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| I caught a really bad cold during the holidays, and never really enjoyed or celebrated the New Years – I even went to sleep before midnight (EST) on New Years Eve (which was before 9 PM Pacific Time). I never planned out all the wonderful things I would like to see happening in 2009. However, it was great to have a little break from work – sometimes I needed that to break the routine; and it made me think how I might want to live each day differently than how I had been living. And for the next few weeks, I plan to just read through Isaiah for my daily quiet times, and ask God to show me who He is each day. I really want to be reminded of His attributes this year. He has already reminded me that He is a God of relentless love; He hates sins; yet He loves people, and desires to forgive and make us holy. I think this is a good place to start – to remember who He is, so that I can learn to worship Him better in spirit and in truth. | | |
| Just heard that some gas stations are closing because gas are running out, as people are fearing of gas shortage or the potential skyrocketed prices. I guess I am just going to go home & enjoy a weekend at home – been so busy for a while, and now our house is in need of a good cleaning this weekend; also will be praying for Huston about the hurricane situation.
On a very encouraging note – the ESL ministry at our church has taken off for the new school year. We had about a dozen new students at the first night of classes. In our class alone, we had 5 new students (from Mexico, Guatemala, Germany, and India). I was so encouraged by the diversity, as this is something Eric & I missed very much since moving to our town. It has been my prayer that I will be better prepared to teach my students this year, all motivated by a love for them.
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| The summer English Bible study for the ESL students are going well. I am thankful to the Lord for providing this opportunity for us. We miss regular fellowship (since our church does not have small groups in place currently), and this is the first time in a long while since we have a chance to dig deep into the Scriptures with others. The students are opening up and sharing their thoughts -- this is quite encouraging to us. As for me, I am amazed at God's Word as well. Last week we learned about faith through the story of Jairus asking Jesus to heal his daughter, and the story of the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. "Your faith has healed you" (Luke 8:48). What is faith? I looked out the window and saw the plant that our neighbor had given us. She thinned the seedling from her garden, and thinking it was a cantaloupe plant. We planted the seedling, and all the time thinking it was going to produce cantaloupes. Finally one day, we realized that it was a zucchini plant. If I had enough faith to believe that by asking of God to make our zucchini plant produce cantaloupes, my prayer would then be answered -- would this faith make my request come true? Eric made a good point about the kind of faith Jairus and the woman had -- it was based on who Jesus was and His promises. I cannot pray without Him in the center of it. There are so many things demanding our prayers, but God has to be the center of it all. He is the Faith-Giver. He is the one who says "Don't be afraid; just believe, and [it will be done]" (Luke 8:50).
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| It’s been a while since I have written. Life is busy...We are having an English Bible study for a couple of our ESL students this summer. I am totally enjoying the opportunity to prepare refreshments. In fact, this week, I made zucchini bread from the zucchini harvested from our backyard. The students never had zucchini bread before. They loved it, and that made me happy. I heard that zucchini plants grow crazy. In fact, one of my coworkers told me that there is a farmer town where no one ever locks their car doors, except during zucchini seasons, when everyone will be locking their cars before going into the stores. If you don’t lock your car doors, you will surely find zucchinis in your car when you return.
Well, if that’s the case, I am expecting to share some harvest with neighbors and coworkers. We’ll be having lots of things cooked with zucchini this summer.
By the way, we are starting to get some cantaloupes and watermelons, too - though they are still quite small, so I am not sure whether we’ll actually get a good harvest on that or not. Will see... | | |
| Spring is here! We are thinking about starting a vegetable garden in our backyard. This is a new thing for us, especially since I have never planted anything before. Due to the fact that we might still have spring frost, also to the fact that we haven't worked on the soil for the garden yet -- I've been planting seeds in doors. The basil seeds I have planted are germinating. This might sounds strange to you - but I am quite amazed seeing the green leaves sprouting. (Just to remind you, I have never planted anything). Eric must think that I am spending too much time staring at those seedlings. But I check them several times a day. Sometimes I would sit on the floor and just stare at them for a while. I think baby basil leaves are the cutest thing!
Doesn't this make you think how amazing life is? When I look at a basil seed - it doesn't look like much at all - in fact, it is quite small. But it can grow cute green leaves! I was recently reminded by a coworker, that life is in the seed. God causes things to grow. If we have received Christ as Savior and Lord - the life has begun.
"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:11-12) | | |
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