learning about all the skills I need to be a clinician, thinking about how my passion is really for the people that I serve, not research, or the pursuit of knowledge in an academic sense. Praise God from whom all blessings flow and in ways that I can't often see! Back to the grind.. sigh. Feb 5 2002 Tuesdays are always exhausting, my longest day ever, but school went really well, my tutorials, group meetings, I stepped out of my comfort zone and shared my ideas, taking leadership and guiding my group. It felt good, and from the looks of people around me scribbling down what I was saying, they thought what I said had merit. It's nice to know maybe I have what it takes to be a leader in this OT thing after all. I am so smart.. SMRT! :) I finally cooked my poor lonely squash that has been sitting in my fridge for over 2 weeks. That's the wonderful thing about squashs (is that the plural for more than one squash?) they last forever! It's the perfect veggie for students forget about perishable foods the die a slow agonizing death at the back of the fridge. Praise God for the vegetable that just keeps going and going and going.. So anywho, I baked it with some brown sugar as per Deb's advice and it was delectable! I can't wait to go home this weekend. I haven't been home since New Years which is quite the record for me, but I think my body is suffering from mom's cooking deficiency. Symptoms include extreme grumpiness, cravings for steamed fish and chinese veggies, and longing for extreme papering from loving parents. Feb 6 2002 Wednesdays are usually my days off to do research and other work for projects, but today our class had videos we had to watch to prepare for next weeks sessions and an anatomy session. It was an absolute waste of time! The video was demonstrating physical assessment, but honestly, it's one of those hands on things that you need to practice doing in a clinical lab or something, not something you can watch a video about. It's like learning karate by video without someone walking you through the steps. The anatomy session was even worse. In a class where there are a variety of knowledge levels from some people who have no anatomy or even biology background to people who have done more advanced anatomy than the lab can even offer. I fall into the second category. We even had our own cadavers to dissect for the entire year in Guelph. If it's in the body, I've most likely seen it, touched it and memorized everything about it. So we spent an hour looking at the brachial plexus which I already knew. What a waste of a day. So I came home all frustrated and made some Jello with peach slices in it and defrosted some bananas to make banana bread to make myself feel better. Thank God for comfort food. :) On a funny note, I spent over an hour last night taping construction paper onto my door. It's like this, my door is this funky brown colour which I hate and looks really tacky.. so I decided since it's too cold to ventilate my room, painting isn't really an option, so I figured I'd just cover it! SO now it looks a little silly cause it's just this beige construction paper all taped up, but soon I"ll have it decorated and it'll look good! I also went bezerk in the kitchen and started cleaning it like crazy, hiding all the cutter in cabinets, and peeling off the tacky drawer liners! It felt good after I was done, and I was $2 richer after finding a little money in miscellaneous places in the kitchen! It pays to be tidy! |
