Not by might or power

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. - psalm 20:7

One of the worse days in my life

There was a time near the end of high school when all 8 of my closest friends turned their backs on me because they didn't agree with me with something that I did. Today the same feeling came back again. I guess what I learned is that you don't always have to prove your point and win an argument. Sometimes all you need to say is that "I will be by your side even though I don't agree with you right now." When Martha and Mary was crying over their dead brother, Jesus could have said "Oh ye of little faith, stop crying. I'll raise him from the dead in a second" But he didn't. Jesus wept. He wept because he saw the sorrow of death. He wept because he felt what Mary and Martha felt. Compassion. Come, passion. Oh Lord have mercy.

"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

---- Gosh, I'm so exhausted.

Contemplating a wedding cake business

Cake baked to perfection by Master Strampe

Raspberry Walnut filling - ingenious creation by MS

The most significant work i did - icing the bottom tier

Putting in the spine of the cake

Flowers from Agape

Voila!

Bonus: Pad thai for the 3rd year boys. They eat a lot.

So this is what it looks like to God when I cry over my "heartaches"

Don't be silly, little girl. You'll meet someone your age, someone so wonderful who will blow your mind away. You just wait, darling. Just wait.

I am morbid

The following are gchat conversation that I had this past week:


me: hm the laundry sounds like its gonna explode
Jane: oh
that's not good
me: hm..
well im gonna die first since im sitting right here
Jane: haha okay
let me knoww
me: haha ok i'll call from heaven
Jane: hahahaha okay!!


------

Eric: you made it back okay?
me: nope i crushed and died im in heaven now
Eric: whoa coooool
how is it?
me: its AWESOME
Eric: what is Jesus like?
me: can't wait for you to join me
Eric: does he really have a beard?
me: jesus is awesome
well you have to come see for yourself
Eric: uh
may I get married and have kids first?
or does God want me to come sooner?
me: marriage and kids, overrated compared to heaven
Eric: yeah
i guess so
but still
haha
cool man
2:13 AM
well glad you're alright then
i will go to sleep
watch over me!
gnite!


----
So, I'm heading off to CCF (Tech) retreat tomorrow and I'm super excited!
Apparently the main speaker David Sliker (IHOP) is an expert of Eschatology (Study of the end times). Let's see what I'm gonna bring back this time =)

Oh, PLEASE keep the retreat in your prayers!!!!

all about food...

A new found food treasure in Charlottesville: Korean House

Honestly I haven't been to Korean House since First Year. Last time I went was with my korean class, and I never went with GCF people because we would just drive 40 minutes to Bamboo house because it is supposed to be so much better.. but apparently not!

The daughter of the owner served us and she told us that the owner/chef came from the southern part of Korea, near the bay area, that's why he specializes in seafood dishes. The Spicy Cod Fish Stew there is just heavenly. I kept day-dreaming about it the next day at work.





You can't really see it in the picture but they use fresh cod fish for this. That's why fish meat remains intact and the texture doesn't get mushy even after all the time spent in that boiling stone pot.

We also got Bibimbap and Hae Mul Pan Jun (Seafood pancakes). Pretty standard stuff, but well executed. Oh, btw, they added a mountain of cabbage on the bibimbap. Good touch. I'm a sucker for complex texture combination. =)




Today I had to go to Waynesboro for work, so I "passed by" Klines and splurged on ice cream - a quart of Pistachio and half a gallon of Raspberry! Come eat some at Monty!


....

By the way,
I just turned down the opportunity to make my boss' wedding cake...
I NEED INSPIRATION TO BAKE AGAIN!!




Poker birthday cake for my boss' fiancee

Cinnamon Bacon Rolls!

It feels weird that Jane wasn't here for this...







p.s. how come blogspot messed up the colors of my picture?

I bought a Ponyo!

Spent 9 days in hong kong and 2 hrs in Japan. Life is full of surprises. Who would have known that the best sushi I have ever tasted in my life would come from a to-go counter in an airport?







Time doesn't heal. God does.

music.

Music means a lot to me. When I think about my future wedding, one thing that I get excited about is the idea of singing a duet with my future husband in front of all the guests. If you ask me to define music, I would say that music is a gift from God to convey ideas and emotions that words cannot express.When I learned singing from Andrew Cheung in Hong Kong, he said that more than vocal technicalities, the most important thing that he wanted me to learn is to express emotions through the song that I am singing. I believe that songs are more than melodies, lyrics and notes. A song is meant to convey all the emotions given by the writer’s intention, the performer’s interpretation and the connection between the performer and the audience.

When I first started to play the keyboard in a worship setting, I went through a time when I was utterly frustrated by my lack of skills. Eventually I realized that it was because I was focusing on what I am doing and not focusing on God. I remember praying in repentance that I would not use music ever again for my own gain. I prayed that every single note I sing, every single note I play on any instrument would be dedicated to glorify God and would not be used to raise attention to myself. Of course, after that prayer I still continue to mess up and there are countless times when I did not make music for the right reason, even when I am in a worship setting.

However, what this commitment translated to me in my daily life is that I think that I shouldn’t sing words that I do not mean. When I randomly burst out in songs, even if it’s just a regular love song, I am probably thinking along the lines of those lyrics. (Think: And I am Telling You I’m Not Leaving in the context of last semester) I don’t want to sing the bridge of Marvelous Light unless I am really going to “lift my hands and turn around”. When I use music selfishly just to satisfy my own emotions and desires, I feel guilty because my music is only used to glorify God, and my emotions are being poured out for either someone else or myself, not God.

Music conveys emotions. Isn’t that why music is the most popular way to corporately worship God? When we come together to sing a song of praise, us, as performers, were all directed to express our emotions in unity, to our one and only audience –God. If someone were in this setting but not meaning the words they sing, I don’t think there is any value in them singing that song. In Isaiah 29:13,
“The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”
How much of our worship is made up only of rules taught by men?

It is easy for us to be skeptical of what we do because we have intentionally or unconsciously followed the footsteps of those before us. However, the main point of this passage is not whether we were following rules or not but where our hearts really are. If we truly mean to do what we are doing to worship God, I don’t think he would mind whether I am singing an original song I wrote or singing a song that I heard from some older person.

The guy who taught me how to play keyboard in a worship setting started of by telling me to learn how to pray through the keyboard. He told me to practice keeping my mouth shut but to let my prayers flow through the music instead. For me, during the typical post-sermon prayer times when I am supposed to play the keyboard in the “prayer mode”, it is a chance for me to offer my prayers for the body through the music that I am playing. It is so much more that “setting the mood” and “covering other people’s voices so you can concentrate on your own prayer”. This is an attitude that I have learned from the older and wiser, and I have witnessed God using the keyboardist’s music as the Holy Spirit ushers in, to bring in peace and to facilitate prayers.

However, I also believe with all my heart that some times silence is more powerful than any music anyone has to offer. There is a time for everything, and everything is permissible, but God looks at our heart through everything that we do. Questioning what we do is a good thing, but if that brings up bitterness and distract you from praying to God, I think that we can identify that as a little trick that the devil is using.

Next time we sing Marvelous Light, would anyone lift their hands and turn around with me? =)

God is goood =)

It's 12am and I need to sleep, but I really want to blog. 

This is how I think: 

1. I didn't really want to go through all the hassle travelling to Urbana. It was in St. Louis not Urbana anyways. 

2. I want to sleep in and not go to work when I feel like it. I like not having to go to work on Fridays. 

3. I want to go to all these conferences/retreats. and spend a lot of money. 

4. I want to go to Boston with my friends. and spend money. 

5. I want to go to go on a ski trip with my friends. and spend more money. 

But God thinks the opposite. I'm so glad and oh-so-thankful that he always wins. =) 

Interview with Patrick Fung from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.