"One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple."~ Psalm 27:4
Thank you to all of you who have supported me thus far in sending me to Africa this summer! There is still about $2000 LEFT TO RAISE and there are only about THREE WEEKS LEFT to do so~ so to finish this off, send a part of me to Africa!
Eyes to see- $200 Ears to hear- $200 Feet to go- $200 Hands to reach- $200 A mouth to speak- $100 A heart to love- $300 A mind to learn- $300 A soul to change- $500
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.”
I think it is echoed here. One can no more diminish Christ’s love for him than he can stop the sun from rising simply by refusing to acknowledge it.
“At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to stand before the Lord as his ministers, and to pronounce blessings in his name. These are their duties to this day.That is why the Levites have no share of property or possession of land among the other Israelite tribes. The Lord himself is their special possession, as the Lord your God told them.”— Deuteronomy 10:8-9
Yesterday my cousin was asking me and my younger cousin what we enjoyed in high school. The padawan answered, “Math and econ.” I answered, “Everything that doesn’t make money.”
Being at home with the grandparents and my aunt means I get to spend time with my family and do my best to serve them as Christ would. It also means I’m constantly being reminded that I’m the last chance for this family to have a doctor in it. While they mean this in good intention and do it to encourage me to find a good career to support myself and the family, it also means they put me in between what the world sees as success and what Kingdom success means.
There is a certainty, though, in knowing what I want to be and do. Certainty of career isn’t quite it, though I have a developing idea it might be nursing and art. Certainty of income and stability definitely isn’t it, because I know I’ll be a missionary at least part time.
If you asked me what I wanted to be today, without the fear of risk or faith, I would say a storyteller. A storyteller to open eyes and call people to wake up. A missionary who goes places and sees things. An artist, and maybe a musician. A full time worship leader. A mother to the motherless. A voice that declares hope in the midst of so much cynicism.
That all sounds so poetic, and I will have to admit I’m not quite sure what all of that would look like. Maybe it is nursing and art. Maybe it is being a full time worship leader. Maybe it is building a home for orphans. Maybe it is going into the darkness that is human trafficking with a mission. Maybe it is doing spoken word, painting, singing, traveling, and caring. Maybe it looks completely different. I don’t quite know yet. And I don’t know what exactly I will these next few years.
What I am certain about, though, is this. Whatever I become and whatever I end up doing, I want to be and do with eyes wide open. Seeing as my Abba sees. Loving as my Abba loves. Living the Kingdom. It doesn’t make much sense logically, and I probably won’t have the finances or reputation of many of my peers. But I think it’s worth it. After all, I have the One who is worth it all. After all, I have never seen life truer to what it means than this .
If we had hands like God, and arms like Christ We’d reach far We’d take each scar And we’d never measure the length We would never hesitate We’d never take the time to just think about it And wait We’d stretch so far We’d have stretch marks of faith
I stopped by the coffee shop on campus for a small break today. When I went it, I saw that they’d put out markers and papers for stress relief from finals. That was enough to ensnare me for the next 20 minutes. Excuse the artist in me.
When I got a piece of paper and some markers, I immediately had an idea of what I wanted to draw. For the past few years, all my conversations with grandpa have turned to Taiwan at least once. He has a wistful tone when he talks about it all. And though he had it tough there, as the eldest of nine, it was home. Anyone can see that.
I’ve only been to Taiwan twice in my entire life, and it’s not what I would call my own home. As of now, the mountains and lakes of the Pacific Northwest are what have my heart. But I can still feel it stir some sort of ancient wonder or curiosity and pride, even, when I remember glimpses of the old wilderness I had outside of the city. I can’t say I sketched the mountains or trees right in any way— all I know is Mount Rainier and evergreen trees, not what the island of my heritage has. But I tried to put in the memory and longing that I hear and see in grandpa’s voice and eyes. That’s what I want people to know.
If I had all the money in the world right now, I would buy him a house in Taiwan, exactly where he wanted his dream house to be. Not too big, but comfortable, and not too many stairs inside. Maybe near the mountains where he grew up, or maybe near the city if that’s what he wanted. And then I’d buy him and grandma tickets on a luxury jet so they could go home. That’d have to be my biggest wish right now. To see them go home, like they dreamed.
so apparently i’m going to africa: GOAL: $5604 DAYS LEFT: 48 % RAISED: 62.63% ($3510) Special thanks to: Linda Yoon, Maria Marshall, the Cheung Family, the Du Family, Jinn-Hwei and Shih-Tang Cheung, Eugene Hsu, ChungHsu, Qiu Kan, and John Lin! :) Thank you all so much! Halfway mark surpassed! Note: Does not include those who bought friendship bracelets yet!
You were singing in the dark Whispering Your promise Even when I could not hear I was held in Your arms Carried for a thousand miles to show Not for a moment did You forsake me
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