Crazy Love

I recently read the book Crazy Love  by Francis Chan. I think the things that mostly stuck out to me were:

1. God is so good. He is so great and beyond anything I can imagine. My response to his greatness should be to worship Him with my everything because he deserves my worship.
2. Though I already knew this, I was reminded that a Christian life is simply being madly in love with Jesus. God's love is perfect; my love is imperfect. Yet God still chooses to love me with unconditional love which is amazing!
3. All the glory belongs to God.
4. I don't remember where, but I remember this one question he said someone asked him - "What are you doing in your life that requires faith?" This has been repeating in my mind constantly for a few days. What exactly am I doing that requires faith? I know that God is powerful, but do I believe in Him that I will trust Him to do impossible things? What am I praying for? Who am I praying for? How will my life be if God was not in the picture? When I think about what God is doing all around the world, it's just so amazing. Our God is so amazing! I don't want to live a life that denies God's powers. I want to see God reveal his power to people through spiritual and physical healing, and etc.

Yesterday in TLC (I keep forgetting today is Thursday, not Friday!) we divided into two small groups and talked about Thanksgiving. We talked about Psalm 103 and for what reasons David gave thanks to God. Then we went around and shared stories of how God healed us and how God revealed himself to us and it was so refreshing hearing ways God continues to work in other people's lives. Often times, I don't ask "How is God working in your life?" or "What has God done in my life?" and I even forget all the awesome things God has done in my life. But sharing was a good reminder and it brought me back so many memories of what God has done in my life. It's so amazing how God just fit all the puzzles in my life perfectly in certain situations when I was so unsure about the future. It gives me hope for the future because I know God has the perfect plans for my future. I recently had the thought - wow, there's so much more in life than going to college. There's always the uncertainty. What am I going to do in the future? Right now I only have a very ambiguous idea on what God wants me to do in the future. There's two certain things, but I have no idea when, how, or where they are all going to unfold. I have to trust God. I hope that in my life I can see God's power revealed. I just have to have faith in God! (:

Thanksgiving Topics

1. That God sent his beloved Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins. The God of the universe sent his own beloved Son to die for this sinful person. I just repeated the first sentence, but this is amazing!
2. My family. I am so thankful how my parents sacrificed so much for me over all these year. They continuously give me rides to and from places, especially from school. They work so hard to provide for us! Also I am thankful for my sister. I remember I prayed for a sibling when I was the only child and then I had my sister.
3. Friends. I am thankful for being surrounded by Christian friends in church and at school as well. I realize more and more this is a blessing from God!
4. All the struggles - junior year, missions, sicknesses, etc. God taught me so much through every single struggle.
5. My camera. I am soo thankful my parents bought my camera last December. I can't believe it's almost a year! Through having a DSLR I learned so much about photography. I am also thankful for all the opportunities God has given me through photography. I know they're all from Him. (:
6. Opportunity to have had piano and violin lessons 'cause there are people who want to learn but never had the chance.
7. Youth group. I am so thankful for the leaders. Now that I am older I realize and appreciate all the more the hard work they put into loving us. It's hard planning events and moreover, every week!
8. All the times God answered my prayers, and the times He didn't.
9. Mexico missions 2011 & 2012. From each year I learned more how to work with others and God taught me more and more how to love others!
10. Having a nice home. I fail to realize this often times but by just living in America, I am very blessed and rich.
11. That I am able to run.
12. Praise team. I am thankful for our trio-praise team. Before it was only the two of us! It's a on-going learning process. I pray that we, as a youth group can learn how to worship God even more through our lives.
13. School. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have an education and to be attending Eleanor Roosevelt High School. I have such great teachers.
14. This year. I am thankful for this year. Though sometimes it is super busy, other times it's so chill.
15. Peace of God. This year is a year of peace.
16. License! Without God, I would have failed my driving test, but by God's grace I passed!
17. My church. It definitely is a second family. (:

What are you thankful for?

During the Sunday worship today, I realized Jesus just wants us to be madly in love with Him.

Then it reminded me of this song:

art

my art homework

I'm realizing more and more how much I like arts & crafts!

Knowing My Place

I turned on the radio this morning and after being confused for a moment, I was like ohh yeah it's the day after Thanksgiving. Christmas music!

Today my sister came to me and told me: "Grace, look at my 3D glasses!" haha. 

I started reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan a few days ago and it keeps teaching and reminding me who God is. Then consequently it reminds me who I am. My life is so short and temporary but God is eternal. There are so many aspects of God that I will never completely know who he is on this earth and yet there's a point when life becomes a routine that I forget. God is millions of times bigger than the box I often place him in. God is the God who created the heavens and the earth. He knows all things and He created me. This God who created this vast universe that keeps expanding chose to create me and "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). The more I think about how great God is, I can't stop praising God. If nothing ever good ever happens in my life, God's greatness should be enough that God deserves all my praise throughout my whole life. I am so thankful that the God of the universe chose to create me and chooses to have a relationship with me. I don't deserve all of this at all, yet he continues to pour out His blessings upon me. God deserves all the glory. In the Bible it says God hates the proud. I was thinking about it. Why is it that it's unattractive when someone has so much pride in himself or herself? Then I realized that God rightfully deserves all the glory*. When someone is proud, he has confidence in himself. On the other hand, when someone is humble, he has confidence in God. The greatest example we can see is in Jesus. However it doesn't mean I can just say "I got rid of all my pride. I'm just humble now!" It's always going to be a work in progress, but I need to strive to continue to know God more. There is an incredible amount of God that I don't know of. God has revealed a lot to me over these past years of who He is, but I should not remain complacent with what I know. It's really easy for me to get caught up in the routines of life, but God is reminding me of the promises he gave me. There's more to this life guys! So much more than all these things I worry about. Then the more I think about how great God is, I am amazed at his creativity. God created so much diversity in the species of animals and plants. There are so many different kinds of people, talents, personalities, gifts, and etc. 

Well if you didn't get anything from reading this, just remember God deserves all the glory. (:

*I don't remember where I heard this but I always remember this analogy: when you look at the Grand Canyon, what's your response? You just stand in awe of it. You're just amazed. In the same way, we should stand in awe of God. 

Knowing Our Identity

Today I went to Baltimore to take the oath of citizenship to the United States. It was a lot of waiting, but the ceremony (which was not really a ceremony) was really short. Everyone just got their certificates and that was it. When I received my certificate, I was kind of surprised. Why? Because it said that I was a citizen from 2009 because that's when my parents became citizens. I knew that I was a citizen because my parents were, but then I didn't really know it. Then I thought about how we as Christians, at times, fail to recognize where our citizenship is - in heaven. Moreover, sometimes we know our citizenship is in heaven, but we fail to live it out. "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power" (1 Corinthians 4:20). We fail to live our lives with the power God gives us.

In Jesus there is so much power and hope. As I was about to go to sleep the other day, a thought came to my mind. There are so many people in the room of despair but not many in the room of hope. However in Jesus, there always is hope!

learning

"Believe God is working in your life even when you don't feel it." - Rick Warren from The Purpose Drive Life

With everything I do, I need to glorify God.

This is what I learned from Bible study last week. We studied 1 Corinthians 4:1-21. I learned important characteristics of a God's servant and here they are: 

1. God's servant must be faithful.
2. "Do not go beyond what is written."
3. We don't need to boast about people. 
4. Don't compromise.
5. Be a spiritual father/mother.

Apostle Paul personally became the Corinthian's spiritual father. He didn't just become their guardian, but he became their father. Though guardians and parents both has custody over children, there are things that parents would do for their children that guardians might not do. 

"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10: 45)

This verse has been repeating itself in my mind for the past few days. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve." And then it repeats again. Serving is hard because it requires me to deny my selfishness and consider others. However Jesus, the Son of Man did not come to be served by people, even though he deserves it! He came to serve and to be like him, I must learn to serve others as well. Truthfully it's really hard because sometimes I just don't want to do it. It means I will get overlooked, I won't get to do what I want to do, and etc. But God is teaching me that it's important to serve. Through these years God taught me that true leaders are the ones who love the ones they lead by serving over and over again. Yes, when you serve you tend to get overlooked but God knows. It also matters the attitude I serve in because if I serve but do it with grumbling, then I might as well not have done it in the first place. So I want to have the mentality - "how can I serve?" more and more rather than to just be served.

Changing the topic, this weekend was really good. It really reminded me to be thankful for simple things such as being able to run, having good friends, etc. On Friday we did Operation Christmas Child at school and it was just nice being able to give back in a simple way. God did so much for me throughout my life and continues to do so much that it's just a simple way to give back. Then after that I went to my friend's house and then went to her youth group's Thanksgiving dinner. On Saturday we also did Operation Christmas Child at youth group! Then Mary Anna, the two Hannahs and I went for a run through a trail to University of Maryland. Well, I was really slow, but I ran at least half of the way there! I never even knew there was a trail to Maryland! Well, you had to go through like the apartments, to the roads, to the golf court, and then there was the trails. It was such a nice day! There were so many potential locations for a photo shoot, haha. Then this weekend after hearing the Sunday message I was reminded to be thankful that I could run. I remember there was a point around two years ago when my foot hurt when I ran. So thankful I can run now! I also realized how thankful I should be to have had good friends throughout high school.

I just finished reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelly for Lit and it was actually really good. Whenever the creature juxtaposed his creation with Adam, I was reminded how God created us. He created Adam and said he was very good. And we, as his creatures are made in his image! (:

praying mantis

I saw this creature the other day. Perhaps it was a reminder to keep praying? To keep praying even though I do not see the results right away. To keep praying no matter the circumstances. (:

reflections

Changed my blog layout! I think I like this much better. (:

"This next sentence is one of the most important spiritual truths you will ever learn: God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you're tempted to express the exact opposite quality! Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity. For instance, God teaches us love by putting some unlovely people around us. It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving to you. God teaches us real joy in the midst of sorrow, when we turn to him. Happiness depends on external circumstances, but joy is based on your relationship to God. God develops real peace within us, not by making things go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion...Integrity is build by defeating the temptation to be dishonest; humility grows when we refuse to be prideful; and endurance develops every time you reject the temptation to give up."

- The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

* The italics and exclamation marks were in the book. I didn't add them!

I have been reading The Purpose Driven Life for like forever. I read the excerpt above yesterday and it was really interesting because I don't think I ever thought about temptation like that. The word temptation just sounds bad to my ears, but then in another sense, it's a good thing. Each time you overcome a temptation you develop your character and become more like Jesus.

Reflections.

"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe-- as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." - 1 Corinthians 3: 5-9

In these verses Paul shows the Corinthian church that all of God's servants had one purpose. Church members should not be divided based on which speaker they favor, but they should be united because they all serve one - Jesus. These verses reminded me that all the glory belongs to Jesus. When people see me, I don't want them to see me, but I want them to see Jesus. When you see your reflection, who do you see? When there are successes in ministry, we need to remember to thank God because God makes things grow. All I can do is to do the work God wants me to do. All the glory in my life belongs to Him!

Through the Harvest Festival this past weekend, God reminded me that the only life living is a life living for Jesus. Everything else will fade away. Even our closest friends can't always be by our sides, but God will always be there. Always.

The weather this weekend was amazing! It totally confused me today. Everything looked like winter, but it felt like spring. I love spring weather. I also slept a lot this weekend. I usually never get to sleep in, but I had a whole three days to sleep in! Then I took a nap each day too...haha.

reason

"This is my prayer in the desert

When all that's within me feels dry

This is my prayer in my hunger and need

My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire

In weakness or trial of pain

There is a faith proved of more worth than gold

So refine me Lord through the flame

And I will bring praise, I will bring praise

No weapon formed against me shall remain

I will rejoice, I will declare

God is my victory and He is here."

In Ecclesiastics 1: 2, it says "'Meaningless! Meaning!' says the Teacher. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.'" I was thinking the other day and life is a never-ending cycle of work. Having the mentality that "I just need to get this finished for tonight" doesn't work anymore because after that, there will be even more and more work. I guess due do this mentality work has been burdensome to me lately. Isn't it kind of depressing? Working for the rest of your life when it'll become meaningless in the end. After struggling with this mentality, I came to accept that life will always be an unending cycle of work. However, it is my choice how I choose to live it. I can choose to trust God no matter the circumstances that I go through and be joyful or I can choose to complain about work. And then through failing, I learned that I always have a reason to be thankful. I always have a reason to be joyful because Jesus died on the cross for my sins so that I can be united with God. That surpasses anything of this world. I know where I belong. Jesus already won. He's victorious. So no matter the circumstance I am in, I have a reason to be thankful, to worship, to be joyful.

choosing faith, hope, and love

The last few weeks have been tough. Senior year has been tough although fun at certain times, but definitely tough. It feels like a never-ending cycle of work and studying, well not feels like, it is. However life is always going to be a never-ending cycle of work and busy-ness with rest in certain periods. I've been thinking a lot about what really matters in the end. It won't matter in a few years what my GPA was in high school, it won't matter when I die what accomplishments I made in the world. However how I loved other people will matter. Did I love others the way Jesus loved me? Did my life reflect the forgiveness that I received from Jesus?

Sometimes I know I don't have to worry because I know that God's ways are perfect, but I end up worrying anyways. I don't know exactly what God is teaching me this time, but it's always hard in the process of learning. Maybe he's teaching me to trust Him and only Him completely. Maybe he's teaching me humility. Maybe he's teaching me that character matters more than grades. Maybe he's teaching me to value other people for who they are no matter who they may be. Maybe he's teaching me to persevere.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

I never really thought about it, but how many times has Jesus taken my burdens so that I didn't have to be burdened? Far more than I know. I thank God for being so kind to me when I don't deserve it at all.

God deserves all the glory.

No matter what my circumstances, God is good. In the good times and the bad times, God is good.

http://www.setapartgirl.com/blog/Entries/2012/9/12_Commanding_my_Soul_to_Rejoice.html
I thought this was really good - and encouraging. (: I have to choose to live a life full of hope.
"The news that Jesus Christ rescued me from sin and death, and that I am His for all eternity. The news that He has given me everything I need for life and godliness, and that He will never leave me or forsake me. What more could I ever ask for? What other reason do I need to sing, dance, and leap for joy?"