Hello y'all,
What a cool way to connect with every one from Samuel fellowship! This is my very first post on the blog. The reason I waited this long to blog is because I haven't encountered anything inspiring enough for me to put much thoughts on it. But today, I finally came across something that was so invigorating and powerful that I felt the urge to share it with everyone.
I was randomly flipping through the channels when I landed on channel 36 (yes, it's the Chinese channel). It was a documentary on a family of six. The parents are highly educated - actually both of them received their Ph.Ds. Their four kids ( I believe one older son and three younger daughters) are very gifted.
[Detour: a little background information for you on gifted children, gifted people have an IQ of at least 130. About 3-4 children out of 100 are gifted in the general population, but to have all the kids in the same family to be gifted is a ratio of 1 : 1 million in the whole world. ]
So, the parents of this family are faced with challenges that average families would never face. For starters, they have to raise their four gifted children very differently from others (their son attended university at the age of 9). The parents have gone through all the parenting books, however, they are not exactly helpful since the books were written for the general population with average IQ. After having read many books and guides on how to raise a family full of gifted kids, the parents finally settled on ONE book that they believe their kids should study wholeheartedly - the Bible. And the moment I heard "the Bible", I was thinking "are you serious?" Maybe Bible wasn't exactly the book I was anticipating, because I've always thought gifted people would read mountains of books on rocket science or something not so popular among the people. But the Bible, it is relatively accessible to the general public and the content is comprehensible to average people.
So why this book out of millions of other published books? The Ph.D parents explained, the kids have to know why they are alive on this earth and realize that there is a Great One who created ALL things on earth. All humans are created differently with their own uniqueness and there is a reason behind every existence. Gifted or not, we should simply appreciate what we have and make use of our talents/strengths to serve the Lord, carry out His plans. The Ph.D parents are now nearly 70 years old and are touring around to give presentations on how to raise kids, especially gifted kids. They truly felt the blessings from God as they tasted the fruits of their labour. All of their kids are apparently successful in their careers and have their own families. I am convinced once again that God is the guidance for those who believe in Him. So it might take a few decades to truly experience God's work in plan, but don't ever lose faith in the One and Only who unconditionally loves us as we are.
{L. Wen}
Saturday, August 29, 2009
& somewhere out there
So here i am sitting in my room at 1:30am. Apparently it's pouring rain outside, but I cant feel or hear any of it. Is my house really that strong and protective that even the loudest storm can't wake me up?
I was just thinking of my comfort zone. All these years, i've been with pretty much the same group of friends. Sure, there's been fights and disagreements, but in the end, everything's okay. And school's been pretty much just another way to kill time. Sometimes we really lose ourselves in this world. Who am i today? Why do i need to make an effort to do this and that? Why should i bother with homework, with friends... with God, even. I don't know about you, but everyday seems to be just another day.
But there's so much more out there. When im in my room, everything seems fine. But beyond those bricks is a storm (or some sort of it). And school is much more than just a place to kill 7 hours. Once you realize that God has placed you in the school(and churhc) to DO SOMETHING, then you'll see the importance of it. It might just be chilling with your friends and cheering them up when they're upset, or keeping them accountable. You have a role in people's lives, and so do those around you. It's time to take care of others, and let them take care of you.
There's so much out there. Beyond the walls of my house is a storm. I dont know about you, but it's time to let yourself out there and experience what's going on rather than hiding inside your room. Yes, you need to observe, listen, share.. but mostly you need to DO something.
--a.
I was just thinking of my comfort zone. All these years, i've been with pretty much the same group of friends. Sure, there's been fights and disagreements, but in the end, everything's okay. And school's been pretty much just another way to kill time. Sometimes we really lose ourselves in this world. Who am i today? Why do i need to make an effort to do this and that? Why should i bother with homework, with friends... with God, even. I don't know about you, but everyday seems to be just another day.
But there's so much more out there. When im in my room, everything seems fine. But beyond those bricks is a storm (or some sort of it). And school is much more than just a place to kill 7 hours. Once you realize that God has placed you in the school(and churhc) to DO SOMETHING, then you'll see the importance of it. It might just be chilling with your friends and cheering them up when they're upset, or keeping them accountable. You have a role in people's lives, and so do those around you. It's time to take care of others, and let them take care of you.
There's so much out there. Beyond the walls of my house is a storm. I dont know about you, but it's time to let yourself out there and experience what's going on rather than hiding inside your room. Yes, you need to observe, listen, share.. but mostly you need to DO something.
--a.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
I miss you.
Since we're on a roll of being honest...
There's been so much that i wanted to blog about, but i keep forgetting. :(
So if you were there on Sunday, Tina preached on Malachi, and it was pretty much about our worship attitude. Not only on why/how we worship God, but God's response to our worship. Y'know, God might be saying "Yo, i dont like the way (s)he is worshiping me." And it just really hit me. Personally, I dont like admitting that i'm wrong. A lot of times, I woudl and will find a way to make myself look like im right, even if im at fault. But is that gonna work with God, who sees right through me? There's really no way to hide.
Again, I need to confess something. So since summer started, I havent exactly done devo, the kind of devo that i did during school. I've come to realize that during the summer time, there really isnt a "need" for me to search for God because I don't encounter any challanges. When I'm at home, I just sit and chill and watch dramas. When I'm at work, well, we do our own little devo time in the morning. And work is really chill, so there's not much difficulties there. There really hasnt been anything that challenges my faith these past months. And I think that just keeps me drifting away from my devo time and my prayer time. I'm still trying to work on this. One of the reason that i'm looking forward to school again is that i KNOW I'll need God's guidance and wisdom, so I'd be doing my regular devo again. hahaha.
Like we asked at wildcamp, Do you see the need to outreach? But i guess a better question right now would be : Do you see YOUR need for God? Because if you dont, how can your listeners understand and believe in what you tell them, when you yourself are unsure?
I wonder if God misses me. Cause I think it's time to go back.
--a.
There's been so much that i wanted to blog about, but i keep forgetting. :(
So if you were there on Sunday, Tina preached on Malachi, and it was pretty much about our worship attitude. Not only on why/how we worship God, but God's response to our worship. Y'know, God might be saying "Yo, i dont like the way (s)he is worshiping me." And it just really hit me. Personally, I dont like admitting that i'm wrong. A lot of times, I woudl and will find a way to make myself look like im right, even if im at fault. But is that gonna work with God, who sees right through me? There's really no way to hide.
Again, I need to confess something. So since summer started, I havent exactly done devo, the kind of devo that i did during school. I've come to realize that during the summer time, there really isnt a "need" for me to search for God because I don't encounter any challanges. When I'm at home, I just sit and chill and watch dramas. When I'm at work, well, we do our own little devo time in the morning. And work is really chill, so there's not much difficulties there. There really hasnt been anything that challenges my faith these past months. And I think that just keeps me drifting away from my devo time and my prayer time. I'm still trying to work on this. One of the reason that i'm looking forward to school again is that i KNOW I'll need God's guidance and wisdom, so I'd be doing my regular devo again. hahaha.
Like we asked at wildcamp, Do you see the need to outreach? But i guess a better question right now would be : Do you see YOUR need for God? Because if you dont, how can your listeners understand and believe in what you tell them, when you yourself are unsure?
I wonder if God misses me. Cause I think it's time to go back.
--a.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Come home running
A month ago, I was frustrated with God.
A few weeks ago, I began to lose faith.
A few days ago, I refused to pray when I was alone.
Today, I checked the blog for the first time in a month.
Today, I added the Bible as an essential to bring to Carleton.
Today, I swear I'll take a break from running.
Hello, it's been a while.
It's funny how a job that was supposed to bring me closer to God made me stray farther away. Honestly, I think it's because of my nature- it felt like I HAD to be a strong believer because it was part of the job. When I feel like I HAVE to do something, I become resentful of it. So then I was just stuck in that mindset for a long time. To add to that, because I was still teaching bible stories for VBS without really believing, it killed me even more because now I felt like that everything was such a lie.
I bet you didn't know that I hate birthdays. I hate birthdays because I always think back on the previous years- not the good stuff either, all the crap that happened. So now I'm blaming God not only for things that happened to me, but my inability to deal with it.
So I came to a little realization...well actually, I knew it all along, I'm just more willing to admit it now: I chose Carleton because it's far. I think I've told everyone that. Yes, far away from parents, friends, hopefully the past, and church (the literal CLBC church). I guess I figured it'd be easier to run from God if I didn't feel obligated to go to church here- especially if I was unmotivated to find a church/fellowship in university.
But through all my wallowing in my sorrows, I've always though, "is God doing this because he thinks this is gonna make me run to him harder and faster?" I guess so. I'm stubborn, but I know when to give up. I can choose to ignore, but I know when I'm given a message. It's 20 days until moving day, and I'm a tad mortified. This is what I get for making an irrational decision in an (non-alcoholic) intoxicated mind. Why did I choose somewhere so far that I'll have to be for the next 5 years? I can't leave it all behind. And now that I can't with me home, friends, or family, I'll take God with me. Because that might be all I have, and that might be all I need.
So I'm going to keep running from my past for a while. And God, I need to take you with me during my marathon. Because we all know I can only run so far before I need to stop.
--sabrina
A few weeks ago, I began to lose faith.
A few days ago, I refused to pray when I was alone.
Today, I checked the blog for the first time in a month.
Today, I added the Bible as an essential to bring to Carleton.
Today, I swear I'll take a break from running.
Hello, it's been a while.
It's funny how a job that was supposed to bring me closer to God made me stray farther away. Honestly, I think it's because of my nature- it felt like I HAD to be a strong believer because it was part of the job. When I feel like I HAVE to do something, I become resentful of it. So then I was just stuck in that mindset for a long time. To add to that, because I was still teaching bible stories for VBS without really believing, it killed me even more because now I felt like that everything was such a lie.
I bet you didn't know that I hate birthdays. I hate birthdays because I always think back on the previous years- not the good stuff either, all the crap that happened. So now I'm blaming God not only for things that happened to me, but my inability to deal with it.
So I came to a little realization...well actually, I knew it all along, I'm just more willing to admit it now: I chose Carleton because it's far. I think I've told everyone that. Yes, far away from parents, friends, hopefully the past, and church (the literal CLBC church). I guess I figured it'd be easier to run from God if I didn't feel obligated to go to church here- especially if I was unmotivated to find a church/fellowship in university.
But through all my wallowing in my sorrows, I've always though, "is God doing this because he thinks this is gonna make me run to him harder and faster?" I guess so. I'm stubborn, but I know when to give up. I can choose to ignore, but I know when I'm given a message. It's 20 days until moving day, and I'm a tad mortified. This is what I get for making an irrational decision in an (non-alcoholic) intoxicated mind. Why did I choose somewhere so far that I'll have to be for the next 5 years? I can't leave it all behind. And now that I can't with me home, friends, or family, I'll take God with me. Because that might be all I have, and that might be all I need.
So I'm going to keep running from my past for a while. And God, I need to take you with me during my marathon. Because we all know I can only run so far before I need to stop.
--sabrina
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)