Friday, October 31, 2003
nutrition news
trans fat 101 (just for you, dai ;) and even a bit on sports nutrition!
a reporter came over tonight to interview my parents for cbc radio one. go mom & dad!! :)
Thursday, October 30, 2003
i think that with guys, once you get to know them well, they start treating you like dirt.
addendum: does not apply to romantic relationships. just plain ol' friendships. and as a disclaimer, not ALL guys are like this. just a lot. :) this statement was not made in a burst of rage or venting, but simply an observation i've noticed over a period of time.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
words can destroy. what we call each other ultimately becomes what we think of each other, and it matters.
~ jeane j. kirkpatrick, diplomat
don't forget breakfast!
Breakfast is very important for enhancing learning and mental performance. Many studies have shown that children who skip breakfast do not perform as well in areas of mathematics, problem solving, information selection and recall and language skills compared to kids who do eat breakfast. Breakfast foods supply carbohydrate (glucose), which the brain cells use for energy.
A breakfast that will help sustain a child's energy levels longer will include carbohydrate and protein plus a little fat instead of carbohydrate (e.g. toast or bagel) only. This combination provides longer lasting energy; more stable blood sugar levels, which your brain relies on for energy throughout the day. E.g. peanut butter on toast; cottage cheese and fruit; cheese on a whole grain bagel; cereal, milk and fruit; yogurt and toast with peanut butter.
~ leslie beck
this applies to ADULTS too. :)
the "canadian tire" phenomenon! hahahahahahahahaha.
mmmMMMM... i'm feelin' like some indian!! maybe i can get my hands on those cookbooks. :)
which reminds me, i forgot to try those baked apples, angee!!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
happy birthday, carrie! and vicky too. :) my long lost cousin.
and before i forget, some congrats are in order!!
here's to amy - congrats for passing your driving test. now you can join the rest of us on the road!! :P
here's to brian - congrats on your new job!! (working hard as we speak. ;) and here's hoping you get that discount on lego!!!! cuz that's the REAL reason you're working, right? ;)
ohohoh... and ONE MORE!!! that i'm trying hard to hold in. :P but gotta wait til i find out if it's a secret or not!!!! but sooo happy for that person!!! :D :D :D
it was so gloooooooooooomy today.
but i had a really great mail day. :)
i woke up this morning and went downstairs for breakfast. my mom handed me a package and i was like - what's this? i didn't order anything from future shop!! i was like - hmm.... so anyhow, i crack it open... and GUESS WHAT IT IS??? norah jones!!!!! :D :D :D thanx, myko!!!!! :) i'm loooovin' it!
here is my fave song from it so far:
New York City
I can't remember what I planned tomorrow
I can't remember when it's time to go
When I look in the mirror
Tracing lines with a pencil
I remember what came before
I wanted to think there was endless love
Until I saw the light dim in your eyes
In the dead of night I found out
Sometimes there's love that won't survive
New York City
Such a beautiful disease
New York City
Such a beautiful, beautiful disease
for such sad words, it's a surprisingly happy sounding song.
and then l8r on in the day, i got more mail!!
one from milka, a girl i met in serbia. (hmm... her name looks like milk!!!) it looks diff when she writes it in all caps: MILKA. ok, maybe not. only when she writes it. :P it took 2 whole wks to get to me! which means she probably is getting my postcard right around the same time. i sure hope she gets it!! it's so much fun getting snail mail again. :) REAL snail mail. all i get these days are bday cards in the mail. not that i don't love those. :) but real mail would be great too!! oh yeah, can't forget all the postcards i get. :D :D :D love those too. ;)
also got my temporary RD license in the mail too. the card thingy. yay me, RD. :D that rhymes. haha.
and my seasonal jcrew catalogue. fun!! i (L) jcrew. too bad it's so expensive. but if you go on at the end of the season, they have big big clearance sales!! that's when i shop. :P i bought a nice chunky turtle neck sweater one time for 14 bucks!!!!! (ok, USD - but that's still pretty good! for super quality.) it's my fave sweater. :) the only thing that sucks is that since it's from the states, they don't cover the return shipping costs if you wanna send 'em back anything. otherwise, they normally do.
ok, WHY am i telling you about my online shopping habits????? (which normally does not exist.) i think i'm rambling... that's a sign to STOP RIGHT HERE. ciao! :)
Monday, October 27, 2003
gosh. yesterday i realized that cuz of my five yr rule, i could potentially date a 30 yr old. O_o maybe i should change my upper limit to 3 yrs.......... 28 doesn't sound quite as bad..........
Sunday, October 26, 2003
i'm smiling... :) cuz God is good. and no matter how i feel on the outside, deep down inside jesus gives me hope and unconditional love and strength. to live life, to move on, to change, to mature. into the creation that i was meant to become. into the person that God sees in me.
and that is enough. :)
thank you, jesus.
Saturday, October 25, 2003
God has been totally blessing us with each fellowship program we have. we just started this college & career grp (still don't have a name yet) at the beginning of aug and have had a few meetings since then. the last 2 have been really good!! we've had some great sharing and discussion, and have been totally feeling God's presence with us.
tonight was one of those nights. we had a time of praise & prayer. half the time was spent in solitude, listening to God, resting at his feet. the other half was spent sharing and praying for each other in small grps. i think it went really well. :) our grp is still in the getting-to-know-each-other stage. but slowly but surely, ppl are starting to open up and share more of themselves with each other. prayer and spending time together in God's presence really helps.
i really pray that this grps becomes a community of true koinonia.
i love spending time with each of these ppl in the grp that i don't really know. and that's 90% of them. i look forward to fri nights when i can hear about how things have been going in their lives, what they're thinking about now, what they're struggling with, praying together, eating together, joking around together, caring for each other together. i love being a part of that. again. slowly, church is becoming more of a community. we have things to say when we see each other on sundays and we actually look forward to times together rather than awkward silences or averted glances. slowly but surely....
and this is how i know God is working among us. :)
are you happy now???
Now, don’t just walk away
Pretending everything’s ok
And you don’t care about me
And I know there’s just no use
When all your lies become your truths and I don’t care...
Could you look me in the eye
And tell me that you’re happy now,
Would you tell it to my face or have I been erased,
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
You took all there was to take,
And left with an empty plate
And you don’t care about it, yeah.
And I, I’ve given up this game
I’m leaving you with all the blame cause I don’t care,
Could you look me in the eye?
And tell me that you’re happy now,
Would you tell it to my face or have I been erased,
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Do you really have everything you want?
You could never give something you ain't got
You can’t run away from yourself
Could you look me in the eye?
and tell me that you`re happy now,
come on tell it to my face or have i been erased,
are you happy now?
are you happy now?
Would you look me in the eye?
Could you look me in the eye?
I’ve had that all I can take
And I’m about to break
Cause I’m happy now,
Are you happy now?
~ michelle branch
what a great song. i've heard it many times before, but never really listened to the exact lyrics til i started to read it on emmses' page. she's got it on repeat and i think i might start putting it on mine!! it's the kinda song that releases anger and hurt, that expreses deep down dark emotions, those i'm-so-angry-and-upset-i-throw-things-at-the-wall outbursts. sometimes those emotions just need to be dealt with.
Friday, October 24, 2003
i have insomnia.......... went to bed a *little* bit earlier tonight and read for an hour... but i've been lying in bed and can't sleep!! too many thoughts running thru my head. trivial thoughts that won't go away... grrr!!
funny quotes from anita
"i'm 26...i'm almost a real person now..."
"we've been going out for almost 10 months... that's MORE than a baby...!!"
hahaha... you're so cute, anita. ;)
angee told me about free gift wrapping at holt. how convenient!! :) i love their home section... so pretty and colourful! i found a candle that smelled amazing... i love citrusy scents cuz they're so uplifting! makes you wanna get up and run around... or float away on a cloud of happy thoughts. :D but they're pretty rare, so i was excited to find this candle. but it was $95. O_o that's more than your $60 candles, angee!!!! i can't afford to be a holt shopper. :P
Thursday, October 23, 2003
shaving cream
i can't believe that i JUST missed midori!!!!!!!!! :( :( :(
she used to be my hero.
:P
memories of sunday school
you know who i thought about yesterday that i haven't thought about in ages?? urkel!! (or is it urkle?) no, not the REAL urkel, but our ex-sunday school teacher, urkel. childhood kwcac'ers will know what i'm talkin about. :) man, brings back memories!! we were such a HORRIBLE bunch of kids when it came to sunday school... we went thru teachers like you wouldn't believe. from parents (i think steph's dad and even uncle joseph tried to teach us. or was it uncle alec?) to univ students (jon ching, anita huang, t-ben). they all couldn't stand us and would give up after less than a term. :P it wasn't that we were esp rude or anything to them... we just sat there. sat there and didn't say a THING. or if we did, they would be typical sunday school answers. lol.
remember the sunday school teacher who drew a dot on the blackboard and made joanna point to it????!!! HAHAHAHA. i won't mention his name so he can retain his dignity. LOL.
anyhoo, so urkel. :) he was a little diff. i think he actually liked us!! or prayed hard about us. :) we nicknamed him urkel cuz his name was... you guessed it... STEVE!! hahahahaha. that was when family matters was big. and he was sorta short and nerdy.... but in a good way. :P when you nickname your sunday school teachers, it means you like them. oh wait, maybe not. i forgot about duckface. lol.
so anyhow, i thought about urkel yesterday cuz i saw his name on the gcn core grp mailing list. and remembered how he emailed me awhile ago when he decided to go to seminary full time. that's cool - a sunday school teacher that we gave a hard time to, but still cared about us enough to email after many yrs!! i knew he had a good heart. :) i should email him sometime. :)
heehee. i thought some of you would get a kick out of this post. ;) can't wait to see you tmr, steph!!
so can anyone (other than my childhood kwcac buddies) guess who urkel REALLY is? :)
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
a perspective on difficulties
“The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.”
~ helen keller
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
the enemy.
i've been realizing just how active satan is lately.
in placing doubts into my head... in distracting me from setting my thoughts on things above.
in bringing me down esp at a time when i am starting to rely solely on God again.
in the lack of prayer in my small grp for each other & for CPC. in our inability to get up on sunday mornings.
in telling me that "nobody will notice, nobody will care if you don't go to church."
in the fact that i didn't show up for church this sunday.
he thrives on discouragement.
but he doesn't have to win.
we have a stronger power on our side.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
~ ephesians 6:10-13
pessimism
i think life is about being stepped on.
and getting back up, forgiving, letting go, becoming stronger, and moving on.
i'm having a hard time being stuck in the forgiving stage right now.
i feel like i've been stepped on a lot.
no offense meant to short guys in the post below. i have some very good guy friends who are short! and i'm pretty darn short myself. ;)
Monday, October 20, 2003
uhoh. i think eagerness in guys turns me off... or maybe it's just any interest at all... from short guys... >.< i think i'm noticing a trend here... ack!!!
learned something new tonight. domino competitions exist. O_o
Sunday, October 19, 2003
happy birthday, erns :)
Birthdays
Oh, and since we seem to be on a roll w/ all these b-days... happy birthday goes today to Ernest. If any of you see him today, be sure to lay on him some good b-day beats.
Shampoo
Some time ago my dad started buying this new type of Head & Shoulders shampoo w/ some "fresh" type stuff added to it. Now, I had always used the same regular H&S as my dad, but this new kind I did not like. The stuff gave off this sorta tingling sensation that felt more like it was eating the flesh off my scalp. Being too lazy to go buy my own shampoo, I just switched over to whatever my mom uses. I tried it, didn't come out of the shower smelling too fruity, so I stuck w/ it... so now aparently I use shampoo that gives women orgasms.
Saturday, October 18, 2003
happy birthday, richard!
Friday, October 17, 2003
drum roll please....
lydia yung, MHSc, RD
for reeeeal!!!
well... only til jan 12... unless i pass my exam. ;)
Thursday, October 16, 2003
happy birthday, anita & sarah!!
feed me!
more fruits, veggies and fish is good.... but a block of butter per wk?! bleeeccch!!
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
hola from paraguay
i got this email today from my friend sarah. she's working in south america, in paraguay, with PAHO as a maternal health advisor (i *think*. not sure of her exact title). she's a friend from my masters program and a really colourful character. :) she's great. as i read her email, i itched to get out there again, to travel, to see the world and to see once again the poverty that pushes me into development, nutrition & health, to do my little part in empowering the poor who are often so full of inexplicable hope in spite of their circumstances. it must be that bit of jesus in them.
here's her email for your reading pleasure. :) she paints a great picture and a great story.
Hola Amigos,
It´s due time for an update, and seeing as I´ve finally found an internet cafe where I don´t have to deal with the harassment of a gaggle of drunken teenagers I can write with peace, or with karma as they say here.
The air is heavy and warm in Paraguay tonight. It´s filled with its usual scent of exhaust fumes, scented ever so slightly with a floral fragrance that makes the nostrils hungry for more. There is more, there are hidden wonders of tropics here, the fruits are incredible, the plants amazing, and although it is a landlocked country it is a sea of green.
It´s been almost 3 weeks since I left Uruguay. As a going away present to myself I decided to take my bike for a ride along the coast, so I boarded a bus and took a long journey to a beautiful isolated coastal town where I had the privilege of being the only tourist. I should remind you that it was about 5 degrees, in Uruguay at this time, hardly the ideal vacationing time. The town was frightenly empty and I questioned exactly what my motivation had been for slipping away from friends and comforts in Montevideo. It only took a bikeride along a long sandy road, into the dunes for me to realize. My eyes, my ears and my barefeet feasted on miles and miles of untouched beach. The ocean pounding out its rhythms the wind whipped at my face and the sun set with a dazzling aray of colours. I felt alive. When I returned to the town (La Paloma), starving (as usual) I had a strange encounter at an internet cafe with a crazy Belgian who was in the process of sailing around the world, and had lost all abilities to interact normally with humans. My meeting with him was a result of mediating and translating a fight that had broke out between him and the owners of an internet cafe. In essence it was a silly communication error, but there were threats to call the police and things became quite unruly. The other encounter was with an interesting artist, who had left his high profile job in Buenos Aires, to live by the sea and draw historic maps of local towns. Needless to say, my dinner that evening was shared with the artist, not the sailor.
The next day, I saddled my bike and headed west, in the direction of Montevideo with the wind at my back and the ocean at my side..., it brought back fond memories. The only unfortunate circumstance was the roadworks, yep lucky me, with no other option I got the pleasure of biking through 2km of freshly laid tar. By the time I finished the endless stretch, filled with countless construction workers both myself and my bike were painted with black, sticky tar. Realizing that wishing it away just wasn{t going to work, I pulled into a local garage and spent the next hour in the se?ora´s back room working my way through a bottle of varsol, scrubbing my flesh raw. By the time I arrived in Punte del Este, I was exhausted but satisfied. My lungs were filled with the ocean air I needed to take me through the next 6 months in Paraguay. The next day I boarded a flight to Asuncion, Paraguay. A flight which I might add, I had the pleasure of sharing with the Uruguayan national football team.
I am currently struggling with the transition into my life in Paraguay. The most difficult element personally, is dealing with having my freedom stripped away. As a woman, I cannot run on the streets, for fear of being mugged or followed, let alone dropping dead from heat exhaustion. I can´t sit under a palm tree and read, I can´t go out at night alone, I can´t even walk through the shopping mall without being acosted. I wish I could be about 1 foot shorter, and have skin a couple shades darker. However bit by bit, I{m learning the ways of the land, I´ve learned to avert my eyes from all men, and my collection of spanish swearwords is improving dramatically.
My work here is still at the overwhelming stage. My current responsibilites are to become an expert in the situation of maternal mortality in Paraguay and become aquainted with the key players, ie. Ministry of Health, national hospitals and key aid organizations. This means that I spend a lot of time in a suit, at fancy meetings, smiling and trying not to sound like a complete idiot as I bumble my way through the formalities of greetings and the mindboggling process of networking in a foreign language. Fortunately people here are incredibly kind, open and encouraging.
Asuncion, the capital city of Paraguay, is not representative of the rest of the country. Here I live like a princess, I rent a beautiful apartment, there is a se?ora that cooks and cleans, my nails are manicured and the cost of a massage here is only $5. Ironically it is these luxuries that I find challenging to deal with. Why am I so fortunate? I look out my balcony and I see a scattering of enormous, beautiful colonial homes mixed with shacks c?mposed of pieces of wood and metal loosely bound together. I walk down the street and a mixture of BMW´s, horse pulled carts and buses rattle down the road. I read the statistics and I realize that this is a country of extemes, there are those that are very rich and those that are very, very poor. Uruguay was nothing in comparison. The difference here however, is that Paraguayans are proud of their country and their heritage and are generally content with their existence. When asked about the economic situation, they shrug their shoulders and ask me if I would like some terere ( a cold mate drink, carted around in large thermoses by the young and old).
Starting this week I will begin my travels into the interior where I will witness and begin to work with aspects of the realities that the rest of this country faces.
I will keep you posted as my views on this new place evolve. Many thanks for the emails, they keep me floating on the days I feel low.
Sending lots of love,
Sarah
i woke up at 7 today... O_o it was dark and stormy... and then i waited at the hospital for 45 min just to see the dr for 2 min and have him tell me to call another specialist.
the bright side is that i started reading "serving as senders" by neil pinola and it's a great book. it's inspired me to do gather my own support grp around me as i prepare for the future and what is to come.
i forgot to check mail yesterday, but got a pleasant surprise just now when i checked the mailbox. here's the sweetest card i received for my bday:
if you ever forget just how special you are, i'll always be here to remind you. happy birthday.
thanx, lill. :) you're the best. :)
have a safe day, everyone! it's hurricane weather out there! O_o
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
happy birthday to me...
... and tree...
...... and trish....
......... and patty.....
............and pastor b......
.............. and jenn g ........
lol. i share my bday with tons of ppl!!
Happy Birthday Lyds!
shown lotsa love tonight. :)
but i'm sad inside...
blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. but his delight is in the law of the lord, and on this law he meditates day and night. he is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither. everything he does prospers....
being a libra sux.
but... at the same time i sorta like it this way... talk about messed up.
trish would understand. heh.
Sunday, October 12, 2003
what a very happy thanksgiving.
fri
- slept in
- good catch up, sharing and picture show-and-tell time with jamesies
- lotsa-discussion-bible-study on prayer at cpc c&c fellowship - God was there!! i think we're starting to open up to each other. :)
sat
- dim sum with family & erin ;)
- resting and time with God
- big thanksgiving family dinner - cranberry brie, stuffed turkey breast, crab, mashed potatoes, corn, strawberry & cappuccino gelato!
- satc, queer eye for the straight guy :P
sun
- worship team with new vocalists
- lunch with MIKE and angee, matt, tony, bigjon - europe pix critiquing of my subconscious compositions :P
- cultured with angee at the AGO edgar degas exhibit - sculptures are great. and so is pop art!! i think i have potential. :P - interviewed by radio canada!
- practise and celebration worship service at knox - i miss singing my heart out for God. :) now that i actually know how to sing my heart out. ;) and also singing with a euge-led team. :P
- unexpected phone call from CATH. she's doing great in halifax!!!! i miss her lots. good sharing time.
thanks, God - for a great wkd and for all the good things in my life - family, friends, many many many blessings. but also for trials and suffering... cuz they build character. (james 1:2-4 <-- read if you don't believe me! ;)
tmr i start my new full-time job... can't wait! :D
what a crack-me-up conversation jo and i had tonight. :P darn 14 yr old boys!!?? lol.
btw, i added commenting cuz theguestbook.com is removing their free service soon.... :( gotta find a new gbk!!
Saturday, October 11, 2003
insomniac
these days i haven't been able to sleep. so i stay awake and lie in bed. and think frustrating thoughts.
inspired by sus, i have decided to write this entry.
one thing that has always bothered me about myself is how highly influenced i am by my envt - the ppl around me, the atmosphere, the circumstances. why can't i just be me?
why do loud and boisterous ppl scare me into silence? but other times, i can be one of them as well? well, i guess you can't say that i am ever boisterous... (boisterous. adj rough and stormy; violent. loud, noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline).
why is it that when i am with some ppl, i have nothing to say... but when we are part, so much comes to mind that i wished i had said?
why am i boring and quiet and not funny with some ppl? why am i loud and outgoing and lots of fun to be around with others?
why do i put down such happy thoughts when i am really hurting inside? why do i try to be happy on the outside when i am not happy on the inside? why do i hide when i feel pain?
why do i have so little to say sometimes? some ppl think i am a mouse. why do i have so much to say sometimes? some ppl think i am a chatterbox.
why do ppl keep telling me i should have no trouble finding a boyfriend?! and wondering why i am still single?
why am i so annoying to some ppl, but so loveable to others?
how can i be such a fool in one person's eyes, but full of wisdom to another?
why do i forget God when i vow so strongly to remember him in everything? why do i stop praying when others don't want to pray? why do i lose enthusiasm for God when those around me lose enthusiasm for him? why do i stop praying when that is what i know i need the most?
why am i so hurt by words that ppl say... even when i think they do not mean it so strongly? why do ppl say that i have grace in taking unintentionally hurtful things ppl say in stride?
why do i focus only on the love i do not receive when all around me there is love being offered to me?
... what IS me?
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."
~ matthew 16:24, 25
When the night seems so long (throw your hands to the sky)
You can sing a new song (wipe the tears from your eyes)
When you're weak, He is strong
He can heal your wounded soul
And calm the storm inside
For all your times of laughter
In every hopeful prayer
When the world weighs on your shoulders
Through sorrow and despair
With everything, with every breath, praise the Lord
Let everything, let every breath praise the Lord
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord....
~ Marc Byrd, With Every Breath
these are some things that i have been thinking about and listening to lately.
bwana asifiwe. asifiwe sana.
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face... and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. "
ann told me about ..... mike.
Friday, October 10, 2003
today was a GOOD day.
it's days like these when i am reminded of all the friends God has blessed me with in toronto... the close ones and the not-so-close ones. but dear ones all the same.
just 6 yrs ago, i'd sit at home alone in the summer... and savour the silence and time alone. but wish i was back in kitch.
now i have no lack of friends to go out and play with or call when i am lonely.
and what a different person i am today.
Thursday, October 09, 2003
dum dee dum dee dum....
i had a whole lot to say earlier, but now i just forgot!
today was such a beautiful day!!! sun! waah! and 25 degrees... ka-razeeee! so i had to go for a run of course. couldn't let that lovely weather pass on by. felt like summer again. i got my wish! heehee.
ya know what's good for weight loss? travelling & depression. yes, what a great combo. i'm down to the lowest weight i've ever been in ages... not that you could tell from looking at me. lol.
ooo.... my europe pix are ready for pick up!! at walmart. :P and i saved a whopping $10 by doing the multi-day service thingy. i think i'm gonna do that from now on - it'll save me a whole lotta moo-la in the long run! i can't wait to relive that amazing croatian scenery and mind-numbing church & building picture-taking fatigue again! aaaah.... the joys! "what's this building? umm.... i really have no idea... another cathedral in a city in the balkans somewhere!" lol.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
psalm 30... a psalm that has given me a lot of comfort tonight.
i've started reading the psalms lately and discovered a book on my bookshelf that i had gotten at urbana for free. it's called "living the psalms: a confidence for all seasons". i started reading it and it's quite good! makes the psalms come alive and relevant to our lives. i've never studied the psalms before, so this is new for me and really interesting. i've also been finding comfort in the lord in different ways... much more than before. i think i'm growing. :)
I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast drawn me up,
and hast not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to thee for help,
and thou hast healed me.
Thou hast turned my mourning into dancing;
thou hast loosed my sackcloth
and girded me with gladness,
that my soul may praise thee and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
~ psalm 30:1-2, 11-12, 4-5
Sunday, October 05, 2003
it's been a good couple of days.
i had a breakthrough on friday and i think i'm back to my old self again. God is good... he's all i need!!
but it hasn't been easy, let me tell you. it takes effort to constantly re-focus on the lord and remember his goodness to me. every time i drift away and think about the things that have been distracting me from him, i meditate on psalm 1. and it really helps! it gives me peace. and assurance. and renewed determination to grow grow grow. not to be a child any longer, not to be tossed about like waves by the wind, not to be like a man who looks at his reflection in the mirror and then immediately forgets, not to be like a baby and drink only milk. i want to be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season. drawing strength from the real source. benefiting those around me. and bringing glory to God.
i went to a chinese fellowship with susannah on fri. it was the one at jaffray and i think she had a good time. i was surprised by how much i understood too. :) not that i understood everything, just more than i thought i would. and i learned a new word too - pac san toh (not just pac toh!). i hope susannah finds a fellowship soon... cuz she's been looking for awhile. which led me to think about my own fellowship and support grp. since i've been back, my small grp seems to have lost heart/commitment/passion for it... everyone is so busy. i don't know what to think and i'm quite sad and disappointed by it all. i guess we will talk about it this wk when we meet, but yeah... so many things seem to have happened while i was away and i can't seem to fit back in anymore. but as i type this, God reminds me that it's not about me... and where i'm supposed to be. it's about him and what he's doing. and so i'm gonna keep my eyes and ears open to see what God has been doing while i was away and praise him for that.
jon shared at missions fellowship last night and there was a big turnout! the biggest turn out in a loong time. it was good to see. :) and to pray with ppl again. jon and his friend matt shared about their trip to turkey this summer. God was good to them and they had a great time, experiencing turkish hospitality and sharing the love of christ with them. so often we go in thinking we have so much to offer to share to tell them, but it's always a turn of the tables when God shows us how much we have to learn from the ppl that we are there to minister to.
one thing i thought of was why do we always talk about how much/little english ppl know? if we went to another country, why do we expect ppl to speak english to be able to communicate with us? we shouldn't expect them to - they are not living in north america or england, but in their own country... they grew up speaking and communicating in their native language. why should we expect them to learn english to communicate with us? it should be us who learn their language to communicate with them. i'd like to learn more languages!
service today felt more like home. the music was more lively and i discovered that sitting at the back is almost as good as being on stage - you get to see who comes in late and i can pinpoint ppl that i wanna talk to after service. :) the only problem is that i'm so far away from the speaker that i can't concentrate as well as when i'm up front and centre! so anyhow... there were lotsa ppl that i wanted to talk to after service today. but as soon as i finished talking to shirley and viet, everyone had disappeared. man. we really should barricade the doors or something. lol. it's so hard... i see so many ppl who just come and go and really could use some drawing into the family of God at cpc. i wish everyone felt the same way and welcomed someone next to them and actually TALKED to them. like talk talk, not just - hi, how ya doin? that's nice, i'm fine too. now isn't the weather nice today? blah. anyone can do that. but then again, i'm reminded that it's not just a sunday thing. it's an every day thing. i really should make more time to email ppl and call them, not just talk to them on sundays.
umm.... ok, i think that's all i have to say for now. :P
Thursday, October 02, 2003
hahahahahaha
what i don't understand about women's clothes
i woke up at 8 am today. i think it's time for a nap. :P
hmm....
i usually keep my mouth shut about political issues cuz i really can't make intelligent conversation about them... :P but i think this time i have to put in my 2 cents worth.
since we LIVE in canada.... and ontario, i think it's important that we know how the govts work and what the issues are. to be completely honest, i don't stay on top of issues usually but when election time comes around i at least try to read about it so that i can make a somewhat educated vote at the polls. it's not even that hard to find... all you gotta do is go to www.thestar.com and click on the election section.
here are some articles i found helpful:
last look at the election issues
campaign promises
so pls, pls find out about the issues and vote for what you think is right for you and ontario. there's so much more than just tax cuts!!!
and don't say one vote won't make a diff cuz ernie eves said he won his first election by 6 votes!!!
... after my last minute reading and decision making, i think i'm rooting for ndp tmr... i'm completely biased towards social programs and health care. :)
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
so i crawled out of bed at 5 pm today... hmm...
forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead... i press on toward the goal...
help.
a celebration of tolstoy at u of t
hey, this sounds sorta interesting. anyone wanna go? i'm continuing my quest to be cultured. :P too bad i can't pay student prices anymore! >.<
