On Escalators and Growth

"We are on a never-ending downward escalator. In order to grow, we have to turn around and sprint up the escalator, putting up with perturbed looks from everyone else who is gradually moving downward."

-Francis Chan

Winter Doings

A Few Winter Activities

• counseled for Winter Retreat with Byron Shaffner, the greatest prayer warrior and retreat speaker I have ever had in my life
• saw my best friend graduate early from UGA
• went to Augusta for New Years to feel Southern again
• dropped 媽媽 off at work like she was going to school
• started a comic of Ordinary Things with Jessie using my new computer sketchpad
• got to have great talks up and down from retreat with Jessie, Monique, and Jaime about life, struggles, and changes
• staying up multiple nights til 4am playing Settlers of Catan with the family
• had ridiculous laughs playing Time's Up with mom's side of the family
• reunited with the Chattahoochee girls for the first time in two years
• started a Disney puzzle but never finished :(
• made my family hate me in Settlers of Catan
• missed the New Years countdown by a few minutes again but that's okay because we had sparkling cider

Coming back home to these people made me think so much of what friendship means. There wasn't a single time where it was awkward or I had to search for things to say, but it was a cauldron of stories, memories, reforging each friendship so that it grows stronger and stronger. Family came first this break and to be able to move closer to each of them, it was such a treat.

My small group girls! 

Class of 2015 girl counselors

This awesome lady graduating

Christmas with dad's side

Christmas on mom's side

Family portrait (look how tall I am! hehe)

2015 here we come!

The Mountain of Lost Moments

Something I scribbled over summer and just uncovered.

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There comes a time in one's life where all of the small lost moments of life build up. Where there once was a valley, for then every second was wisely spent in wonder or opportunity, there lies the base of a mountain. First comes the deposits of pebbles: the popsicle not eaten, the tree that one was tempted to climb but didn't. Then time slowly graduates these pebbles to stones and then to boulders. The chance one didn't take with that one chance to travel the world. The kiss lost by spending that time kissing another. The mountain begins to tower over you until one day, you are engulfed in the shadow of its might, half in fear and half in awe at the sheer number of lost moments. Both fear and awe in that dawn of realization combine into......regret. How you had loathed to regret anything in life, being able to move on and find the next best thing, and yet, as one gazes into the pile of memories never formed, it is easy to distinguish the rubble and sand for what it is. But within the sooty forgotten spheres, my hand uncovered a pearl, one that didn't belong in this mountain that could never be, because it could still be. 

Sermon Notes: Created to Work

Faith at Work: Created to Work (11.2.14)
by Pastor Jason Tarn

[Genesis 2:1-3, 15; 3:17-19]

Some people live to work. Their job is their life passion. Others work to live. For the weekend. To take part in other passions. To make disciples. To make money to give to the church. To spend time under its curse while we wait for Jesus to come again. However, not only is work not a god that we want to worship, but it is something good that we do to mirror our Creator and to use work as an act of worship for himself.

1. Work is good

• Work is part of God's created order, part of his plan
• Work is not a curse that enters only after the fall of mankind and when sin entered the Earth
• We often mistakenly believe that the garden of Eden is a place where humans do nothing except lounge around with constant relaxation and all the fruit and desires laid at our feet

*Note: Honestly, my mental image of the Garden of Eden was this exactly. That everything Adam and Eve ever wanted was instantly before them and they did not have to toil for anything. Which is silly, because 1) if I don't believe that heaven is just a place where you float around and do nothing except happily loafing, then why would God make that the primary focus of life on Earth initially? 2) New heaven and earth will be filled with creative work for us to do, why wouldn't the brand new Earth, which had so much to do in its inception?

God is first described as a worker

• Created all things by his mouth "God said....."
• Idea of work is not an afterthought, it was there from the beginning from when God created the heavens and the earth
• It is a joy for God to work, not a burden
• He can look at all He has created and "saw that it was good" [Genesis 1:18]

Human's role in God's work

• God finished His part of creating the garden, but the work wasn't finished. He still wanted for us to have a part in the framework He had set up
• We are called to maintain it, cultivate it, have dominion over it
• "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." [Genesis 1:28]
• "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it."   [Genesis 2:15]
• If Adam and Eve expected a good harvest from the good land given to them, they still had to work for it
• Adam and Eve were given the unique task of doing creative work
• Even beasts were tasked with being fruitful and multiplying
• "And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." [Genesis 1: 22]
• Only humans were given that additional responsibility, setting us apart from animals and plants
• Humans work, animals survive

**Note: This is so crazy, because I talked with someone about this literally this past cell group! About how if we were to pollute the whole Earth to the point of it being inhabitable, would God forgive us and save us from it? Yes, God would forgive us in the sense that nothing we can do can take away a child from their Father. If a child ruined a gorgeous mural that a father had painted and asked him to take care of by throwing black paint over it, the child still is loved by the Father and would still be His child, but would have failed in what they were tasked to do. This isn't a calling that is to be taken lightly. It is literally one of God's first commandments to mankind.

We were not created for mere leisure

• The American ideal tends to make the end goal to be without work, to retire and be without burden
• This is why unemployment is so disturbing to us, not just on a financial level, but a man/woman without a purpose without the chance to work denies our innate calling to work
• All work is pleasing to God, regardless of position in God's eyes. Both the CEO and tradesman are workers and both reflect his image by doing their work well
• Disclaimer: work that defies God's will in murder, defrauding others, defiling our bodies, etc. is not within this context, because obviously if it goes against Scripture, then it would be considered displeasing instead of pleasing to God regardless if the job is done well

How do I reflect the image of God in my work?

By appreciating the inherent beauty and dignity of each job, no matter what it is.

• Artists: show the inherent beauty in creation...like God
• Teachers: fashion the mind and talents, making order out of chaos...like God
• Engineers: make things run efficiently and designing systems and structures...like God
• Doctors: heal those whose bodies are decaying...like God
• Accountants: create opportunities for investments and uphold ethics...like God
• Lawyers: bring justice to defend against injustice...like God
• Technicians: fashion items out of raw materials...like God
• Homemakers: keep the family running well, loving them by fulfilling basic needs...like God
• STUDENTS: called to have knowledge of this world ....like God

2. Work is not God
Sometimes the work we're assigned to do can feel pointless, frustrating, and exhausting. Why does work feel like this sometimes when work is supposed to be good?

Work is not a curse, but it is cursed

• No work is untouched by the influences of sin

God himself has cursed work

• "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return"
  [Genesis 3: 17-19]
• This is why work can end up fruitless, painful, and exhausting. This frustration is a constant reminder that we are not to worship work

• No matter what you accomplish, there is always more, there is never an end to the work to be done, and if that is what your goal is, to be done, it will devour you

**Note: Oh how I feel this in my own work, not that work is cursed, but that there is never an end. Even if I end up as an Imagineer or top of the themed entertainment field, there is never an end. Any attraction I build will always just be replaced with another, or blown over by an earthquake or natural disaster so easily, like it's a pile of twigs. If my worth is in what human's believe success is, if my value lies in what I can produce, then oh how this body and mind will fail me.

How much have we assigned God-like expectations to work to provide for us meaning?

• Will leave us dissatisfied if we want for our job to define who we are
• There is only ONE God, that one reason to get up in the morning

He sent his Son to do the work that we failed to do

• Jesus took the curse of eternal damnation from us and we do not have our work cursed any longer
• Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” [Galatians 3:13]
• Even if the curse is gone from Christ removing it, the effects are still there in the same way although we are saved by Christ covering our sins, we are still capable of sinning on earth

**Note: For myself, I see this appearing over and over and OVER again! How Jesus had compassion when we did not. How he even had PERFECT FAITH for us when we had imperfect faith, for something as fundamental as that for us and his disciples.

3. Work is worship

• Worship is all we do in faith for the glory of God
• don't devalue the term worship by limiting it to the praise songs we sing, it is only just a small part of a whole
• The more we grow in our relationship with God, it becomes more about who you work for rather than what you are doing.
• **Note: This even applies to companies. Would you offer up your work services to a company that goes against your moral beliefs, even if you loved the job description?
• What can I offer to God to worship him on a normal work day?

Fatal Condition

"If the doctor said you have a fatal condition, and unless you take this medicine every night from 11:00 to 11:15, and swallow these pills, you will be dead by morning. If that was the case, she said, you would never miss. You would never say, I was too tired, or, I didn’t get to it, or, I was watching a movie, and I didn’t leave time. You never would do that. 

And so when people ask: How am I going to get to prayer? How am I going to deal with [distractions]? I say, maybe you don’t believe you need prayer. And that is a theological, spiritual problem, and there is nothing I can do except tell you to get your heart and your mind straight on that."

-10 Questions on Prayer by Timothy Keller

 

 

Let's start getting real

So this is senior year, and I look back to how long I've had this blog for, since sometime in high school when Penn and Sandra started their own blog lives, and I thought why not? Then, there was little I wanted to share except for the random daily events and large Godly parts of life that were impossible to not share. 

I still want to share random daily events as well as large Godly parts of life (or hopefully all parts of life), but the difference is that now in college, I'm not (as) afraid to say more things about myself, because I actually know what some of those things are now. I want for this blog to be a place where my cell group members can see how I've grown throughout college in Christ, where my friends can still see where parts of my heart are even when I haven't contacted them, and where any friend of a friend can be encouraged perhaps because they go through the same things and look to God because of it.

To do a quick update. Since creating a concept for the Disney ImagiNations Competition last year, I have oriented myself to seeking a job in the themed entertainment industry. There are other practical options, teaching, pure engineering jobs, manufacturing, which I intend on applying for as well and can be perfectly happy with. I've missed a chance, so many of the same chance, that I wish I had taken, so am going to take more risks. I have had to yank myself out of my own selfishness regarding time and see the beautiful way God works when I give things I hoard up to Him. Honoring the Sabbath has been one of the most beautiful ways to obey and be blessed by the Lord. I've been able to pray for safety with a sincere heart while driving in Houston and arriving in one piece. He has matched me with a great cell group leader in Spencer who fills my weaknesses with his strengths. I'm still struggling with non-face to face communication, but after being broken down last year about it, I'm still being rebuilt. 

Most of all, especially those who are brothers and sisters,

Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

    and let us exalt his name together!

-Psalm 34:3

Goals

So one thing that I am absolutely horrendous at is setting goals. Both long-term and short-term. I have seen how my work, habits, life gets done in fits of fiery passion that flame up and die down. In the past I have justified these flares as a test of sincerity, telling myself, at least I know that when I do something, I am in it 100% no looking back. But there is the other side of this page, which may just be a lack of discipline. Even between the last sentence to this sentence, I have already stopped to check my email twice, finish an email, write the first sentence of a cover letter, and wondered about when I should start my homework. Discipline in all things, spiritually, physically, mentally. And we've been told this our entire lives. Set goals. From school, from church, from parents, from random engineering classes where setting goals actually matter. When I usually set goals, they do not get realized. And I'm usually okay with that, because then they can be a continuing goal.

But no.

There are lifelong goals that I want to accomplish (God-willing) and after thinking about them a little more, I look forward to facing them head on.

Disney

I just have to say, that I am so excited for this project. Today our team met to decide on which city we were going to focus on for the competition and we ended up choosing Buenos Aires through a long and intense process of just really searching deep into what we want for this. It's not about who's idea it is, but how can we make this better. Thank you God for this passion and I pray that it lasts, that we can move as a team together, and that You will be our mediator in times of conflict. Today is just the beginning.

Supermercado y La Boca

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WEEEE!!! Estoy terminada con toda mi tarea y estoy al punto de ir a la oficina de IFSA para entregar toda mi tarea. En serio, ha sido difícil completar estos tres ensayos, no porque es muy difícil ni muchas páginas (pues, más páginas que escribo por lo normal), pero sólo me faltaba la voluntad. Muchas veces, estoy distraída como estoy en los Estados Unidos por mi computadora, por esas cosas que no me importan, y mi recurso más valeroso escapa. Ahora, por no tener la mente enfocada tanto en la tarea, puedo respirar un poquito más a pesar del humo siempre presente. Hoy, tengo muchas tareas hacer, desde entregar mis ensayos, recoger mis boletos de avión para Iguazu Falls donde voy mañana por dos días, y despedirme de una señora china, una dueña de un supermercado, que me ayudó mucho en mi búsqueda para el puerco picado. Me despedí de ella ya, pero quiero regresar para darla algunos regalos como una caja de Godiva y una crema para las manos. Cuando salí la última vez, me dio cinco manzanas grandísimas y cuatro cajas del yogur como un regalito y no puedo creer que me trata como así. Estas semanas pasadas han sido divinas con el fin de las clases, con excursiones y más. 

Por ejemplo, ayer, fui a la Boca, un barrio reconocido por los turistas y casas coloridas como un arco de iris en mis tintos favoritos. En otro lugar, sería cursi o destartalado, pero en esta cultura siente que se permanece. Por todas nuestras visitas a los museos de arte, el grafiti, los carteles, he llegado a dar la cuenta de que el arte realmente es algo maravilloso. No hay una manera de hacerla correctamente. A veces, podés añadir o sustraer algunas líneas para decir un mensaje completamente diferente, pero esta diferencia de dos líneas es sólo parte del estilo del artista. Siempre cuando veía el arte, tenía la mente de si puedo replicarlo o no. Sin embargo, creo que no voy a continuar con esta mente, porque si voy a replicarlo, entonces no hay sentido porque no tengo ninguna conexión ni inspiración del artista original. Sí, puedo replicar la técnica o replicar la obra para aprender la técnica, pero mi arte debe ser mi propio arte con mis propios mensajes en mi propio estilo. Ustedes ojalámente van a ver más creaciones de mí en el futuro. Tengo bastante inspiración para llenar cien libros, no más claro porque sólo he estado acá por seis semanas jaja.

Accidentes y Tango

15 Junio 2013 Sabado

No he escrito por mucho tiempo sobre mis viajes porque soy perezosa además de divertirme al punto de que no tengo mucho tiempo para estar en hogar para escribir. Algunos platos fuertes de la semana pasada. Fui a mis primeras clases de tango argentino acá el miércoles y a una milonga llamada La Viruta el jueves. Me encanta La Viruta. Los maestros son buenísimos y aprendí más que esperaba. Me encanta el tango argentino. Alguien me dijo que es más sensual que los otros bailes pero creo que es exactamente el opuesto. Los bailes de salón normales normalmente se mantiene los hombros lejos y al resto del cuerpo cerca. En el tango argentino, bailamos mejilla a mejilla, inclinándose con el cuerpo lejos para hacer juegos de pies sofisticados. Hay mucho más para aprender.

Hoy fui testigo a un accidente de carros. Ojalá que no voy a imitar la manera de conducir acá cuando yo regrese porque me asusto de estar en otro accidente. Pero éste fue horrible y por suerte no había casualidades. Un coche dio vuelta en la calle y una mujer fue la conductora. La reacción de cada una persona cuando ocurrió fue instante, corriendo al sitio para ayudar, no malgastando los minutos para mirar boquiabierto. Estoy triste que no sacara una foto de los quince hombres que inmediatamente trabajaron para volteárselo y la mujer fue buena aunque necesitaba ir al hospital por precaución. Al dentro de toda esta confusión, un hombre me pidió para usar mi botella de agua para que la mujer pudiera beber y claramente yo se lo di. Sin embargo, después de que la mujer salió, no podía encontrar mi botella por minutos y minutos, preguntando a las personas al sitio sobre lo. Sí, yo sé que hay un mundo lleno de botellas de agua, pero para mí, ésta es especial porque fue un regalo de Sushmi y Manasa de mi último año en Green School y nunca voy a olvidar la satisfacción y orgullo de lo que aprendí de este año y los amigos que yo conocí. Entonces, después de toda la policía y los bomberos negando que no la hubieran visto o que estaba con la señora en la ambulancia, estaba al punto de salir. Es probable que mi tristeza estuviera mostrándose en la cara porque después de salir uno de los bomberos me llamó para decirme que la buscaron en el coche que dio vuelta. Él tuvo el esfuerzo para buscarla para mí y no podía parar mi sonrisa enorme aún cuando estaba tarde a la clase.

Mañana voy a Uruguay!

Palabras Nuevas

Tabla de picar – cutting board

Batidor – whisk

Morcilla – blood sausage

Aventuras

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Día 5 & 6

Salí a las 7:20AM. Llegué a la escuela 9:20AM veinte minutos tarde al primer día de las clases. Fue una aventura muy frustrante y aunque los directores del programa y el maestro fueron muy graciosos, tuve mucha vergüenza por llegar tarde. Lo que ocurrió es esto:

Me levanté muy temprano, como a las 6:34. Después de salir el apartamento, cometí el error inicial. No podía encontrar la parada para el primer colectivo que necesitaba tomar y primero, fui en el lado opuesto por dos cuadros, me volví, fui en el lado opuesto por tres cuadros en otra dirección, paré para pedir direcciones, por fin encontré la parada, y estaba allá por casi diez minutos antes de venir el colectivo. A este punto, mientras mirando atentamente el texto minúsculo de la guía y los señales viales que no existen, fue una vuelta muy ansiosa. Después de bajar del colectivo, necesité esperar para otro colectivo, 88. Pero, olvidé que hay múltiples de cada número y no sigan las mismas rutas. Entonces, cuando subí mi “colectivo” me dijo que no iría donde quería y sin conocerlo, el colectivo por cual esperé tanto me salió. Fue a las 8:45. Durante este tiempo, hubo una inundación de ideas locas para fijar todo. Tal vez, pueda correr la distancia! No-fue más que quince cuadros. Quizás pudiera esperar para otro con otro conductor del mismo colectivo, pero no valía la pena. Finalmente, decidí a buscar por mi propia cuenta otro colectivo para llevarme a la facultad. Lo irónico es que hoy me levanté a la hora de salir y todavía llegué media hora antes de las clases. Después de muchísimo tiempo, finalmente llegué a la clase. Creía que después de que las clases terminaran, querría volverme inmediatamente. Pero había más sorpresas esperándome.

Descubrí un lugar por accidente que se llama la Plaza Italiana. Al lado de esta área hay un jardín fenómeno, algo que es la reunión de una selva y un castillo medieval. Hay estaturas romanas por cada lado, arboles trópicos por todas partes, fuentes como las en Hercules. En otras palabras, es la definición de hermosa. Como me sentía en estos jardines es irremplazable. Por la primera vez hasta ahora, podía respirar libremente. No había humo o gases de combustión. No había los ruidos de la ciudad; aunque las cofas de los rascacielos estaban pocos visibles detrás de estas montañas verdes, la Plaza Italiana sirve como un santuario para mí. Conocí también un abuelo llamado Sr. Nicolás quien fue muy amable y me dio un tour de los jardines y fue muy paciente con mis fotos, mi manera de hablar y mucho más. Quería encontrarnos otra vez, pero ahora es difícil reunirse por el horario y aunque es un abuelo amable y es la cultura argentina, no me siento bien estar con hombre desconocido sola. Pero creo que voy a estar en la Plaza Italia muchas veces más para recuperarme como un Pokemon en un Centro de Pokemon. Lo necesito.

Para las clases, tenemos la opción de tomar dos clases o tres clases, pero definitivamente voy a tomar todas, la literatura latinoamericana, la historia argentina, y una clase del castellano rioplatense. Me gustan todos, pero me encanta que desde el primer día aprendimos la forma vos de los porteños en detalle. Estoy orgullosa cada vez que mi boca puede fabricar una conjugación usando vos o sos. 

Ahora, todavía estoy aprendiendo, pero las calles están llegando a ser más y más familiares y creo que voy a desmolarme para no pedirme temprano. Quería una aventura y a Dios me lo dio.

Actividades

Día 5

Me perdí

Primer día de clases (Catellano, Historia, Literatura)

Fui a mi primer librería

Colectivo 36

Plaza Italia

Heladería

Día 6

Me acosté tarde, a la hora de salir, y todavía llegué treinta minutos antes

Clases
La casa de Leanna

Verdades Verdaderos con Leanna (película sobre los desaparecidos)

Comida

Desayuno:  cereal con pasas y banana

Almuerzo: dos empanadas (jamón y queso, y carne de cuchillos)

Merienda: Helado (Mousse de Limón)

Cena: Carne de hamburguesa, ensalada, apio, manzanas con sabor de carne

Desayuno: Empanada de verduras

Merienda: Torta de pasas y chocolate

Almuerzo: Medialuna

Cena: EN LA CAMA: ensalada, quiche de espinaca y huevos, sopa

Día 7 & 8 (J,V)

Palabras Argentina

Nectarine

Plum

Peach

Fruitilia- fresa

Chenilas – slippers

Che – hey

Moño - bowtie

Comida

Almuerzo: Medialunas de jamón (Socrates)

Cena: La parilla, buffet de ensalada, vino tinto, helado almendra, empanadas de carne

Almuerzo: empanadas (carne, cebolla y queso)

 

Receta para la salsa de Caesar

·  Un huevo crudo

·  Mostaza (de cualquier tipo)

·  Mucho queso parmesano

·  Aceite

·  Limón

·  Opcional: crema

o   Mézclelos

Tatiana & Museos

Día 9

Almuerzo con Tatiana

La casa y familia de Tatiana

 

Día 10

Museo de José Hernandez

Parques y estatuas por el camino

Museo de Bellas Artes

La Club de Milanesas

Dia 11
Trabajando en una huerta organica