| Ich bin... |
| [Tana]. Child of God. Teacher. Youth leader. Music-minded. Blessed.
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| Ich liebe... |
[Jesus]. My Family. My Church. P & W. Mission Trips. Music. Prayer. Traveling. Writing. Drama. Sunshine. Languages. Photography. Badminton. Nature. Snail Mail. Fruit. Green. Simplicity. Listening.
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| 25 April 2005 |
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yesterday before agape, sharon and i had bento with the boys. you get an interesting dynamic (a.k.a. choice of conversation topics) with such a diverse group ^_^ has STE become the new "fan tong" for our church? must be for many, anyway.
some people make much too big a deal out of the tiniest situation. oh, to be patient as He always is with us.
from 2 Timothy 4: Be prepared in season and out of season... grant us each a spirit of readiness to do not only what we choose, but ALL that You've created, shaped and called us for. let us not bow in the face of persecution, but evermore encouraged, even in times where it seems we stand alone, for:
...the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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posted by simplejoys @ 19:45
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| 22 April 2005 |
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+ can both sides win in tug of war? i keep thinking this is a trick question.
+ some situations can clearly be defined as black or white...yet some are both (even with traces of blue, orange, etc.).
+ volunteering is a blessing. thanks especially to AO for high praises. you've made my week without meaning to.
+ 22ish with breeze. ah, God is good. and related to that...
"infinite goodness needs no urging to do it." (c.s. lewis)
may He make His face shine upon each and every one of you! ^_^
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posted by simplejoys @ 18:40
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| 18 April 2005 |
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this weekend, the Lord granted me an abundance of both retreat and fellowship as i traveled down to Calgary to stay with Anna and Kyle, and preach at Truth Baptist's youth group, ROOTS. the time was short, yet i was inspired by the integrity and sole devotion to Him that i saw in my sister and brother, the fruitfulness of ministry of a church that God blesses and leads, and the joy of youth whose lives have been touched by a transformational gospel. i greatly appreciated both the fellowship and the enriching, thoughtful conversation. my only regret was not being able to stay longer.
back to one-on-one student help at QA today. it's been so rewarding to observe the student i've been working with discover self-confidence and develop an understanding of something that's been a frustration for so long.
a poignant thought from my devotional yesterday:
Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go...We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, "Here I am." Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty...Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready— he is ready.
may we all be like Moses, truly with a spirit of readiness:
God called to him .... And he said,'Here I am’(Exodus 3:4)
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posted by simplejoys @ 21:31
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| 13 April 2005 |
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i was most enlightened by a conversation on the playground yesterday. i was on noon hour recess supervision, and overhead two second grade girls on a climber. one told the other several times with conviction, "EVERBODY SINS." the other, while not disputing her statement in any way, appeared to ponder this for a bit. when i went over to find out more, the second girl announced, "if i had superpowers, i would make satan go away." how neat that young children discuss these things...and in a public school! ah, if only all God's people could be so free and casual in sharing their faith; it can be that simple. ^_^
"tell me, oh Lord, how You want me to give Your life..."
("send me, Lord" from stream of praise's latest CD, GLOW [I])
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posted by simplejoys @ 15:37
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| 08 April 2005 |
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just got back from the first night of the stream of praise praise and worship celebration. what a moving evening - besides the heart-touching songs, many joined the family of Christ. when we sang 全新的你 and had our hands over our hearts, it broke me. i felt Him asking me whether i truly believed Jesus was capable of healing my wounds and changing my life. there's just something so compelling about God that makes people willing to give up everything to know and follow Him. one of the girls on the team shared about her recent missions experience at an orphanage in china, and one part in particular really hit me - how the orphans didn't feel abandoned or despised, but welcome in God's arms, that they no longer needed anything else. i'm thankful for opportunities such as this that He uses to remind me of why i committed to Him more than ten years ago. revival on the way!
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posted by simplejoys @ 23:31
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the highlight of my week thus far was going to jasper / marmot basin with lynn, haitao, liu man, haiyan and shouhai. i can't say i had any element of success on the slopes, but the weather was fantastic, the air was fresh, i got to practice my mandarin, and i invented "ski boot sliding". ^_^ here are some photos, mostly of jasper passing through my car window.
still waiting to hear back from the OM representative regarding a possible summer missions opportunity. i guess you just can't rush these things.
tonight and tomorrow night the taiwanese praise and worship group, streams of praise will have praise and worship celebrations here in edmonton. tonight i'm going with sherry, dabo and maybe others, and tomorrow night with my small group. i know He already has and and will use SOP to touch many hearts for eternity.
yesterday was probably my best lunch supervision shift at QA yet: i was in the grade 2 classroom, and at first i thought the kids would test my limits to the max, but they were quite easygoing, even the one boy who usually never takes me seriously when i see him in the halls. it seems the usual supervisor for this classroom yelled and restricted the group more than they'd like (i've met her, actually, and she's quite nice). mind you, i can't seem to remember what the lunch supervisors were like when i was in elementary...
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posted by simplejoys @ 09:16
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| 02 April 2005 |
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so, i've decided not to go to toronto this may. much as i want to witness such a special moment, i'd rather it be a great benefit to them in that they can spend that amount however they want. so, the funds aren't saved, just redirected.
how fun! (thanks to my cuz for this)
create your own visited country map
hopefully the next time i ask to have this generated, at least one part of europe will be shaded :)
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posted by simplejoys @ 16:24
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