The Set-Up Samaritan

Last Monday, the first day of school, I didn't have classes until 1pm and I was planning to arrive to school a little early to get a new one card and Upass (lost it when I was about to start my last term ever...sucks). However, like any first day back I was running late and missed my bus. Fortunately, my youngest brother was late too and was going to drive to school, so of course I was going to car pool.

We were so close to pulling out of our driveway except for the fact that a taxi pulled up in front of our house. I honestly didn't know who would arrive to my place in a taxi. I looked over and this middle age Caucasian taxi driver winds down his window and informs us in his European accent that his passenger, a Chinese descent grandmother whom we saw next to him was lost.

To make it a short story, this senior lady was looking for her daughter's house whom she knew the address of. She hadn't been to her daughter's place in two years and was desperately wanting to go there to see her son who had arrived from overseas.

However

1. The address couldn't be right because she stubbornly persisted that it was in the north end area when the address would've directed the taxi driver to the south end of the city as the driver made known to us

2. Her daughter doesn't know of her arrival because she isn't able to contact them since she doesn't have their number (they didn't give it to her even though she has a cell phone) FYI: we later had enough information to assume that she only is in contact with her daughter whens she chooses to visit her

3. She wasn't sure of where she was and was basing her 'landmark' memory of a gas station to be near this unknown residence.

I thought....
Maybe she wrote down the address wrong.
Maybe her daughter gave her a fake one. 
Maybe her son wasn't even at this house when she arrive despite her once again stubbornness that he would be there for sure.

As my brother was doing his best translating back and forth, I thought to myself how patience and kind this driver was to pull up at Asian-looking faces to get some help. He could've easily dropped off this grandma anywhere, could've easily became frustrated with the lack of directions and communications, but he wasn't. He did joke he didn't mind going in circles as he would have a customer all day (and she was willing to pay him, she was in desperation to find this house), but genuinely, I sensed that he didn't want her to waste the time and money.

I stepped in to help translate, and in the end we compromised that if another few circles of driving didn't spark any recollection of the location of this house, then the driver would bring her back to her senior's home in Chinatown.

As we headed to school, I felt a humbling awe within that we did something good. God had set us up to help this grandma and it made me reflect on how sad it was that she wasn't able to contact her children, how she was lost, how lonely she must be living in a senior's home, the driver's action of pulling up next to us, his calm and sincere attitude, and what divine timing all this was.

I still think of this grandma and wonder if she did find her daughter's house. What if she didn't? I guess some questions are just left unanswered....

Faith & Passion

Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further― Søren Kierkegaard

Faith and Passion were the two main topics of the English Adult talks in this year's Be.My.Everything Winter Conference theme.  I don't think it could've been spoken at a better timing, at least for me personally. Since coming back from Korea, I've been struggling to find that passion in my faith and in others that I have experienced during my exchange. Ironically, I realized coming back that this year's speaker, Pastor Dan Ho, was the English Adult speaker at my very first WC back in 2005. This is significant because I had had such a strong desire to go to English Teens due to my first WC speaker, Wayne Adams' return. I've been waiting all these years for him to be a WC speaker, and the year he comes back, I realize that my faith is at a different place and it wouldn't be the same being situated in the Teens Program like I was seven years ago. Yet, I don't think I missed out in anyway, and if anything, I gained more than I would have as God spoke through another speaker who had been there with me at my first ever WC - I just never realized it. 

Faith

Is everywhere. People place their faith in so many things, and most of all, in themselves. One thing that stood out to me is how personal our God is. There may be billions of people on Earth, but God still has a unique plan and purpose for each one of us. We are all a gem in his treasure box and with Him by our side, there are never coincidences. 

I easily put my faith in so many places with acknowledging it. My education, my career, my family, my friends, my-self. I realize how unfortunate this is when first and foremost, my trust should Always be in the Lord's hands. Timely, God is showing me what it is He wants from me. I know longer need to have expectations going into conferences or retreats because as long as I make myself available, God will have expectations for me instead.

Passion

As you mature in your faith, you become more Christ-like, and when you reach a certain point so to speak, your are able to acknowledge how your heart aligns with His. It's hard to pinpoint when this is, everyone is different and its a spiritual journey you have to discover for yourself. At this time of my life, many people question where I am going next, what I will be doing, and despite being my fourth year, I honestly don't know. The decisions are too abundant with too many places I want to go to and multiple employment routes I want to embark on.

I've been so caught up in my passions that I no longer know if what I want to pursue is what God wants me to pursue. He's my creator, the designer of me, so what I'm passionate for must be something He's passionate for. Yet, I'm not sure if what I'm seeking should be what I'm seeking. I guess for now I just need to just listen to His still voice and follow the light he shines on my path for me to follow. I feel I'm a step closer, but when doubt kicks in, I lack the faith to make a passionate decision.

But, a passion, Jaeson Ma had said, "If you don't have a passion worth living for, you don't have a passion worth dying for." This WC, I feel so challenged, a challenge that is beyond me because it's making me question every aspect of my choices. 

As each day of conference progressed, I find myself being blown away by all the revelations I've been receiving. There was so much to soak up that I couldn't let anything slip away as I speedily took notes. The worship moved me and sparked a bold worship I never knew I had in me. The strangers in my bedside group became dear sisters in Christ that spurred growth in one another. 

From seven years ago, I am speechless at where my faith is and where this passion is going to take me seven years later. 

As reason is a rebel to faith, so passion is a rebel to reason. - Browne, Sir Thomas

 

 

Symphony of Fireworks

When I was participating in the Explore program in Montreal this past summer, I mentioned in one of my travel blog posts about the amazing sights of fireworks I would be able to enjoy. In fact, other then missing the first one of the competition, I watched a total of nine shows. I don't know why, but the art of fire crackers exploding into the night sky and displaying a symphony of movements, colours, repetitions, and strokes captures the entirety of my attention and drowns me in a sensation of awe. I never wanted to miss one, I didn't want to hear 'you missed out' if I didn't go, and when does Edmonton ever have a series of firework competitions?

Out of the nine shows, Greece was my favorite because of the location I was watching the fireworks from. A local friend had introduced me to that flawless site, the Papineau Bridge. Sitting there like an anxious kid waiting for her turn, I was speechless and strapped with joy as I sat on that metal railing awaiting for the majestic show to begin. It felt so surreal. The only thing coming between me and the artistic explosion was the wire fence in front of me, situated there for my safety, but if I had the option, I wish it wasn't there.

I will never forget the weekly experience of chasing after that visual adrenaline. Watching fireworks from a screen will never match watching them live. I even thought to myself that being a pyrotechnic would be a challenging, yet highly rewarding job. Sometimes I would feel a strong divine presence as I stared down each firework. It felt impossible to be able to create such beauty and glamour in the darkness. The magnificence of the encounter made me question the reality of it, as if there was an invisible lining in the darkness projecting choreographed lights.Yet, my eyes weren't lying despite the dispute in my mind and these quick, spectacular moments embedded unforgettable recollections there.

Likewise, this whole year has blown me away. My study abroad to Korea, French exchange, and reunions in different cities has filled me with an unspeakable humbleness. I am so blessed by all of this and God's leading hand in my every step. He has pushed me out of my comfort zone, challenged me to mature in my faith, and has left me in an endless state of awe. He goes before me, beyond me, and between me and everything I am able to do. And when I thought that nothing could surpass these fireworks in my life, He surprises me with the greatest one of all to end off 2012, Winter Conference.

I think I will be needing some time and a few blog spaces to exclaim and share all that I have learned, heard and seen. Even if it was my 6th time going and walking into it with prayers to be answered, God knocked me off of my feet with His creativity and ability to do so. To be swoon by His love is an utter understatement and I am so thankful he called me out seven years ago to my first Winter Conference.

Acknowledging that I still have a whole life ahead of me, 2012 was just a teaser, a spark of what's to come in 2013. Who knows what type of fireworks are going to ignite this year.

Here's to a New Year, New Discoveries, and New Revelations.

Thankyou Jesus.