Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Spring is Here
It reminds me of how much I hate birds.
Monday, March 29, 2004
i love how i'm so easily made happy. :) a word, a touch, a smile, an email. yay.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
empowering God's ppl with good theology... a seminar series!
SEMINAR
faith goes to work/christianity in the workplace
april 17 @ tyndale
9-4:30 pm
$75 (includes lunch & seminar materials)
- taught by dr. jeff greenman
this seminar explores the connections between christian faith and the everyday world of the 'secular' workplace where most christians spend their time. how can i live as a faithful disciple of christ in the marketplace? is it possible to view my job as a ministry? we will discuss strategies for engaging in transformative leadership as christians in a pluralistic workplace.
i'm going to this seminar at tyndale on april 17th. thought i'd pass the info along to you guys in case anyone was interested. $75 sounds like a lot, but ann has been going to these things (they have them every 3 wks) and she says it's definitely worth it!
american girl in paris (part deux)
i just watched the finale of satc. *sigh* it was so different from the usual episodes - touching on a lot of life issues in a more openly serious way, rather than covered under the lightheartedness and reflective analysis of carrie. but i'm a sucker for having my heartstrings pulled, so i absolutely loved it. *sigh* *sigh* *sigh*
i am sooo glad carrie ended up with mr. big... they were always meant to be together! her knight in shining armour! that one scene - "carrie, you're the one..." "kiss me, you big crybaby"... aaaahhh!! i'm melting!! lol. i loved how miranda selflessly gave of herself to care for steve's mom in such a way that takes a ton of humility and incredible amounts of love. harry and charlotte will finally have their baby. and samantha and smith's relationship just goes to show what can happen when you find the right person... *sigh* :) that spring, crocus symbolism was sweet and too unoriginal, but pretty funny at the same time!
and in the end, the girls were re-united! i love happy endings. :)
Friday, March 26, 2004
man, i'm blogging with a vengeance again. what is wrong with me?! i think it's cuz i'm in a good mood. :P
ok, one last blog before i go to bed. :P
dream digest
the details are sorta vague, but i'll share as much as i can remember.
i was hanging out with josie joe and a bunch of us went over to matt's house to chill. there was this new wing of his house that was decorated in white, grey and lavender. on the way to the back tv room, i passed by a table that looked like it was ready for dinner - there was a bowl full of mussels and rice (not just white rice, but purple rice mixed in with it. it made me think of taro).
so i was hanging out with josie joe (i have no idea why i dreamed about joe - i think it was cuz i ran into him at mitchell's the other wk! lol.) and i think he was doing karate moves on me. strange. anyhow... i went over to the big bedroom and dennis was there with a pile of these big huge pictures that i think were maybe 1 ft x 2 ft. they were backgrounds for these professional portraits that him and megan were gonna have done. he was trying to choose from the whole pile, so i climbed onto the bed and started going thru them with him. matt showed up and started looking thru them with us.
all of a sudden, a movie started showing on the wall of the bedroom. wongs showed up and was watching the movie with the bunch of us. we recognized scenes from the movie that the backgrounds that dennis had been looking through were from!! diff crops of scenes from the movie - a sunset here, an explosion there, a blue ocean scene, etc.
next thing i knew, we were at a country club-like place to play mini-golf. (it reminded me of some church retreat places. concrete and brown painted wood) we were in all diff grps lining up at the ticket window to pay and play. wongs was my mini-golfing partner. he told me he had come all the way back to toronto to hang out with me cuz he was sad he hadn't gotten to talk to me much this time on his last visit (hahahahahahahaha). as we were approaching the ticket window, we noticed we needed these GMG passes to get in. but neither of us had them, so we weren't sure what to do. when it was our turn, we told the guy we didn't have them and he said - oh, that's quite alright. you get to go over here then. he directed us down another hallway and when we went thru the door and onto the mini-golf course (which was more like a big lawn with things set up. we were under an awning and could see the fence where the neighbour's yard started), we were half way through the course already! grps of our friends were already playing behind us. for some reason we thought this was great! so we started playing.
i forget the rest....
O_o
with the coming of warmer weather, i feel the need to relive my europe experiences!! who wants to sit on a patio under the sun, sip cappucinos and ppl watch with me?? :) and take sniper pix of ppl walking past just like the old man in croatia. lol. and find a place with cevapcici!!!! (these ground meat sausage-looking like thingies that you eat with a pita and are quite tasty. they're turkish. is there a turkey town anywhere around here?)
who needs to travel when you've got friends who do? :P
i was treadmilling this evening and watching the food network as usual. the thirsty traveller came on and i watched attentively. since the treadmill is super loud, i could not hear a word of the program. the scenes flashed by and the buildings and architecture looked familiar. and i'm like - hmm... WHERE is that? i I KNOW that place!! then they showed the "tivoli" sign and the colourful houses and water that i recognized to be nyhavn!!!!!! THAT'S when i knew it was copenhagen!!
and how did i know it was copenhagen? not cuz i've ever been there myself. no sirree. but cuz WONGS has and i remember all his really nice pix of the place!!!
ya know, it really is so educational and enriching to live vicariously through good friends who travel. :) i've seen all the famous sites of western europe just cuz of that fact! i've poured over every picture of friends who have gone on backpacking trips and contikki tours. i know it like the back of my hand! lol. totally kidding.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
decisions, decisions, decisions... [sigh] [agonized look] God, please give me some of solomon's wisdom!!
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
all this talk about obesity... makes me wanna go jump on the treadmill! it's pretty scary actually.
EXERCISE!!
and stop eating til you drop. just like shopping, that's not the way to go!
Monday, March 22, 2004
you're probably wondering why i haven't been blogging very much these days, eh? i dunno. a big part of it is cuz i've been quite busy lately that whenever i have a spare moment, i don't want to spend it in front of the computer. i'd rather be up in my room reading or cleaning or resting or playing piano or singing. i also don't like it when ppl read my blog and think they know everything that's going on in my life but never even talk to me.
i subconsciously stopped updating about what i've been up to on this blog. whenever i wanna blog, it's usually just about thoughts or dreams. and those come and go quickly if i don't take the time to write 'em down.
ya know, i really can't believe it's march 22nd already. the new yr JUST started the other day. really!! we were all at justin's partying and movie-ing. when did it become MARCH!? and the END of march at that??!! crazy.
wongs and stefanie came and went, i went to a lingerie shower, visited my grandma in waterloo and finished "chasing the dragon" and "courageous leadership" all in one wk. busy busy.
whenever ppl ask me how things are going, i always have to stop and think. how ARE things going with me? i dunno... jen put it best one time - there are so many diff layers, how to describe them all? superficially i could be doing fine, even though relationships with others are not, or when i stop and think i could be super stressed but too busy to realize this. anyhow. time to go contact some more ppl about stuff.
Friday, March 19, 2004
Go Leafs (fans) Go (to Ottawa)!
Leaf Jerseys banned in Ottawa. Okay, tell me that that is not an invitation for every Leaf Fan going to, not just Leaf at Sens games, but to every Sens home game to go fully decked in Leaf garb and to be sure to go out of their way to make the biggest Leaf signs and to wave the biggest Leaf flags and I'll tell you you're as cock-a-mamie as this idea. You know what would be funny tho.. if the Leafs showed up in Habs jerseys.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Who Are The Ad Wizards That Came Up W/ This One?
The other day I was watching Omni 2 during their Cantonese broadcast when an ad for Dodge Trucks came one. You know, the "that thing got a hemi?" commercial, only this time w/ Cantonese over dubs. Now, I'm no marketing genius but I think it's fair to say those Dodge marketing guys need to have their heads checked. Either that or there's some secret bet going on between them and the boys at Mercedes to put more Chinese in pick-ups than Hicks in Benzes. I'm the ruralest (of the Canadian rural) Chinese person I know and I don't think it's much of a stretch to say I was the ruralest Chinese person watching that commercial and I'll tell ya, a pick-up ain't anywhere near my most sought after cars list. There are what, maybe a million Chinese people in Canada? Of that mil, about a dozen of whom (4 being my family) do not live in the city? Which of us 12 in this vast target audience of yours is going to buy your Dodge truck to justify that commercial? Hell, I don't even know what 'hemi' is for crying out loud. Whatever it is, you can keep it and I'll take a rice rocket instead.
Monday, March 15, 2004
i had the bizarrest dream last wk. it involved giving birth to a baby boy, breastfeeding, pumping milk and blood and sewing needles. i'll spare you the details.
wow, this wkd has been so great. i went to missionfest all 3 days and every time God was speaking to me. i've got lots to think about, pray about, learn and work on. i've already started! maybe i'll share with you one day.
God is GOD. he can do anything. so of course he can heal ppl dying of cancer, change the hearts of stubborn parents to give their daughter blessing to go into full time ministry, even make someone love someone he doesn't want to. but will he? a lot of times, that's what i have a problem with when it comes to faith. i know God can. of course he is able. but will he? are the motives right? has he really given me this vision? or am i simply fooling myself? is this really what she should be doing or is she acting foolishly in all her passion? is this what God desires, or is it only what i desire? when all circumstances point towards the opposite, did the holy spirit really tell me that this particular situation will happen... or did i dream it up cuz i wanted it so badly? all these questions. all these doubts. it's a good thing that even faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.
Monday, March 08, 2004
random thoughts
1. has anyone ever noticed the decreasing stickiness of masking tape lately?? when i was a kid, masking tape used to stick. real good! i used it to put up all my roberto alomar and joe carter posters on my wall. (yes, i was a baseball fan. not nkotb! :P) but when i got to university, the masking tape no longer stuck! well, i noticed it began in 4th yr. all my posters kept falling down. you can ask amy - we'd have to keep on rubbing those posters cuz they kept falling on us. what was with that?! i bought a 6-pack of masking tape from biz depot (biz depot of all places!! you'd think they'd sell sticky masking tape there) and then found out it wouldn't stick long enough to keep posters on my walls for 8 months. what am i gonna do with 6 rolls of non-sticky masking tape?? good for nothing except lint removal. maybe i can make my own lint brush out of a roll...
2. yay, it SNOWED AGAIN!!! i love snow. i love winter. i don't love cold, but i grin and bear it cuz i love the other 2 things that it is inevitably caused by. there's something so beautiful about freshly fallen snow, untouched by human hands/feet/inventions. i used to stare out my bedroom window (when i had a front lawn view) and watch the snow fall in the beam of the street lamps at night. [sigh] (i'm such a reminiscer :P) i'm so glad it snowed cuz it means i haven't missed my opportunity for winter memory capturing!! just when i thought i had missed my chance to take pix of snow covered trees and peaceful, silent, hibernating nature. i'm gonna go to morningside park tmr!! :)
3. hmm... when i started posting there were several more random thoughts... hmm... blogging makes my mind go blank. O_o
4. oh yeah, i remember one of them now. has anyone ever been a witness in court before? matt and i have been summoned to go to court on tues cuz we witnessed a car accident way back in april last yr. i wonder if we'll be in and out or if we'll hafta stick around for a long time. has anyone ever sat thru jury duty before? i kinda wanna try it... for the experience. (i'm all about experiences. :P) why couldn't they have asked me now when i'm unemployed, rather than last jan when i was working?? :P
Saturday, March 06, 2004
i'm starting to get the sense that God doesn't want me to go overseas... not yet.
the thought occurred to me last saturday. first it was the internship last fall, then it was the uprising in haiti, and now the door to haiti has closed completely. emmanuel international won't be sending anyone over there til everything has settled down (which could be who knows how long) and not until they've found an ex-pat rep to oversee all the programs in haiti (which will probably take another while since it's hard to find someone with that much experience and desire to stay there long term).
i met up with ei judy yesterday and she told me all this. along with her exciting news of her field placement in sudan and starting a phd afterwards. she said she'd email the rep in malawi to see if they needed anyone in health & nutrition over there and also ask the internship coordinator to pull out my file for the upcoming internships this summer. but at what point do i know with certainty that God has closed the door to my going overseas at this point, accept that, and focus on other things for the time being?
i have been applying to jobs in toronto - albeit a very select couple (not even a few). i've been very picky, not wanting to be "stuck" in a job i don't love or have even the slightest passion for. the way i saw it, if i was to be in toronto for any length of time, it should be worthwhile and in a job that builds on my skills - not something that i dread doing every day. i was THIS close (put your fingers an inch apart) to getting a job, and then it disintegrated. an inside report said i had been hired and they were only doing the paperwork - but apparently hiring more ppl didn't end up being approved by HR even though they were in desperate need of ppl. or so i was told.
i also have this nagging thought that i haven't made the most of my time off. yes, it's been a blessing to be able to rest and to throw myself into church life and ministry activities. and God has rewarded our hard work in the growth and development of our fellowship. but i've neglected my own projects at home, developing my own personal interests, updating my nutrition knowledge, nutrition counselling the ppl that i've begun to, organizing my own life. i haven't spent much time job searching or even re-building relationships with my parents and siblings.
the possibility of serving the poor in a developing country seemed so close after graduation. the internship would give me a foot in the door and from there i would've been able to make connections and would be back in the field before i knew it. that's how it often works for interns. but now... it seems so far away. i've already done searches for all the big NGOs and UN organizations. it's extremely hard to get a job there with no work or field experience. they don't need ppl right now anyhow. that's the impression i get.
God has been using these past few months off to mold me and change my perspective on important issues. and i know he has a lot more work to do on me. i wonder if i should put aside the thought of going overseas now. and settle into life in toronto. i've been in a constant period of waiting, listening, searching. maybe it's time to stop.
THE QUARRY
His thoughts said, The time of preparation for service is longer than I had imagined it would be, and this kind of preparation is difficult to understand.
His Father said, "Think of the quarry whence came the stone for My house in Jerusalem."
THE TOOLS
His thoughts said, I wonder why these special tools are used?
His Father said, "The house, when it was building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
"If thou knewest the disappointment it is to the builders when the stone cannot be used for the house, because it was not made ready before it was brought thither, if thou knewest My purpose for thee, thou wouldest welcome any tool if only it prepared thee quietly and perfectly to fit into thy place in the house."
~ Amy Carmichael
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
Killing All Animals
Thanks to our urban sprawling, not only are we destroying nature, but we also can't get cool stuff like this.
