(:
"There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going."
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
March 10, 2012
How to summarize today? To summarize today would not be summarizing just today. Rather, it would be months and months leading up to today. Ah, I don't know why but it just feels like I can't write anymore. I know I have to because I'll never do if I don't do it now, but it's just so hard. I don't know why. Bear with me?
Here I go:
My initial reactions after the SAT was -- "I'M ALIVEEEE." Thinking back to it, I'm regretting on how I did on the math section, but I can't do that. The test is over and I need to hand everything to God. I need to claim God's promises over and over again. Even though the test is over, I need to keep praying and claiming God's promises. During the test, I was repeating -- "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (:
I'm so thankful. God has taught me so much through these two months. So much that I wouldn't be able to put it into a blog post. So much that I have to tell you in person, but I would just keep going on that you would stop listening to me. Therefore you can get little snippets.
The weather today was so beautiful - it was sunny, bright, and warm. I don't think I'll forget this day - March 10th like how I still remember December 6th.
SAT - I had to think of it as something fun. The passages weren't that boring as I thought they would be. I found them pretty interesting. Previously my dad told me I had to find the passages fun. If I found them boring, I wouldn't understand the passages; if I didn't understand the passages, I wouldn't be able to answer the questions correctly.
I felt like I had an army with me going into the SAT room. In reality, it was me versus paper (how silly), but really, it was just me taking the test. Yet, it didn't feel like that. I know people were praying for me and that is just an amazing feeling. I have my confidence solely on God. I know that he will prevail and be victorious. I know that God is the God who answers prayers and I trust that he will answer the prayers of all these people praying for me. It wasn't just me combating and conquering the SATs. It was like I had an whole army supporting me -- a prayer army, that is. So thank you to everyone who prayed for me! It was so encouraging. (:
Throughout the test, I was thinking -- "Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate." "God, you are so good." "God, please help me." "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."
I feel like I've climbed a mountain. I did. Just not a real one. The devotional for today is titled "Testing Reveals Your Heart." The verse is "God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not" (Deut 8:2). The past two months, a part of me has wondering -- "Why? Why can't I just go to Mexico?" But God has shown so much grace over me -- over and over again. It was definitely a struggle and I need to stop thinking that everything's going to be easy from now on, but if I do get over 2000, I have come a looong way in one month. Actually, having a goal or a reason for doing well on the SAT probably helped me. Before I didn't feel the need to do well, but then, my SAT score mattered more than just for college (which seems so far away but really isn't). It taught me to trust God -- to choose a life full of hope. To believe God can do anything. It forced me to learn some new vocabulary words (elusive vocabulary words...).
I learned extremely valuable things. Though suffering is extremely hard, it teaches you like nothing else can. I believe that I will have to use what I learned in the future. That's exciting and scary at the same time!
Now I must go back to piano and violin lessons. I need more motivation!
After taking the SATs, I went ice skating! I think I like the thought of ice skating much more than the real thing. I'm so bad at it, hahaa. I fell three times and almost fell like ten times. Actually it wasn't my fault that I fell the first time. There was a little girl near me. She fell. Then she bumped into me and so I fell. Domino effect. (:
Another thought: I keep hearing about wars. Not exactly wars going on right now, but about wars in general. We're reading Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien in English. The message last week had a long snippet of a battle scene. Haha. I told my dad I thought the movie clip was really long and then he asked me why I thought he did that. I told him it was because the real battle's long, haha. So yes, there is a spiritual battle going on and we should never give up.
Never giving up. I realized a few weeks ago that one things I highly dislike is when people give up. We have this vocabulary card contest between the classes in Latin. What happens is on Mondays and Fridays, for warm-up, we go around answering the vocabulary words in five minutes. We try to improve our score each week. That Friday, my class gave up. For some reason, that made me really mad. Then I thought about why it made me mad. Then it kind of made me wonder how many times I have given up in the past. How mad does God get when we give up on Him? He's the all powerful and almighty God. Does he get mad when people lose their faith in him? Because it's not that he can't do it. It's that people have decided to stop believing. It's not that my class can't do better in our vocabulary cards. They chose to stop believing. They chose to stop trying. Then I thought about my spiritual life. No matter what happens, I don't want to give up. There were times in the past two months I wanted to give up, but I told myself I couldn't. I had to keep going and I'm glad I did. God has shown me his grace over and over again.
God's grace. What is it anyways? There's a whole song about it -- "Amazing Grace." It's my Korean name. Even though I heard it over and over, I didn't quite know what it was. I'm still in the process of learning. I don't know if that will ever end. But God has shown me that his grace is enough for each day. No matter how terrible a day is, he will get me through. Speaking of terrible days, yesterday was just hard. I woke up late, missed the bus, was half-awake the whole day, felt bad, just a bad combination. Then I had to take the SAT the next day. That's God's grace right there, working in my life. God seriously does the greatest things in my weakest moments. It is so obvious that it is Him working. I'm not doing things by my own strength. I did not take that SAT by my own strength and will. I couldn't even think straight yesterday. God continually reveals his grace to me. (:
As I said earlier, summarizing today is summarizing the past two months.
oh, and I took pictures today. (: https://plus.google.com/photos/100255788701608307080/albums/5718438672040904913?authkey=CI-r6oqRsZLlmgE
Here I go:
My initial reactions after the SAT was -- "I'M ALIVEEEE." Thinking back to it, I'm regretting on how I did on the math section, but I can't do that. The test is over and I need to hand everything to God. I need to claim God's promises over and over again. Even though the test is over, I need to keep praying and claiming God's promises. During the test, I was repeating -- "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (:
I'm so thankful. God has taught me so much through these two months. So much that I wouldn't be able to put it into a blog post. So much that I have to tell you in person, but I would just keep going on that you would stop listening to me. Therefore you can get little snippets.
The weather today was so beautiful - it was sunny, bright, and warm. I don't think I'll forget this day - March 10th like how I still remember December 6th.
SAT - I had to think of it as something fun. The passages weren't that boring as I thought they would be. I found them pretty interesting. Previously my dad told me I had to find the passages fun. If I found them boring, I wouldn't understand the passages; if I didn't understand the passages, I wouldn't be able to answer the questions correctly.
I felt like I had an army with me going into the SAT room. In reality, it was me versus paper (how silly), but really, it was just me taking the test. Yet, it didn't feel like that. I know people were praying for me and that is just an amazing feeling. I have my confidence solely on God. I know that he will prevail and be victorious. I know that God is the God who answers prayers and I trust that he will answer the prayers of all these people praying for me. It wasn't just me combating and conquering the SATs. It was like I had an whole army supporting me -- a prayer army, that is. So thank you to everyone who prayed for me! It was so encouraging. (:
Throughout the test, I was thinking -- "Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate." "God, you are so good." "God, please help me." "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."
I feel like I've climbed a mountain. I did. Just not a real one. The devotional for today is titled "Testing Reveals Your Heart." The verse is "God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not" (Deut 8:2). The past two months, a part of me has wondering -- "Why? Why can't I just go to Mexico?" But God has shown so much grace over me -- over and over again. It was definitely a struggle and I need to stop thinking that everything's going to be easy from now on, but if I do get over 2000, I have come a looong way in one month. Actually, having a goal or a reason for doing well on the SAT probably helped me. Before I didn't feel the need to do well, but then, my SAT score mattered more than just for college (which seems so far away but really isn't). It taught me to trust God -- to choose a life full of hope. To believe God can do anything. It forced me to learn some new vocabulary words (elusive vocabulary words...).
I learned extremely valuable things. Though suffering is extremely hard, it teaches you like nothing else can. I believe that I will have to use what I learned in the future. That's exciting and scary at the same time!
Now I must go back to piano and violin lessons. I need more motivation!
After taking the SATs, I went ice skating! I think I like the thought of ice skating much more than the real thing. I'm so bad at it, hahaa. I fell three times and almost fell like ten times. Actually it wasn't my fault that I fell the first time. There was a little girl near me. She fell. Then she bumped into me and so I fell. Domino effect. (:
Another thought: I keep hearing about wars. Not exactly wars going on right now, but about wars in general. We're reading Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien in English. The message last week had a long snippet of a battle scene. Haha. I told my dad I thought the movie clip was really long and then he asked me why I thought he did that. I told him it was because the real battle's long, haha. So yes, there is a spiritual battle going on and we should never give up.
Never giving up. I realized a few weeks ago that one things I highly dislike is when people give up. We have this vocabulary card contest between the classes in Latin. What happens is on Mondays and Fridays, for warm-up, we go around answering the vocabulary words in five minutes. We try to improve our score each week. That Friday, my class gave up. For some reason, that made me really mad. Then I thought about why it made me mad. Then it kind of made me wonder how many times I have given up in the past. How mad does God get when we give up on Him? He's the all powerful and almighty God. Does he get mad when people lose their faith in him? Because it's not that he can't do it. It's that people have decided to stop believing. It's not that my class can't do better in our vocabulary cards. They chose to stop believing. They chose to stop trying. Then I thought about my spiritual life. No matter what happens, I don't want to give up. There were times in the past two months I wanted to give up, but I told myself I couldn't. I had to keep going and I'm glad I did. God has shown me his grace over and over again.
God's grace. What is it anyways? There's a whole song about it -- "Amazing Grace." It's my Korean name. Even though I heard it over and over, I didn't quite know what it was. I'm still in the process of learning. I don't know if that will ever end. But God has shown me that his grace is enough for each day. No matter how terrible a day is, he will get me through. Speaking of terrible days, yesterday was just hard. I woke up late, missed the bus, was half-awake the whole day, felt bad, just a bad combination. Then I had to take the SAT the next day. That's God's grace right there, working in my life. God seriously does the greatest things in my weakest moments. It is so obvious that it is Him working. I'm not doing things by my own strength. I did not take that SAT by my own strength and will. I couldn't even think straight yesterday. God continually reveals his grace to me. (:
As I said earlier, summarizing today is summarizing the past two months.
oh, and I took pictures today. (: https://plus.google.com/photos/100255788701608307080/albums/5718438672040904913?authkey=CI-r6oqRsZLlmgE
Thursday, March 8, 2012
devotional
The Certainty of God's Supply
Daily Devotional for Thursday, March 8th, 2012
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
This verse is one of the most practical we will ever encounter in the Bible. Every one of us faces needs in our lives; at times, they are beyond our own means. Those are not the times to become anxious or to panic. Nor should we give up in defeat. It is at these times that God wants to draw from His unlimited storehouse to meet our need as only He can.
Do you believe God can meet the needs of your finances? Your health? Your children? Your parents? Your church? Scripture says you will never face a need for which God’s provision is not more than adequate. This promise appears over and over again in the Scriptures (Ps. 116:6; Heb. 4:16; Matt. 6:8; Ps. 69:33). If you are not experiencing God’s bountiful provision, what is the problem? Is the difficulty with God? Or could it be that you do not really believe that God stands ready to meet your every need?
Every resource of God is available to any child of God who will believe Him. No one has ever exhausted God’s supply nor suffered a shortfall when trusting Him. Unfortunately, some Christians live as if God’s abundant resources were not available to them. They are children of the King, but they live like beggars! Would the people close to you affirm that your life gives evidence of an unwavering belief that God will do what He said?
Perfect for today.
Perfect for today.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
filled with joy
Do you get it? Conceptual photography. I thought of this idea at prayer meeting yesterday, haha. Jesus is full of joy -- his joy overflows that he fills me with his joy too! It's amazing.
I've been thinking about the purpose of my blog. I suppose it's time to reconsider. I want to remember things in my life, but at the same time, I want to encourage the people who read my blog. I want to point everything to God to show His goodness over my life. I want to record what He's teaching me, but at the same time, God has been teaching me that some things are better kept just between me and Him. It's a line I have to draw. (:
I've said this before, but for some reason, I always pray that I won't miss the bus in the morning. Even though my bus stop is right in front of my house, I feel like I'm going to miss the bus. Anyways, two nights ago, I had a dream. In my dream, I was distracted with something that wasn't even important and I remember it being around eight, the time my bus usually comes. I was like, oh, I'm going to miss my bus! Then I think I woke up soon after that. Then as I was sitting, eating my breakfast, I was thinking about my dream and I was wondering -- hmm, maybe my bus is coming early today. As soon as that thought came, I heard a small rumbling outside. It sounded like the small metro van that usually comes by to pick up people, but to my surprise, there was my bus! I'm so thankful I didn't miss the bus that day because both of my parents were working. God is good.
God has also been showing me that people care. It's amazing to see that people care and are praying for me for the SAT. Taking the SAT no longer becomes something I have to do for myself. I'm now doing it for God's glory and that just changes everything. It makes it far better. (:
Prayer is powerful. I think people often underestimate the power of prayer. I know I do too. Prayer should not be your last resort. It should be your first resort -- it's where all your power and strength comes from.
"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." - Romans 5:3-5
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
ponderings
The new NIV translates Psalms 23:1 to "The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing." How beautiful is that? I lack nothing. I lack no wisdom, no power, no understanding -- nothing because the Lord is my shepherd.
What is wisdom?
Argumentative essay -- I need help.
There are so many thoughts in my mind that are not fully developed or ready to be shared yet. (:
Maybe they will never be shared. Who knows?
Oh, and I deleted my tumblr.
Friday, March 2, 2012
grace
I heard this song for the first time yesterday and I keep hitting replay. The melody is really pretty and the lyrics are so good.
My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused. I see the things You do through me as great things I have done. And now You gently break me, then lovingly You take me and hold me as my father and mold me as my maker.
Chorus: I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up, when I keep on letting you down? And each time I will fall short of Your glory, how far will forgiveness abound?" And you answer: " My child, I love you.And as long as you're seeking My face, You'll walk in the pow'r of My daily sufficient grace."
At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged, knowing that someone, somewhere could do a better job. For who am I to serve You? I know I don't deserve You. And that's the part that burns in my heart and keeps me hanging on.God's grace over me is so good. I'm so glad to be named after something so great. (:
Thursday, March 1, 2012
God, you are good.
The more I experience in life, even though I'm not that old, haha, I see more and more of God's goodness. My God is good, so good to me. This is a completely true statement. He is also faithful; he has never abandoned me in times of distress. Instead, he keeps reminding me that He is with me. He isn't far away as I perceive him to be - he is near. God has been teaching me that He is my only source of confidence. Nothing else is or can be. I can trust him that he will carry me through the toughest times in my life, whenever or wherever it may be. He knows when I'm weary, tired, and exhausted, but he doesn't leave me to despair. He restores me gently through various ways, in ways I don't expect him to. His joy is my strength. I think God also wants me to "be still and know He is God."
I loooveeeee spring. This year wasn't a long winter, but it wasn't short either. It feels so good seeing the sun out once again. It just makes me feel happier, haha. It feels like I've been in hibernation for the winter and now I'm seeing the sun once again. The days are longer and even though I'm stuck inside doing homework, I feel so much more energy! (Well, that might be partly because I'm not sick anymore, haha) I am so happy I'm not sick anymore.
God, you are so good and I entrust everything to you. (:
I ask that you may help me study calculus and would you help me do well. I entrust it all to you.
I loooveeeee spring. This year wasn't a long winter, but it wasn't short either. It feels so good seeing the sun out once again. It just makes me feel happier, haha. It feels like I've been in hibernation for the winter and now I'm seeing the sun once again. The days are longer and even though I'm stuck inside doing homework, I feel so much more energy! (Well, that might be partly because I'm not sick anymore, haha) I am so happy I'm not sick anymore.
God, you are so good and I entrust everything to you. (:
I ask that you may help me study calculus and would you help me do well. I entrust it all to you.
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