My lost sock
It was laundry day for me. I finally worked up the motivation to walk to the laundromat. As I was folding my laundry after I was done, I realized that one of my socks was missing! I quickly went back to the laundromat in search for the sock, hoping that it's still in one of the machines. I looked inside the dryer--nothing. Then I went to the washing machine that I had used, and a woman was using it already. So I asked her if she saw a sock inside the machine, she said no. But she was very nice to open the machine door while it was still running, mixed her clothes around, lo and behold, there was my little cartoon sock!!! I thanked her, feeling a great satisfaction that I have found my sock. If the lady wasn't nice enough to look into the machine for me, I was prepared to sit around and wait until her load was done so that I could look into the machine at that time.
Then it dawned on me...this is so similar to the lost sheep parable in the Bible, where the shepherd of 100 sheep would leave the 99 sheep and look for the 1 missing sheep. I could sense a little bit of the urgency and concern the shepherd felt...and I am sure when Jesus looks for us, he feels a similar urgency and concern for us too. He is willing to wait for us to turn back to him, at whatever cost, even it means dying on the cross for us.
The art of following
It was an active day for me. First I had to carry 3 bags of groceries with me while power walking up a steep slope, then I had to run from one place to another, afterthat I went on a 3-hour hike. As if this is not enough, I went on a 30 minute walk after dinner too....and of course, a good hot shower concluded my day nicely.
There were about 30 of us on the hike. I went with a bunch of people from the Queen's Navigators. It was fun...definitely different from what I am used to--hiking alone. Hiking with other people requires me to follow the person in front of me closely (if I want to continue my conversation with them). I found following the person in front of me quite hard...coz I tend to take bigger steps than I should and felt like I was going to run into the person ahead of me. It's harder when we are going down a slope because I tend to take big steps and quickly go down the slope, but the person ahead of me took small and careful steps. At times I wished I was ahead of the line so that I could set my own pace.
That reminds me...following Christ is not an easy task either. We often want to set our own pace, and be "ahead", but we find it difficult to follow God's steps. We always want to be in control and always want to know where exactly we are going. We tend to forget that Jesus knows where to bring us and he knows the best route to take us on. We don't need to fear running into him because he has arms ready for us when we fall. We just need to keep a close distance with him to keep up our conversation, and be willing to walk at a speed that Christ leads us at. It's not an easy task.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." -Jesus
In the Journal
This is what I saw from the Queen's journal, a campus newspaper that publishes twice a week.
REFRIGERATOR, full size, almond. Good working condition. Approx. 15 years old. Holds 100 beers or 100 kg of tofu (your choice). $125. Call xxx-xxxx.
What an ad! =)
What do you do...
What do you do when you are always doubting and being critical of yourself?
What do you do when you are always told that you are making "wrong" decisions, but in fact you don't think you are?
What do you do when the only people that gets you really upset are the people who has blood relations with you?
What do you do when you have told the same story over and over again and is sick and tired of crying about the same issues?
What do you do when you feel like no one can understand?
What do you do......?
fresh start
School is starting tomorrow...well, technically in about 10 hours. I finally settled into my 2-bedroom apartment with a housemate, put away all my boxes, got the necessary furniture. It was a blessing that we got a working 13 buck TV with remote and free channels (with Global, CTV and CBC!)...my mattress is finally dry after moving in on Thursday when there was pouring rain!
I didn't feel ready for school until after the first Praise & Power worship tonight. For those of you who don't know, it's a monthly worship service run by Queen's students. I miss this kind of vibrant worship a lot...didn't get it for the past few months. I was reminded that I have found the greatest love of all, this love is mine, when Jesus laid down his life on the cross. I was reminded that I can start my school year fresh because his grace has found me, and I know that with him beside me, nothing "bad" can really happen to me. I was reminded to surrender, and to let him have his way in me.
A fresh start, new attitude, renewed hope.
Packing..unpacking..packing..unpacking..
It's packing time again...I guess it's because I am always in a cycle of packing and unpacking for the past few years that I am getting sick of this process. Hmm....I wonder when I can actually settle down and not have to pack and unpack all the time.
Every time I pack and unpack, I realize how much junk I own...haha...and I have to remind myself how fortunate I am. This time as I pack, I was also thinking about something else. As a human being, we tend to accumulate a lot on earth to get our "security". When you get a job, you can afford to buy bigger purchases like a car. Then when you get married you would want to get a house. You would want to start saving up money for your kids. You would spend money on things you really want to get, and then realize later on that they may not be that useful after all...hence they become your "junk". And I wonder...when will we have "enough"?
Right now, all I want is a simple life. I don't need a big house or a nice car. Everything I own is going to pass, and I can't bring them with me when I die. I think I just need to fulfill my purpose in life and have enough to survive. That's all I need. I hope I don't become materialistic when I have more financial power in the future.
"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
