Another in the Fire

Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1wvgLkyVfQ

Humility Part II

Can we humble ourselves and give up our pride by putting others' needs before our own?

One phrase that stands out to me is this one: "Fight to be a servant". When I think about this phrase, it has such a deep meaning. Typically, when people enter a fight, they want to come out in a better position - to win, to be recognized, to gain glory. Yet, this phrase reminds me that fighting to be a servant takes even greater strength. It means I have to put down my pride or any judgment and replace that with compassion for others. I'm reminded that Jesus has fought to serve me and you, so I hope we can do the same for others! 

--

Cheers to my first post in 5 years - so much has happened but God has always remained constant <3 

A look into Humility

Currently, I'm reading this book called "You and Me Forever" by Francis Chan. Although this book is written for couples who want to build healthy relationships with one another, I feel like this book has taught me about how to apply what I've learned to not just my future relationship with my spouse, but my current relationships - with family, friends, or even people that I don't know.

In the past week, I learned about the true meaning of humility. Jesus has so many positive attributes - but humility is definitely a big one which I think would help any type of relationship we have with others. In the book, it tells us that "it is easy to get blinded in the heat of disagreements. Soon, all we want is to win, even if victory requires sin". When I think about that quote, I try to think about those times when maybe in the heat of frustration, I would say something from spite, or just to feel like I have the last word to a discussion. Thinking back, this was a sense of pride that I wasn't willing to give up, and a sign that I lacked humility. 

Every relationship goes through moments of anger and temporary failures. As the book discussed, you must determine your goal. What matters more? Winning arguments or resembling Christ? I think we can all agree that we love to win - whether it's in sports, a board game, or a fight. It's in our human nature. But does that help our relationship with the other person? Is that a testimony of Christ's love and joy? Some food for thought!

[Part 2] soon! :)

TY

I haven't blogged in a while but I feel compelled to. I am just really happy because I can see and feel how God is working in me. I couldn't really think of anything specifically to blog about right now, but I just want to give all the gratefulness and glory to God right now. So...I'm just going to have a quick brain dump of some things in my mind that I'm thankful for. I definitely encourage you to do the same if you ever feel stuck in a rut. It's freeing actually!

Things I'm thankful for:

• My dad who always brings joy and simplicity to every situation. 
• My mom for showing me the example of striving for improvement and showing me the attitude of following Christ. 
• My sister for the closeness we have now and the honest advice she gives. 
• My brother because he's my brother (haha) and is always passionate in helping me with tech issues.
• My wonderful friends for listening to me, supporting me, and bringing me so much laughter. 
• My home 
• School and the ability to study
• My jobs 
• Gifts to serve God with
• Passion for basketball 
• Having the luxury to eat out
• To have clothing 
• Being able to connect with and care for others
• Good health
• Being chosen by God to be a Christ follower. 

God, thank you!!!

Faithfully Yours

Do you ever ask yourself the question, "How can we still be faithful when we don't see how God is working and we don't know what his plan is"? What if we feel like our prayers are unanswered?

Sometimes we ask God something and we just want such a definite answer. Yet, we still don't get one...

I want to share the story of Joseph with you. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and sold to slavery. Later on, as a slave, Joseph was falsely accused by his master's wife causing him to be imprisoned for years. Facing all this adversity, you can imagine what Joseph would feel - perhaps anger, loneliness, doubt, and the list could go on. In these times, Joseph could have blamed God for all these events, but he did not. Instead, he continued to faithfully serve God, faithfully love God, and faithfully honour God DESPITE his circumstances.

I learned that I should not just read the Bible, but rather take it as my own story. God is faithful, and like how he never left Joseph, he will never leave me or you. Now, let's strive to be faithful to God - we want to be faithfully yours.

Come

Jesus became one of us so we don't have an excuse to tell God, "You're up there and I'm down here". There is nobody too lost to be found. There is nothing that you could have done that will push God so far away that he can't reach you, if you let him. You don't have to do things...it's a gift.

Grace is something you can't pay for, but something you freely receive. 

Something amazing happens when you open your heart to Jesus. 

Just come and fill our hearts God. We want to be just like you.

CHOOSE

Ever since this summer started, I literally felt like I had a whole mentality shift.

At times, we are placed in difficult situations in which we have no control over. Things Happen. Things sometimes don't go our way or how we expected it to pan out. And the problem is, it's so easy to dwell on the negative.

"Why is this happening to me?"
"I don't know what to do now..."
"Why aren't things going the way I planned?"

It's so easy to come across these thoughts. And what these thoughts do is that they bog us down even further, they make us feel crappier, and they ultimately allow us to feel sorry for ourselves.

I realized that no matter what we do, sometimes we just simply can't change the situation. The only thing we CAN change, however, is our ATTITUDE. I quit feeling sorry for myself and wow what a great change.

I feel like I'm so much happier with whatever's in front of me. I realized that I really had two options:
A. I can look at a situation, be negative about it, and feel even worse about it by complaining :( OR
B. I can look at a situation, identify that I CAN be negative about it but I CHOOSE to be positive despite this situation happening because I know that will help me and the people around me cope with this problem even better.

Yup it's that simple WOOO! This mentality shift has definitely blessed me with a happier life so I definitely encourage you to try it! :)

What does love look like?

What does love look like?
Did you once believe that it was romance?
Did you once believe it was only for the lucky or the beautiful?
Did you once believe it was a momentary bliss?

If all of life comes down to love
Then love has to be more than sentiment
More than selfishness and selfish gain

Then He looked at me
I could not escape those beautiful eyes
And I began to weep and weep and weep...

He had his arms wide open, a heart exposed
Arms wide open; He was bleeding, bleeding
Love's definition was looking at me.

Powerful Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2ZCIp0HiRo

Not just "I Can't"

I posted this picture on my Instagram about a week ago and since then, I've been trying to think about the "I can't" situations in my life. I realized that there's not a big difference between "I can't" and "I'm scared". It is so easy to simply give into our fears and use the excuse of "I can't" to walk away from our challenges. I can label many situations where I feared failure so I automatically resorted to the "I can't" attitude. In reality, it is possible. 

Phillipians 3:14 states, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength".

ALL THINGS - that's pretty amazing.

So let's clear our minds of "I can't",

Skim by the idea of "I can",

And land on the mentality and attitude of "I will".

WOO!

Values

Sometimes I wake up in the morning feeling discouraged - I feel so unaccomplished. I felt like I lost a sense of direction which affected my idea of happiness. I asked God. I took some time to reflect on my values which are to love God and my family, to be honest, to be generous, and to have a sense of compassion.

I think it's important to write your values down or tell yourself verbally because it's so easy to be distracted and be lead away from them. What am I doing right now to work towards these values of mine? Am I spending time with my family? Am I being generous? Am I honest with myself? Where is my compassion?

I highly encourage you to reassess and reflect on your values. I believe the successes and failures of certain tangible goals should't deem our happiness. What I mean by that is that I realized we are never satisfied with where we are at. If we face a failure, we automatically develop this fear of feeling rejected once again. Or when we face success, we just keep wanting more. When are we truly happy?

I realized that when I carry and satisfy the values that are genuinely important and significant in my life, it actually brings greater joy, comfort, and a closer proximity to my identity. Fulfilling these values most definitely brings that happiness back.

:)

Some Favourites

I just want to take some time to blog and share some inspirations I favourited on Twitter. Hopefully reading this list of some of my favourite tweets will inspire you as well!

1. Faith is having a positive attitude about what you can do and not worrying at all about what you can't do.

2. Leaders are made, and they are made by effort and hard work.

3. God will help you overcome wrong motives and intentions if you'll simply ask and receive help rather than trying to do it on your own.

4. Some people will only love you as long as you fit in their box. Don't be afraid to disappoint them.

5. Trials show us where we are and where we need to grow. Don't run from them, grow from them.

6. When you face difficult times, know that challenges are not sent to destroy you. They're sent to promote, increase and strengthen you. Put your energy towards bettering your life and starting something new.

7. Dare yourself each day to be a blessing to someone.

8. The things we think about, focus on, and surround ourselves will shape who we become

9. Showers are amazing. They make you feel nice and clean, make you sound like a professional singer, and help you make all of life's decisions.

And finally,

Open your eyes. Be aware of your surroundings. See what you're blessed with. Be grateful and appreciative. Actually don't just "be", but express it!!!

--

Happy Sunday!

I didn't get the internship.

Initially, I was disappointed. I felt like I tried my best throughout this whole recruiting process and yet, I didn't get the job. I was thinking to myself, "Now where do I go from here?". I was thinking if I had this position, the next few years of my career would be nicely laid out. 

GIVE THANKS to The Lord though, that He has something else planned for me. I'm not really sure what this plan is, but I will keep pursuing Jesus and trust that my actions will lead me to a path where I can completely be myself. I truly see this failure with peace and as a stepping stone for something great! 

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 4:4-7

Love it!!

I'm thankful for my family and my brothers and sisters who each encouraged me and supported me throughout. I am so grateful and it definitely made this whole experience very very positive!!!

Looking forward to see what's in store :)

Interviews

Interviews are always very nerve-racking because we don't know what's going to happen. What kind of questions will the interviewer ask me? Are they going to be friendly? Are they going to like me? I was filled with worry and every time I thought about an interview, my stomach would start churning.

I asked God to help me - and God answered. 

This is what I realized. He has already set a path for me and you. He already knows how this interview will run and what the results will be. He already knows whether or not I will get this position and the reason why he knows, is because he CREATED this opportunity to start with. That's encouraging. Life, to me, is actually very easy. As long as I work hard and try my best,  I know that I'm walking on the path that God has already set. I just need to keep walking - it's that simple!

If you are going through an interview in the near future, here are some tips my good friend Andrew shared with me for the morning of your interview:

1) Sing or play a song. I was singing "Beautiful Things" by Gungor this morning and it really helped me relax and think positively. 

2) Questionnaire. This is when a good friend or family member helps you and asks you questions that you cannot get wrong. Questions like "what's your favourite colour" or "what do you like to eat?"; this helps build confidence and adds in a couple laughs just before the interview!

3) Pray and give it all to God. He will provide. 

No matter what the results are for this interview, I trust that I'm walking on the path of God and there's nothing to be afraid of.

Happy Monday!

Just Pray

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh :) Whether you would like to thank Him, cry for help, ask a question, or just experience Him - pray!

He answers.

Remember

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. - Joshua 1:9

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS :)

WOW !

I am so excited for Praise Team Practice tomorrow. I feel like every single song spoke to me and hopefully, it will speak to the rest of the congregation.

One way, JESUS, you`re the only one that I could live for...
So Awake my soul, awake my soul and let me see...
How You let us be, a generation that seeks...
The love that never fails, that never gives up, that never runs out on me!

So God I surrender, I surrender, I want to know you more...
And take everything I am, I`m clay within your hands, I will go, I will go, send me....
Even in death, in life, I`m confident and covered by the power of your great LOVE.

Because there`s only one thing that remains - YOU :)

Thank you so much God for your blessings, your answers to prayers, your love, your forgiveness, your grace. You never stop opening my eyes and allowing me to feel that excitement and happiness that comes with having faith in you. I`m so grateful...I really am.

I want this passion and this yearning for you to keep going, because I believe this is what true happiness feels like.

?

Just like that, half a year has went by. Looking back, what have I done? What have I accomplished? Where am I now? How did I grow? Did I grow? Where am I going? Is this what I want?

Questions running through my mind that yearn for answers.

I am still pursuing to learn more about myself and to define who I am.
But I believe this journey is continuous.
I also believe that I’m not alone.

We're not alone :)

Simple Moments

Seeing this picture reminds me that sometimes the simplest moments are the best and are really the ones that matter. I look at this picture and can't help but smile at the fact that this $5 plant could bring so much joy to my parents' faces. Maybe it is the fact that this nice little plant was for this very affordable price. But I also think it's what we choose to value in life. Sometimes, it's not about having the most or the best of something. Instead, it's about finding the most or best from whatever's given to you. My parents can vouch for that haha

Happy Wednesday!

Do not worry

As much as I have read this passage in Matthew, I never feel like I can place down all my worries. That feeling of uncertainty and possibility for failure always gets me.

However, worrying always reminds me of the simple yet precious things I should be grateful for. These are also the things that I find true and genuine value in. And with this, I find some peace :) I hope whatever you are worrying about today, that you will be able to think of those things that truly make you happy and thankful, so that you will be able to find your own peace.

Jesus tells us, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" - Matthew 6:34
Living in faith is actually so great because God just asks us to follow Him. Everything else is already ready for us.

If you are worried and afraid of failure, I have a quote my friend told me today which is, "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm". I hope we can stay positive and confront failure fearlessly.

This is what I am consistently aiming to work towards.

Shot Down...again.

Being upset and discouraged about my failures only shows the lack of faith I have in God.
HE has the best plan for me.

HE will provide everything.. 

HE is God. 

So.....what's next? :)