Chucks suck at keeping feet dry.

Rain sucks.

Proud to be an American

This song gives me the jitters every time. (And it doesn't hurt that Demi Lovato sings this version =P).

As a biology major,

I find the article linked below pretty neat. Recently, I've been starting to realize that worship is much more than praise music on a friday night. Rather, worship is established by how we live our lives, especially when no one is looking. Romans 12:1 is the classic definition, stating that worship is when we offer our everything for God's use.

And it looks different for all of us in practice, depending on our circumstances. For me, worship is learning to give God my free time, and also my school time. Worship is trying my best to get into pharmacy school so one day I may have possessions of my own to give away to others (Ephesians 4:28). Worship is studying well. But worship is also giving my dream of pharmacy school over to God and pursuing it with the willingness to let it go if He asks.

And according to the below article, worship can be as simple as living greener lives, for the sake of honoring God by respecting His creation, creation now subjected to decay but later will be given to God's renewal.

Sometimes I feel like if I don't end up as a pastor or a missionary one day, then I've somehow failed to give my very best for God's glory. But this is untrue. We don't have to be missionaries to proclaim the gospel or live full and radical lives for God. Missions exists because worship does not, and true worship comes out of a relationship with God. If He doesn't ask you to become a pastor or a missionary, it's still all good, because He desires worshippers above all else. Maybe He'll call you to offer yourself as a full-time ministry worker, but what if instead He asks you to penetrate the medical community for Him as a full-time doctor? Or the political sphere as a full-time politician? Whether you become a lawyer or pastor, secretary or missionary, it doesn't matter: God desires full-time worshippers above full-time ministry workers. How He asks you to live it out then becomes secondary.

I do not believe God has led me to seminary or overseas yet. Who knows if He ever will? All I can do is listen and hang on His every word. But in the meantime, I find it encouraging that as I live my life as a full-time student, I am given the opportunity to worship Him in all things, from studying to praying to sustaining the Earth.

(And this is all God-centered, of course; not done for the thing itself, but directed totally towards Him).

And finally here it is, the said below linked article. Hope you like it.

Haha

see more Epic Fails

I am totally spoiled.

Currently in a love affair with the new david crowder album. It's complex, fresh, and satisfying for the soul.

The weather is near perfect today. PTL for sunny days.

Do. Do do. Dododo. Do. Do do do do. Do. Do do. Dododo. Do. Do do oh happiness! There's grace! For all of us and the whole human race! Oh happiness!

I've run into so many umbrellas today with my own umbrella...us socal folk have yet to learn the art of living with rain.

Success!

Testing a new way of blogging from my phone.

Addendum to last post

Thanks to Ms Faith Chan for helping to clarify my last post. Her comment at the end proves valuable in redeeming the last paragraph of my entry, so I ask you to please take a look at what she had to say =).

Speaking of faith, if you haven't had a chance to read one of her latest entries, take a gander and enjoy. I actually meant to link to it a couple weeks ago, but again, I'm bad at blogging. So here it is now, hope you enjoy!

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Currently working on pharmacy school secondary applications. Man, so much worry involved concerning the whats and whens of the future. Much prayer still to be done.

A little gem from Mr. Oswald Chambers: "Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work."

John 15:8

This post is not about DC,

so I apologize. I've never been very good at blogging; I'm still trying to find my niche. Serious or funny? Impulsive or meticulously thought out? An outlet for venting or a source of inspiration? All options offer their pros and cons. I'll keep trying to find that niche in the meantime.

God worked in a tangible way to bring me here this week to UCLA. My family and I planned to take a cruise vacation from Friday until Monday (today), plans made long before servants' team meeting. Min gave me a call a week ago, with a challenge to skip the cruise in order to be here this week. But it wasn't that cut and dry, considering we already paid in full (some $300) for a cruise without a refund policy. My parents even wanted me to go to servants' meeting and be there during fall rush. So what to do?

I saw no way to both honor my parents and my pastor simultaneously. I could complain and guilt my parents into letting me go, but fortunately I correctly deemed such an idea as immature. On the other hand I could completely skip fall rush activities, an enticing option after participating in two previous grueling fall rushes. But I really wanted to be at UCLA, on the ground, with my fellowship, growing and laughing and laboring together, for God and for each other.

I drowned in worry for a few days, unsure of what steps to take. Even my typically active imagination failed to concoct a scenario in which all parties, my parents, my pastor, and myself, felt satisfied. Twas a sad time.

But I did one thing correctly: ceased striving and gave it up to God. In the context of submission to my elders (parents and pastor) in 1 Peter 5, I gave up my worries, "casting my anxieties upon God," trusting He cared for me. Honestly, this may be one of first times I've ever truly attempted to cast my cares upon God consistently over the period of a few days, in heavy contrast to my typical shotgun-style prayer life.

And He answered. On Sunday after service at my home church in San Diego, my dad stopped me and told me he wanted me to go to LA, thus forfeiting family time and the money. Pastor Steven preached about seeing the world through the lenses of the gospel, a message specifically honed to inspire my dad to kingdom-driven action.

That one moment with my dad, standing in the courtyard with his hand on my shoulder and a smile wrapped on my face, will be a treasure one day in heaven we will share with each other and with Christ. This is what it means to store up treasures in heaven. And that is why I am here this weekend.

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I'm facing a similar situation right now, so if you could keep me in your prayers, we can rejoice together with God's answer, whatever it may be: my parents let me go with the condition that I work on my pharmacy school secondary applications, and that if I did not finish, I would come up for a couple days before school starts in order to finish the apps. Despite making sure to work on these applications, I am still a good ways away from finishing. However, going home to work on them does not seem like a good idea from a ministry standpoint (i would miss a lot) nor a practical standpoint (i would struggle to write quality essays in such a short time). So please pray that I would be able to do the same thing: cast my cares to God, not trying to manipulate Him into an answer (and thus misusing the promises of John 15:7 and the like), but being confident that even if I have to go home and forfeit ministry time, I will glorify God by honoring my parents. Pray that I would have wisdom, yearning to seek the approval of God above the approval of my parents and my pastor and my friends. The latter three approvals may not always be there and many times will clash, but the one approval that matters is between me and God.

He believes in me, enough to call me out and give me the world if I want it. How freaking cool is that, that He would entrust me with His work of healing and reconciliation and peace and love and joy and all goodness. Who, me? But He believes in me. And that is enough to make it through one more day.

It's Time

It's time to resurrect this thing.

...

But not now. Later this week =P. It'll be about Washington DC.

How do you spell epic?

F-R-E-S-H-M-E-N 2012. You guys rock my socks.

And of course, the 09' girls. Ya'lls are awesome too =).

Best cafe night i've been too. Phil 3:7-8 baby.

6AM and a ribozyme later...

All nighter baby!!! It's 6AM and i'm spending time with ribozymes.

God has me beaming this morning =).

Rendezvous Fun

Three random moments of happiness from this past week, all at Rendezvous (a dorm eatery at UCLA).

1) Friday special at Rendezvous: Pork Torta

(Pork between two buns, with tomatoes, beans, guacamole and lettuce. So good!!!)

2) Thursday night battle royale: Steph vs Sharon

3) Thursday night battle royale: Tiff vs Elaine

Training

A video a friend sent me recently. Enjoy!

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I sat staring into the eyes of one of my IBS guys earlier tonight, listening intently, thinking deeply, asking the Spirit for something wise to say, wishing my guy knew God, and one big thought that came to my mind was...I wish I knew more scripture. Haha. This is literally the 6th time God has chided me of this in the past two weeks. I am realizing time and time again that at the end of the day, it is God's Word that sticks. I could give the most eloquent gospel presentation, expound beautifully on the truth that God's glory and our joy go hand in hand, or speak a timely, deep truth into someone's life at just the right moment, but many times the one thing that will be remembered is something from God's word. I've seen this happen through talks I've had with others, and I've experienced this firsthand as well. God has used Erick Loh to speak into my life, many times eloquently and timely, with deep conviction, passion, and the love of a spiritual parent, yet the only thing I remember a week later is the verse Erick gave me to get through the hard time. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So buckle down, boys and girls. Luke 9:23 says that we must pick up cross daily if we want to be a follower of Jesus. But don't forget the promise of verse 24. In fact, verse 23 taken without verse 24 only leads to legalism and shorting out and falling short. Never forget Jesus' promise, that those who pick up their crosses and lose their lives will instead find their lives. =). It's a promise I forgot, which is why I slowed down my scripture memory, evangelism, prayer, and appreciation of my family. But now, remembering this truth, I remember why I train. We bring God glory by finding delight in Him. Oh BABY what a truth.

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By the way, sorry for the overabundance of bold and italic words in this entry. My writing is not yet strong enough to convey what i'm trying to say without the use of such lame literary crutches. =P

=). God is good, yes? Holla.

Glory

All the sweat....

All the tears...

All the blood...

Erick Loh's blood spilled in the line of Ultimate Frisbee battle...

Aaron's glorious head flesh woundage:

(so what if he sustained it in a poorly organized dogpile....tis a flesh wound nonetheless).

Why?

ALL FOR GLORY!!!

VICTORY IS OURS!!!