Get Your Groove On

Owwwww.

Just got back from a beginner/intermediate hip-hop dance class with Irene. 120% sure that I will be shuffling from place to place for the next little while. What an amazing work out. So much fun, but a lot of work. It was great to bust a move. There's just something about those beats in hip hop that just helps you to unleash and let everything out. Rawr. Like my instructor said, who needs therapy when you can dance?

Dancing's definitely a mental and physical workout. It takes so much mental energy to focus on the moves, the timing, and the style, and so much physical energy to execute them. Right now I'm having a hard time executing the right moves at the right time. No style whatsoever. We'll work on that later.

It definitely made me realize that I need to get in more shape. I've become such a couch po-ta-tooooooe. By the end of the lesson I just couldn't do the moves because I couldn't lift my limbs. But I love it. The instructor's awesome. Very upbeat and very patient. I don't feel like such a tool when I have to ask her to do something over. The teacher makes or breaks the experience. She's so pro.

Roots

God has really blessed me with the transition back to Toronto. I had put down some deep roots for the first time in my life in Guelph, and I thought it would be rocky, transitioning to a new kind of life in Toronto. In my head I had this mental picture of me brutally pulling and ripping out my precious roots so that I could put down new ones. I've had to break some ties, like my involvement in the ministry at Guelph, but thankfully the friendships have been preserved. So there really wasn't much blood shed. The transition has been surprisingly pleasant thus far. It was the smoothest move I've ever made in my entire life. Thank God. It also helped that I expected and wanted this move. I knew that my university life and my time in Guelph was limited, and I wanted to return to Toronto.

But it makes me wonder if I'll have the courage to pull up these roots that I'm laying down, pack up and move overseas in a few years, because in my head my stay in Toronto is indefinite. I could be here for a year, two years, five years, ten years, or until I die. There is no "time's up" like there was in Guelph. So really...I don't have to leave. Of course when God calls, the call will be enough to compel me to go. But I also do wonder...am I getting too comfortable?

Star Sighting

Oh and by the way, when I was downtown the other day for the symphony, my friend and I walked pass The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson. She looked like she stepped out of the page of her biography, and onto the sidewalk. It was somewhat eerily just how normal she was. There no entourage, no nothing.

Five Good Things

1. Cheesy mando pop on a chilled morning.
I don't know why. I really really like it.

2. Whirlyball with my staff team. Whirlyball= lacrosse in bumper cars.
Wanted to play since high school, but I never had the chance. Loved it. Got four blisters from steering.

3. Thai food. Mhhmm.
Really wish I could make this. I want to learn. So many things that I want to learn.

4. Cleaning.
There's something therapeutic about organizing things, but yet I always procrastinate when it comes to cleaning.

5. Mark Driscoll sermons.
The man is visionary. After listening to him yesterday while working on my newsletters I wanted to leave a legacy up to a thousand generations. I love how he exhorts men to be patriarchs and great fathers. It makes my eyes watery.

The Symphony

Life is good.

Last night I went to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with a girl friend to hear Dvorak's Symphony #8. It was beautiful. Not just the music, but the musicians. It was mesmerizing watching their body move to the music as they were playing, and the way the bows of the stringed instruments moved in unison. I don't have enough words to describe it. There were so many cool things. Like how all these different instruments came together to create such a cool...melody instead of some raucous noise. It just blows my mind to try to fathom it because they could very well just be making noise.

I felt so sophisticated and grown up, traipsing downtown in heels for a cool Thai meal and then going out to the Symphony afterwards. It was only something that I imagined myself doing when I was "younger". Sometimes I still feel like I'm 16 inside. Last night was definitely one of those..."Pinch me, and tell me I'm awake," nights. I can't believe I'm living this life!

Cookie, Muffin, and Other Desserts As Terms of Endearment

So terms of endearment came up twice in conversation the past few days, and it got me thinking. Why is it that for the most part words that are used as terms of endearment are food products? I.e. Pumpkin, Honey, Sugar. And why are a lot of them desserts like muffin, cookie, and cupcake? What is it about those words? Who wrote the unwritten rule that the best words to be used for terms of endearment are to be desserts?

What? Some guy wakes up one day and thinks, 'You know it'd be pretty cool to call my wife by a dessert today,' and boom everyone just starts doing it? Why not inanimate objects? Like spatulas or forks or tools?

"Oh spatula, can you pass me the peas please?"

Ok, so it sounds awkward right now, but I suggest to you that's only because desserts are socialized into us. But even within the category of desserts some are left out. Like Nanaimo bars. Or even apple strudel or eclairs. They're pretty good desserts. Just as good as cupcakes and muffins. I like them. Why aren't they used as a term of endearment? Don't you think they'd feel left out when 'muffin' or 'cookie' gets all the special usage?

"Nanaimo, can you rub my feet please?" That works just as well don't you think? We ought to start a petition or try coining it. Which I'd totally do except I'm not really into using terms of endearments or being called a dessert by anyone. It makes my skin crawl.

That is...unless you're white, related to my dad, female, have a warm southern drawl and I just happen to call you "auntie". Then it's totally 150% cool, and I love it. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Awww....

Got Boring?

It's 2:00am. I've failed yet again in my recent resolution to go to bed before 10pm or at least midnight. Pfft. Just getting really restless these days. So I decided to put labels on the rest of my posts of my blog from way back when. Some of the older posts were definitely funnier! What? Did MPD suck my sense of humor from me? I was so much more amusing last year than this year. I mean...I still laugh a lot...at myself. So why is my blog boring? Humor come back. I'm almost tempted to go do something stupid. Nothing awkward has happened this week yet. Hmm....This is so not normal! Wait... no, awkward moments have happened. I just can't post them. Ha!

Serenade

I want to serenade Toronto with the violin
in stilettos
on my balcony
...in a year and a half.

Five Good Things

1. Speeding down an empty! 401 on the way to church. Talk about getting a rush before church.
2. Solid preacher and preaching.
3. David Crowder. Can I just say how much I love this man's music and his voice?
4. High heat stove. Food gets to my stomach faster.
5. The sunshine.

Mish Mash

Random collections of thoughts for your amusement.

i) Why must there be trends in the whole Christian dating culture? A few years back it was I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Now Henry Cloud's on the scene along with a few others with the more proactive approach. It gets so confusing!!! Isn't there a definitive answer? And by definitive I mean conservative. And by answer I mean law.

ii) Why is there such a dearth of decent, non sketchy, fiction? Scoured Indigo today for almost two hours. Came up empty handed. Boo.

iii) Good Chinese food makes me happy to be Chinese just because there are certain Chinese foods that other ethnicities don't seem to like. But they're SO GOOD! i.e. Congee with Thousand Year Old Eggs. Mhmmm. I'm so glad I'm Chinese so I'm not missing out. But of course the same flawed logic can be applied to other foods. Like...cheese.

iv) Going to the movies alone rocks. I wholeheartedly endorse it. You get more of the movie because it's just you...and the movie.

A Beautiful Collision

A fusion of classical music and hip-hop! Who knew it could sound so good?


http://view.break.com/347555 - Watch more free videos

I want my own violinist.

The Best Part About Support Raising

The best part about support raising is meeting the older folks. Like aunties and uncles my parents' age whom I would really never crossed paths with if it weren't for support raising. I love how their love for God and their godly character just shines through in that hour, hour and a half that I'm with them. They've got an aura. They just radiate Christ. I walk away thinking, "I want to be like you in twenty years".

The Aliens Have Landed

"Keep your eyes...on the road. Hello?! Eyes! On the road!"

So went the conversation in my head. Tonight wasn't the best time to turn into a space cadet seeing as how I was hurtling down the 404 and the 401 amidst thick fog. It was like driving through some cosmic bathroom that someone just took a hot shower in.

But it was precisely the fog that was taking my attention off the road towards these circles made up of smaller orbs of lights that were hovering above the freeways. They looked like UFOs or those lights that you see above operating rooms. They were just your normal run of the mill streetlights, but the fog made them look really cool. It was also somewhat creepy in a way. Almost felt like I was in a sci-fi movie.

My lack of creative writing skills really does it no justice. It's in times like these where I wish I had a digi SLR. A picture's worth a thousand words.

Fighting God

The thought of not reporting until next semester throws me into a mental hissy fit as I try to fight against God to prevent it from happening.

You'd think I'd learn by now not to fight Him on things which are utterly out of my control, meaning most things in life. Like marriage and ministry partner development. Just as I can't possibly orchestrate the circumstances to marry myself off and to the right guy at that, I can't possibly bring in the support myself. I can't move hearts. He can. He's going to bring the funds in, in His time whether I whine, complain, cry, or just go along with it and persevere with joy.

We can do this the hard way or the easy way. The road's got to be traveled, but it's up to me how enjoyable the journey's going to be.

I concede. Ministry partner development is hard.

However long You want Lord. I'll stick it out.

Hope Deferred, Hope Restored

Steadily they passed; deadlines that I had set for myself to be on campus.

August 17th, September 1st, September 24th, September 29th, October 1st.

Meanwhile I sat frustrated not knowing what to pray anymore, or expect anymore. This certainly was not what I had expected back in May. I had expected to be on campus by now. Hope, that I would soon report started to leak out of me as contacts dwindled taking with it, momentum to continue raising support. It's as they say:Hope deferred makes the heart sick Psalm 13:12.

This morning I sat immobilized in front of my laptop unwilling to do anything to raise support because I was sure of the answer that I would get; NO. What was the point? I sat there, willing myself to do something, anything, but I couldn't. So I went and sat at the Lord's feet, and this verse came to mind.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
PSALM 121:1-2

My help comes from the Lord. He is my hope. Not people and not their responses. My hope lies in Christ. When hope is placed on people or anything else other than Christ, it's bound to be dashed, but when it is placed on God, He will never fail.

The Sovereignty of God

Can I just say how much I LOVE the sovereignty of God?

It's.
simply.
amazing.

He is in full and complete control.
No matter how many stupid things I say and do, He is Sovereign over all.
He cannot be screwed up by me.
It's beautiful.
Love it.

Travel Bug

This year I'd like to:

1. Hop on a last minute deal to any major city in Europe for a weekend. I heard there was a $99 flight to Paris.
2. Go to the airport with my free anywhere in North America round-trip pass, and take the next flight to a major city in North America.
3. Back pack through Europe or more specifically Italy and Greece.

Thankful

Today I am thankful for...

1. The spectacular post card worthy views seen from our balcony each day. Everyday is a new masterpiece by God.
2. Home cooking a la Irene. Yum. She can cook.
3. Taste buds so that I can actually taste the said above.
4. The sweet, sweet words of the Bible.
5. The fact that the Lord is too good of a Father to let me go on campus unprepared.

The Value of Beauty

"Your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity ... in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!" the banker wrote.

"So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset," he said. "Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!"

"It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease," he said.

Thus saith the banker to a young woman of 25 who was banking on her beauty (pun intended) to nag herself a rich husband with a salary worth more than 500,000 on Craigslist. You can read the rest of the story here from Reuters' "Oddly Enough."

Humorous as it is, the banker is expounding on Biblical truth.
"Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting" Proverbs 31:30 (NIV)

So let's talk about investing. How much more time do we as women or I myself put into my outer beauty than my inner? Yet which one will be the better investment in the long run? Not to say that personal hygiene should be neglected, but think of all the extra time, energy, and money we spend on our looks. In 10 years at the very least, I can be sure that my looks won't be worth all that much. That's a fact. I won't have a personal entourage of make up artists and photoshoppers to make me look 22 when I'm 30 something. I wish. Outer beauty is a depreciative asset and is guaranteed to erode away, but inner beauty is imperishable. "Do not let your adorning be external- the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing-but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." 1 Peter 3:3-4

I for one don't want to be left with an empty basket when the 30s hits.
It's time to change stocks.

A Sick Sap

Today the temperature dropped, and the air finally had a hint of Autumn's chill in it. I put on my brand new scarf, and walked to the subway for my appointments. It was raining steadily outside, but I refused to go back to my apartment to get my umbrella. It was much more romantic to walk in the rain.

Until I got sick.
I just got over my cold last week, and now I'm fighting yet another sore throat.
Morale of the story?
Practicality trumps fleeting notions of romance.
I'm such a sap. Geez.

22

22. It doesn't feel all that different than 21, but I feel like I've stepped over the threshold into the prime of life. Never have I felt so comfortable in my own skin because of my relationship with Christ. Never have I felt so content because of Christ.

Life has arrived.
Not because I turned 22, but because my mental paradigm has finally adjusted to the fact that this is life. Life is what's happening right now, not when such and such happens. This is life and I absolutely love it. Absolutely content.

A myriad of adventures awaits me. What will happen next around the bend on this road of life? I am so excited for what the Lord has planned for the year ahead. Whatever it is I am ready to rock this casbah. Carpe diem! Seize the day.

Life Stops Here

My computer is in a coma right now. The battery is gone, and I left my adapter in the hinterlands of Guelph. Most of my support stuff was on that computer so now I am stalled even more in the raising of my support. Luckily a few things were written down on paper, and Terra was kind enough to allow me to hijack her laptop for MPD purposes. I just like to point out how sickeningly dependent I am or dare I even say "we are" dependent on technology.

The Great Romance

Yesterday I spent half the day at Rockwood chilling with God on top of this gorgeous lookout point. It hit me that the places that appeal to me most for quiet times are really quite romantic. Like the lookout point for example.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
PSALM 73:25

Cultivating a Thankful Heart

Today I am thankful for...

1. Rockwood
2. Red Leaves
3. Extra Strength Tylenol
4. Cool Coworkers
5. Sales
6. One Time Gifts
7. Answered Prayers
8. Family
9. Old Roommates
10. My Car
11. The Bible
12. My Mom
13. Free Movie Tickets
14. Hillsong
15. New Friends
16. Good Health
17. Ryerson C4C T-Shirt