The_Deep_Thinker

Monday, May 29, 2006

It's been awhile =)

a lot has happened since i last blogged but i never got around to bloggin about it... :P haha... i dont' even know where to start... hmmmm... haha...alrite..this is gonna be a LONGGG one =) things will be in no particular order...

Women's Cell
we've had 2 meetings so far... and i think they went pretty well praise God =) I really thank God for brining so many ppl to the group..last week, we had around 15 ppl -- which is sooo many for the summer term and in general especially since women's cell attendance has been quite low over the past year or so... it's also a challenge at the same time to try to get to know everyone on a good deeper level... God's presence was definitely with us at last week's meeting and also after the meeting when lorna, calla, and i prepped for the next meeting until 2:30 am (we effectively prepped so much material that it will last for 2.5 weeks :D ) ... Although there have been a lot of visible "fruits" i pray that we will be humbled daily and be obedient as facilitators of women's cell to where God is leading the group. i'm sitting here thinking now and i am amazed at the strong women of God that have joined the group... even tho some of them may not even realize it, they are indeed females that i respect because of their unwavering faith in God and because of their brokenness before God in fighting their own individual spiritual battles. I am excited to see God's power in this group over this term and i pray that as we continue to share our brokenness together, God will mold us into a community of sisters who will correct, rebuke, and encourage each other with great patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 4).

Fellowship w/ Sisters
sisters in Christ are so cool =) i thank God for each of you who have made an impact on my life...whether you are younger, older, the same age, or even my blood sister... i thank you for showing me what fellowship amongst sisters is like... i thank you for your prayers -- steady, continuous, bold, last-minute... i thank you for your time -- the meals, the coffee, the shopping, the random chillin, the phone calls... i thank you for your encouragement, listening ear, and advice -- for keeping up with me even when i'm so busy and for being blunt with me and knowing when to say things and when to sit back and listen... i thank you for your sharing -- your openness in sharing what lies beneath the surface... i thank you for your rebuking -- patient, gentle, yet to the point.... and finally, i thank you for showing Christ's love towards me. Whether we've only talked once this term or as often as every few days, thank you.

Fellowship w/ Brothers
hehe... almost as cool as my sisters in Christ =P j/k... for the older bros, thank you for taking care of me -- for the inspirational talks, the grilling, the mind-boggling talks and also checking up on me.... i also thank you for your prayers -- for praying for me even when i did not openly share the specifics and also praying for the specifics when i did share... i thank you for your encouragement + advice -- and providing a guy's perspective on things... and allowing me to broaden my perspective on various life issues... for the younger bros, thank you for your subtle yet strong encouragement -- through your growing maturity, your eagerness to serve, your passion for God, and the deep talks... thanks guys.

Physical Health
i guess many of you may not know that i've been having some breathing/asthma problems as of late... in addition to that, my eating patterns have been kinda off recently as well... wierd...i dunno the causes... i know i've been taking my physical health for granted... it's so easy to do that and abuse your body -- via unhealthy eating habits (junk food, fried stuff all the time, and not enough water), a lack of physical exercise (even for the unsporty types), and screwed up sleeping patterns (guilty!)... and on top of all that, the human body is so complex that there's prolly a lot of biological random reasons why one's body can mess up... and there's not a thing you can do about it... yeah... so i think i'm gonna take some tests when i finish exams in August to find out whether i really have asthma or smthg worse that is genetically pre-disposed...

School/Academics
hehe, i figure i have to blog about school considering that i'm studying in loo (3B) now... yeah...nothing much here besides that the intense times are just beginning now... i finished my first time midterm last friday... and now comes the rush of multiple midterms, essays, group projects, researching, presentations, and normal hmk... it's all good... any worrying/stress related to school decreases as i progress through university... that being said, i dont' wanna become too cocky in saying that i won't have any school-related stress as long as i continue to look at the bigger picture... i pray that I can be a good witness in my academics to my peers... sometimes i really think that they have this impression of me that i have this lack-lustre attitude towards aiming for high marks in school -- which isn't true... i'm still learning by God's grace how to be the best witness i can... it's very tough sometimes...

Campus Challenge
it was pretty cool =) my first time going... i think the thing that stuck out to me the most was that that i'm not alone in my accounting struggles and to really trust God with my future career... i went to this mentorship workshop led by Sandra smthg... and she had this half hour powerpoint presentation about the important milestones/people in her life... like me, she was CBC, from Waterloo, in Accounting, invovled in CCF, involved in ASA, had a very traditional Chinese family, felt the accounting pressures, etc..hehe the list goes on... the whole time throughout her presentation, Sandra was smiling and she had this inner strength about her life and the choices she made... even tho when she failed the UFE for the first time, she didn't give up in fulfilling God's calling for her life of ministry... although things seemed so set for her to become a CA, God was calling her elsewhere -- which eventually led to her becoming an elementary school teacher... i was amazed at how God really took the reins of her life and led her towards a completely different path... and how He has blessed her work life over the past few years... so cool =) hehe... i didn't come out with the attitude of "maybe i should be like Sandra and totally screw accounting".. but rather i hope that i can learn to be thankful for God's placement for my life in UW Accounting rite now... my life may not be as inflexible as i think it is... gotta persevere, who knows what i'll be doing in 5-10 years..could be totally accounting related or i could be doing smthg totally unrelated... but in the meantime... God's teaching me many lessons through accounting... gaining technical accounting knowledge has a deeper purpose..maybe it's supposed to prepare me for... la la la who knows.

Finally, i guess for those of you who don't know... i'm going out with Alexis rite now... =)
he just left back to Vancouver this afternoon after spending 10 days in Ontario... God's really blessed us and i'm thankful for the time we could spend with each other, & with each other's friends and family... thx for your support friends =P it's tough now... but i pray that God will continue to be the centre of our relationship and that we can both be molded together into becoming more Christ-like.

posted by ~*~VaNeSsA~*~ -- 3:08 p.m. (0) comments

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

decisions....

life is about prioritizing... but i think it's also about obedience... obedience to God's call to where He wants you to be every single day...

how do we prioritize? the all-encompassing answer would be to have God at the centre of everything you do... and look to do things with eternal value... and work your best in everything you do... those are some great reminders....

but... i find i have lots of time to pray and seek God's will in a variety of ways when i have time to do so... soemtimes, decisions need to be made quick... and those choices are just as important as other ones for which i have more time to decide...

there's an element of trust in God for decision-making.. and some risk-taking... by nature, i'm a very low-risk kinda person... and i really like to think things through in order to make an infomred decision... sometimes God doesnt' allow for that... =P it's a wonder how we're made...and how our rational/emotional/intellectual/spiritual mindsets are woven together... sometimes... are we jsut supposed to make a decision and stick with it?

this brings me back to yesterday nite:
i picked up a book that i started reading last term on godliness last nite..and it talked about being dependable...

"If we probe a bit deeper, we see that "unfaithfulness" is very close to "disobedience," for the man who disobeys God has cast himself loose from the only solid support a man can have, and his direction in life will be controlled by the shifting winds of circumstances and of his whimsical desire... The man who is not controlled by God has no settled reason to keep his word or discharge his obligations."

"Reliability is not jsut a social obligation; it is a spiritual obligation. God wants us to be dependable even when it costs us. This is what distinguishes godly faithfulness from the ordinary dependability of secular society."

hmm...so yeah..about that decision making... i am starting to believe that some decisions God definitely reveals to us the speicifc action/thought He wants us to engage in... but at other times, when we need to make a quick important decision, God doens't let us know specifically which route he wants us to take... some chocies are equally morally acceptable... so...i suppose choose one and stick with it... and don't think too much about it aftwards.. have faith... and live life, not extremely cautious, nor extremely free-spirited...but somewhere in between... but do stick with your choices and consequences --> thus is dependability... and even if it turns out later on that an even better opportunity comes along, we should still stick with our original decision... (being dependable, even when it costs us)...in the big things as well as the little things...

hehe..now on application... waterloo rhccc parousia fellowship?

posted by ~*~VaNeSsA~*~ -- 5:39 p.m. (1) comments

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Take up the Challenge and FIGHT =)

i've only been back in waterloo for not even 3 full days and i think God's already revealed part of the struggles and battles to face this term... iv'e had 4 months of my own things to deal with back home and now i feel thrusted into the deep waterloo atmosphere again...

these are issues that run so deep but the most powerful weapon we have is prayer.

yesterday nite's talk was very challenging in so many different ways... so many issues were brought up... i don't want things to keep heading towards this downhill spiral... i know there are others who are fighting alongside me... it's going to be tough, but i pray that we are willing to fight for what we believe in.

posted by ~*~VaNeSsA~*~ -- 2:15 p.m. (0) comments