Sacrifice

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." 

- Matthew 6:33

A friend recently reminded me that when you sacrifice for God, you're not really sacrificing. Why? Because God gives you so much more than what you sacrificed for him. As I was thinking back on high school, I see numerous times when I gave up something to place God first, and he gave me so much more. It really caught my attention during the winter retreat when Mr. Richard said "I should not be living this life." And now I understand what he meant. I should not be living the life that I am right now. God is so good and he has been so good to me these four years of high school. There were times I could have gone somewhere else than TLC on Wednesdays, but by choosing to do my best to go every Wednesday, God gave me great friendships and encouraged me through our TLC meetings.

Choosing God above anything else is worth it all.

On May 15th, we had the Senior Awards Assembly at our school and God really surprised me. I won the award for world languages in Latin! That was really unexpected. I also got the NHS Scholarship which was $500 and the medal for getting a 4.0 or higher in high school.

As the year continues, I keep going back to my key verse Psalm 138:8 "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands" and see that God is fulfilling his purpose for my life.

Worth it All by Meredith Andrews

So I encourage you guys to choose God above anything else because no one else can fill you up. (:

God is good, all the time!

friendships

This last week of summer break has been adventurous. The more I do to "have fun," I realize that there's no better place than to be in God's presence. No matter how much fun I'm having with other people, it can't beat how much fun I have spending time with God.

These are quotes that I have stumbled upon this past week that have been challenging me as well as making me think about my actions.

"Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character.'" - 1 Corinthians 15:33

"You live in a world of counsel. Every day, somehow, some way, you’re being counseled. Everything you encounter originates from some kind of worldview. Everything you experience [favorite movie, commercial, music, politics] comes from somebody with a certain perspective on life. So as you go through each day, be prudent; a thousand voices will try to influence your worldview. Be proactive; pursue the Lord and meditate on His Word. And be prepared; God has given you the ability to influence, and you’ll have opportunities to counsel others." -Paul Tripp

“No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.”
― Leonard Ravenhill 

"We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork you must make a decision. Even on the biological level life is not like a river but a tree. It does not move towards unity but away from it and the creatures grow further apart as they increase in perfection. Good ,as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good." - C.S. Lewis

Whenever I read "bad company corrupts good character," I thought it was obvious. Of course bad company corrupts good character! But then I realized that bad company is not obvious as I thought it would be. It was great being able to spend more time with my school friends this year, but I realized more and more how different my views are from theirs. No matter how hard I try not to be influenced, if I spend time with nonbelievers, they will have an influence on me. And before I go off to college, it is so important to ground myself in the truth. This summer I want to really spend time reading the Bible and getting grounded in the word (I'll probably have a lot of time in Korea to do this). The third quote above that's on prayer really stood out to me as I was reading it on someone's facebook status. When was the last time I was seriously praying for someone other than myself or immediate needs? When was the last time I struggled in prayer for others? I'm always amazed by how my mom goes to 5:30 AM prayer meetings and lays down everything before God. Early morning prayer is definitely difficult to attend, but it is really rewarding starting the day with God's presence!

Each of the quotes above are really really good.

High School Graduation Testimony

I can't believe I'm done with high school! This is the testimony I shared on Friday. (:

Verses that I held onto in high school:

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” -Matthew 6:33

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” – Proverbs 16:30

“I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10

       I believe that I came to know God deeper through these four years of my life. God taught me to trust him in deeper levels as I faced the difficult school work while learning to take responsibilities in leading the Christian club Truth Love & Character and National Honor Society during my junior and senior year of high school. Academically, I did well, but it was only through God’s help through the craziness of junior year as well as all my other years of high school. During junior year, the year people label as the hardest year in high school, I held onto Proverbs 16:30– “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Often times I would study for my calculus test, holding onto the verse, and one of the questions I studied would be on the test. Considering there were only seven or eight questions in the calculus test, it was amazing when it occurred. And it happened three times in a row! As my friends would panic for an AP physics or calculus test, God gave me peace and assurance that he was in control of all things. Through these small instances in which God provided knowledge and victories on tests, God taught me his sovereignty and goodness. Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” When there was not enough time in the day to finish all my homework, God gave me the strength and grace to continue.  Often I would ask Him for strength, knowledge, and wisdom because it was impossible for me to do it on my own. However, by God’s grace I have successfully finished high school! As I look back at high school, I realize that God placed certain people in my life such as my friends in TLC to encourage me in my walk with God. Without them, it would have been hard to keep up with my faith. I was the Vice President of the National Honor Society this past year, which I only won the position by one vote during the end of my junior year. I believe that God gave me this position because I won by one vote. Through National Honor Society, God taught me how to work with others in leadership positions to promote and host events. I was a leader in TLC along with my friends Preethi, Chris, Michael, and Danny and we learned to step up as leaders during junior year. I saw how God working through the lives of the TLC members and it was great being able to encourage those who came out. This year, we studied a different Bible character each month and by the end, we studied Esther, Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and Peter. I really thank God for giving me a great opportunity to learn to lead others and to grow spiritually.

            Aside from school, I was able to go to Mexico with the youth group on a mission trip in 2011 and 2012. Through missions preparations and trips, God began to open my heart to learn to love others and for possibly future missions as well.

            I thank God for these four years of my high school career. Now it is over, but I pray that I may have even greater four years in college. I would like to thank all of your encouraging prayers throughout high school. I want to thank my Bible teacher missionary Susanna Bae for studying the Bible with me since freshman year to now. I learned so much all the Bible studies we had. I also learned so much more about Jesus by observing how each of you genuinely serve each other.

            All the glory goes to God!

one word: It is finished. 

I remember I had a grammatical error somewhere, but I can't find it now...

one week

There's one week left of high school and a lot of things that are happening. Gotta persevere until the end! Two more AP tests and then finals. Ah. I need to constantly remind myself of God's promises and fix my eyes on him. It is so easy to worry and become overwhelmed, but I will not to worry because I will choose to trust Him. "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the work of your hands." 

And here are some pictures I took of flowers (or weed) yesterday and today.

Dear God,

I see more and more that my views are so limited. I can only see what's right in front of me in the present. I can look to the past, but the past is unclear with foggy memories. The future is unclear because anything can happen. I don't even know what's going to happen in one year, let alone one hour, or one minute. Sometimes I cannot see how you are working in people's lives and I cannot see how my actions now affects the people around me. However all I can do is focus my eyes on you and keep loving as you love me. How you change people is the Holy Spirit's job. I can only do my best to love, not because of what I can do, but out of an overflow of your love for me. I am really weak, God. I think I caught a cold or something but I say that I can do all things through You who give me strength.

Gotta finish senior year strong! (:

AP tests begin tomorrow.

analogies

I have been meaning to write about the Pursuit of God, but it kept being pushed back. I would highly recommend it. Although it's short, it's really dense and really good. One of the quote that stuck out to me the most in the book was this:

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.” - A. W. Tozer

It's such a good analogy!

We have been discussing about the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in lit class and although it supports existentialism, I thought the ship analogy was really interesting. It talked about no matter what you try to change in within a ship, the boat is still heading the same direction. Then a thought came to me. What kind of boat or ship am I in right now? A small ship when hit by waves will be overcome even by small waves. It'll be pretty tumultuous. However a large ship won't be greatly disturbed by these waves. What ship am I living in right now? If I trust and believe that God is sovereign, no circumstances (waves) should shake me.

Another analogy: As you travel deeper into the ocean, you realize you can't touch the ground anymore. Whenever I went swimming at a beach I would try not to go too deep because there's the assurance of being able to touch the floor. The deeper I went, it was more frightening! You can't just touch the ground anymore. You have to start swimming. In the same way, the deeper I go in my relationship with God, I need more faith. As things become impossible to do by myself, I can't rely on myself. I can't touch the ground anymore. I can only rely on God to help me keep swimming in faith!

Question I'm curious to know the answer to: How do you react to awkward situations? Comment! (:

two weeks

It's hard for me to comprehend that I only have two weeks left in high school. It's what we have been looking forward to all year, yet it seems to be too soon. I'm just not ready for it to be over yet, haha. But then you're never really ready for anything in life. 

I read this today:

"He [Abraham] did not know where he was going. — Hebrews 11:8 Go. Set. Ready. You’ll never be ready.You’ll never be ready to get married. You’ll never be ready to have kids.  You’ll never be ready to start a business or go back to school or move to the mission field. You’ll never be ready financially, emotionally, or spiritually. You’ll never have enough faith, enough cash, or enough courage. And if you are looking for an excuse, you will always find one.I never have been, and I’m sure I never will be, ready for anything God has called me to do. This doesn’t mean I haven’t prepared myself. I’ve worked hard getting an education, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll never be ready for anything God has called me to. And that’s OK. God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll be waiting for the rest of your life."

I am not ready for anything nor really qualified to all the great things God has in store for my life, but I just need to be willing. He qualifies the called and he calls each one of us to do great things for him.

I have done a lot of things in high school that I never would have imagined as a freshman and I have no idea the things I will be doing in college. The possibilities are endless. However, I know that my God is good. He has the best plans for my future and my future is in His hands. I've seen God's goodness throughout high school as God showed me his grace and mercy through calculus and physics tests. He taught me how to lead others through TLC and praise team and he continues to teach me how to love others. So I want to be open to what God has in store for me in college! It's definitely going to be a time of growing even more. (:

"Consider God in all things."

This may seem small, but I'm learning that it's important to consider God in all things. When I ask him, he shows me of glimpse of what's going to happen or he reveals to me how people are doing. Anyways, my prayer topic for today was to find a prom dress. My friends have been looking at all these stores and found nothing and I have not looked anywhere for a dress. Last week we decided to go to Potomac Mills to look for dresses. And today we finally went! I did not want to spend like three hours looking for the perfect dress so my prayer topic was - "God, please just let the first dress I see be the one I like." It took about an hour and half to get there and I think the three of us found dresses within one hour being there. Guess what. I ended up getting the first dress that I tried one, haha.

Also I had a dream that my friend Vinona got a reddish burgundy dress one night. And as she was trying on all these dresses, I really thought she should get a reddish burgundy dress so I went to search for one. She's really skinny and tall and all the dresses were size "14...16...10...14...14....8..." As I was about to just go, I saw a dress on the back without a tag and when I checked the size it was a size 2! Vinona tried it on and we decided that she was going to get the dress, haha. It looked really good on her. So these are the ways God has answered my prayers.

These pictures are from National Honor Society Inductions today! We inducted 115 juniors today. NHS has been such a large part of my life this year and it has been a great time working with my friends and being able to serve the school through the various things we did. I am thankful that God allowed me to be the Vice President by winning by one vote last year.

Senior year was definitely enjoyable. Difficult at times, but enjoyable.