Giving Thanks

     I'm so thankful for these few days of rest and a break from school to be able to reflect on the goodness of God. Last Sunday, Peter gave his first youth group message and he shared Francis Chan's rope illustration. You can watch the video below:

     And it's been on my mind these couple of days. A few questions running through my head are - "Grace, what are you living for? Who are you living for? What do you want your life to look like in the end?" It's crucial to know that this life is temporary - we're living for eternity (as hard as this concept is for me to grasp). It will affect how I spend my time, money, and energy. I want to learn to love others the way Jesus loved. In the midst of lab reports, grades, etc. it's so easy to get caught up in the busyness of school that I forget that the my ultimate goal is to glorify my heavenly Father. And maybe if I think about life like this, I can willingly and joyfully give up a few hours of my time to invest in friendships instead of spending that time selfishly.

     Looking back, I am thankful for so many things, but I am especially thankful for the friendships that God has given me! I also wanted to share a little bit of what I have been learning and doing regarding photoshop and illustrator.

I first wrote this on a piece of paper, traced it on illustrator, and layered it in photoshop. Even though I feel like I learned so much more than I knew before, there's still so much to learn!

  

photo credit: my sister

We have been painting and creating things around the house. When my sister finishes her painting, I'll share it with you guys. It's really good! She's going to be a much better artist than me. (:

Service

This year in youth group, we have been focusing on different topics that are necessary as Christians (we're on our second topic now!). The first topic we focused on was prayer and now we are transitioning into service. We had Miss Ann come speak to us on serving and I wanted to share the main three points of her seminar.

The three main points were:

1. Serving = devotion (relationship with Jesus)
2. Authentic Christian life must involve a lifestyle of serving
3. When we serve others, we are whispering with ours cations "you are worthy to be loved." (Serving can be picking up trash at church, washing the dishes for your family, cleaning the bathroom, etc.)

Before we can give to others, we must first receive what God has in store for us. If I try to give without first receiving the love from our Father, I find myself running low on love, patience, and joy. I am learning that it is important to guard my relationship and time with God. Before I can help others, I must be secure in my relationship with Jesus. I also saw this quote a few weeks ago and it was a good reminder for me - "You can do anything, but you can't do everything."

Overall, I thought her seminar was really encouraging as she shared the joys and struggles of serving! I hope this encourages you to keep serving the Lord in all that you do. If you don't know how to serve  others, ask God and he will definitely show you the ways you can serve others. (:

Laying it Down

Although I had not planned on going, I attended a seminar/message by Pastor Shin titled "Introduction to Spiritual Warfare." He urged us to lay down the worldly weapons we use about to bring change that we want.

The seven he listed were the following:

1. anger & rage
2. bitterness & unforgiveness
3. slander & gossip
4. jealousy & envy
5. self hatred & condemnation
6. despair & suicide
7. selfish ambition

In his message, he made an argument that in the world, we use these weapons when we want to bring about change. However, these weapons do not bring about good change in the world. As I listened to the message and as he went down the list, I thought that I wasn't really an angry or bitter person. However, he told a story of his daughter (maybe it was his son). His child was sick and had the fever for  a few days, but he wasn't concerned since it was less than 100 degrees. However, it persisted. His wife informed him that having a low persistent fever was as life threatening as having a high fever. Through that experience, Pastor Shin learned that low grade anger, bitterness, forgiveness, etc. was poisonous as well. 

Through attending this, I was really encouraged to lay down any weapons that I may be holding onto and to really pray for others. He shared a funny story of how God would place people to pray for during his college years. When God placed the people in his heart, he would pray for them for hours throughout the whole week. Then during a Friday meeting he attended, he would see the people show up! During the service/prayer, he phrased her - "a short Asian girl" would walk up to the person he was praying for and pray for them. As a result, the person would cry and she would get all the credit for praying for them. And then he said - "what do you do with a girl like this? I married her." This really encouraged me to really start praying for others because when we pray, God hears and answers our prayers. I believe that when we pray, God moves. Let's pray and have greater expectations because God will do big things in the months to come! Death can come at any moment, but so can life.

First Message

It's hard to believe that we're already nearing the end of semester and the year. At the beginning of the school year, our church chooses what we we call a "key verse" for the new year. It's usually a verse you want to hold onto for the upcoming year. For 2014, I chose 2 Timothy 4:2, "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction." Throughout my freshman year, I felt that God wanted me to share the gospel - the good news, with others. Although I struggled to be bold about my faith, I believe the Lord was preparing me and equipping me throughout that season. Last year, he was calling me to just sit in his presence. However, this year, He was now calling me to go forth. I chose 2 Timothy 4:2 as my 2014 key verse, not knowing what the Lord had in store for me. As the fall semester began, I joined the youth group once again, not just as a member, but as a teacher. It has been difficult at times to lead and teach, but God has been teaching me a lot through it. I gave my first ever message to the youth group last Sunday! I believe that the gospel has the power to save and transform lives - and my hope is that others, too, may believe and be saved by the power of the gospel.

I also wanted to share what I wrote on instagram on my blog as well:

I believe God has put in my heart the love to create things. As I was thinking, the song "create in my a clean heart" came into my mind. I realized that the older I get, the more difficult it is to be pure/clean. However the lyrics say "create in me." When you create, you bring forth what was not there before. As we ask God to create things within us, we're asking Him to form things that are not already in us. God's words have absolute power that when He speaks, He creates. As I create things, I get to see glimpses of who God is as the creator God.