I just can't stop grinning. :) Oh what a happy day.
I am SO excited that we finally finished the rocking chair!!! Yay! *happy cheer* I'm so proud that we were able to pull this off. I love how it turned out! The chair really adds curves to our room and offsets all the boxy furniture we have. I'm in love with the fabric. It is so refreshing for this space! I love how the yellow/gray contrasts (and complements!) our lilac bedding. :) It doesn't feel so purplefied anymore!
I just can't stop grinning. :) Oh what a happy day.
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Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6-7)
When I re-read my last post, I can sense my own edginess and lack of peace. If my current self could talk to my previous self, I would say: “Oh ye of little faith—why did you doubt?” I really thank and praise God, despite my gloomy forecast, I actually ended up having a wonderful, fulfilling weekend. Not to say anything was removed from the to-do list, but I praise God that everything went so smoothly. When we got home from Friday evening service, I immediately began J2 lesson prep. I said a prayer and then perched on the couch to read Galatians one more time. I then read the lesson two more times. I really thank God – afterward, I felt like all the pieces made sense to me and everything just came together! Excited, I quickly wrote down the lesson plan and went through the entire lesson in my head and thought that the content was pretty solid. Really thank God. I actually went to bed by 11:30pm and had a full night’s rest. On Sabbath, with a quick review during lunch I was able to deliver the lesson without looking at my notes. After service, choir also went well. Honestly, I have no talent in conducting or leading choir—but actually, holy work is often not about the talent of the worker; it’s about faith and trust in God and about putting in your effort. In my case, there is really no talent to be had, but I tried my best. At the end I felt like it was a good practice. Throughout both the J2 class and the choir practice, I felt joyful and full of energy. There was an inner strength inside me. I really praise and thank God for being with me. After Sabbath, David and I were both kind of tired. While I had J2 to teach, he had to lead English bible study on Isaiah 11. We had a quick dinner and then we both kind of zoned out for a while (he took a nap, I pretended to take one). We then reconvened to start prepping for Pacifica rehab center visit. Pacifica church visits the rehab center once a month and we have around 4 teams that rotate leading the service. The visit usually begins with 10 minutes of hymn singing, then 10 minutes of sermon and then concludes with 10 minutes of hymn singing. We sat down and brainstormed on topics. This really is the hardest part since we are both fuzzy on the purpose of our visits. The purpose of the visits is not really evangelical as we don’t talk about our basic beliefs and we don’t pray in tongues during the service at all. So, usually we would settle on giving an encouragement. After an hour of developing a topic, we both became fatigued so we were kind of antsy. So we prayed and that helped. Finally, David settled on the message, “Who is your neighbor?”, based on the story of the good Samaritan. Then, we selected 6 hymns to complement the topic. I thought about what to say for each of those hymns and then we went to bed, right around 11:30pm again. Sunday morning, we went to church for morning prayer. Then we went to the rehab center. Thank God – we saw many new faces this month. Also, I felt like the whole program went very smoothly. After that, we all went back to church to prep for Gospel Tea. Actually, I didn’t have to do anything for Gospel Tea except to play piano. The church council did a wonderful job planning Gospel Tea and I thought the message and the whole program was very good. We had around 5 truthseekers – some of them already come to church regularly. Really praise and thank God. After Gospel Tea, we got into the car to drive home. I remember that moment after we sat down and closed the doors. I felt a lot of joy, accumulated from Sabbath, and also peace in my heart. We remarked on how fulfilling this weekend was for us. Even though it was so busy, we were joyful. This was really different from how I originally thought things were going to end. I thought that at the end of our labors, we would be exhausted and relieved that it was all over. Well, actually there was some relief but not the negative kind. I just remember feeling so joyful for being able to serve and peaceful. I was joyful because I thought all the holy work was glorifying to God and I was peaceful because I felt like we did our best. Our conscience is at peace with God. I really thank God for giving us the strength and helping us serve Him. Also, really thank everyone for praying for us! Oh my, how glad I am that it is Friday. This week has been challenging on just about all fronts – church, home and work. Not to say this weekend will be much better, but still, I’m glad that I can put work aside for 2 days.
For work, oh my. Where to start. We had an announcement on Tuesday that there was a concerning product failure in the field, so we are halting our clinical trial. And since then, the entire company has been in fire-fighting mode. I was tasked to fix an issue I don’t have any knowledge about, that no one else seems to have knowledge about, and by the way, it needs to be fixed next week. Oh, and we’re supposed to make final decisions based on my study results. I've been going home completely exhausted and feeling like my head hurts, literally. There's this throbbing pain on the very top of my head. I really hope nothing important is stored up there. Yup, it’s officially time to just freak out. I deserve to!!! And for home, bleh. You know, I realize more and more that children who grow up to be adults don’t suddenly become mature and responsible. I mean we see this all the time in church. Parents are supposed to be the spiritual leader in the family, but many are not. They still need to be taken care of and reminded of the most basic things like, “You need to attend Sabbath services.” You would think that we can expect a certain level of maturity from them, but no, we cannot! We all just get older, garner a few more wrinkles each year and watch the gray hairs take over the black ones. But we don’t suddenly mature. Why is that? Well, I guess, why not? Whether we mature or not is not always correlated with time. There’s work involved to “grow up”. And that’s probably why so many adults are told to “oh, just grow up!”. It's a change in mental state. What can time do if a person never comes to an epiphany? What happens when husbands don’t realize they need to be husbandly, and wives don’t realize they need to be wifely? What happens when Fathers don’t see why they need to be fatherly and Mothers don’t see why they need to be motherly? Each of us can easily throw off our respective hats and say, hey, I’m just a person. Don't expect me to grow up, act responsibly, and yes, don’t even try to have any expectations of me. So deal with it. Oh, I know plenty of people like this, and I must admit – in my moments (sometimes prolonged moments) of weakness, I am also one of those people. *sigh. And for church, it’s one of those weeks when everything just collides: 1. RE >> I have to finish up the student evaluations (oh, that means I had to finish grading their tests). And I have to prepare for class this Saturday on Galatians – yup in its entirety. I’ve read the lesson plan 3-4 times and read through Galatians again last night (which took me forever because I kept spacing out and have to reread passages again). Honestly, I don’t have it all together – the execution of the lesson is still fuzzy in my mind. That’s priority #1 tonight. *double sigh. I wish I weren’t one of those irresponsible teachers that do 90% of the prep work on Friday night, but…it seems like that’s going to be the case here. 2. Choir >> So I am the choir director's assistant, and that means sending out reminders on weeks that we practice, buying music and subbing in when the director is out of town. Well, we have choir practice this week (and the next 2 weeks because SC is coming up) and our choir director is out of town. So, you guessed it, the assistant is up this week. (Sometimes I wish I had a lot more training in stuff like this, but you either have to learn to just roll with it or you end up quitting.) 3. Pacifica Rehab >> David and I happen to be assigned to lead rehab service this Sunday. Wish we would already have something planned, but we don’t. So… I guess that’s where Saturday night will go. 4. Gospel Tea >> Gospel Tea is right after Rehab on Sunday and I guess we’ll be attending that, so… there goes Sunday afternoon. 5. Flower Arrangement >> I didn’t realize how stressful agreeing to try out flower arranging would be. I was basically scheduled in for the month of April. Granted that I had a few months notice, but April is *gasp* next weekend! Ack! And what? We have to buy our own vases/vessels for the flowers?? Why?? Sorry to be such a newbie about this, but I was stressed out for at least a month just thinking about how I don’t have vessels to put the flowers in. Every time I go to Ross, Jo-anns, Marshalls, Home Goods, I’d frantically scour for vessels. Why can’t we all just share them across the different flower arrangers??? Regardless, that’s where Sunday evening is going. And…that’s the weekend. Gone. This past weekend, I attended the RECORW (RE Coordinator's Workshop) because I'm currently the RE Secretary for Pacifica. I am also the J2 Lead Teacher. And to be honest, I'm not doing either of my RE posts well.
I wasn't even sure what the RE secretary really needed to do until I reviewed the checklist in the Teacher's Manual this weekend (should've done that earlier, right?). My, oh my, I haven't done half the things on the list! I then realized that there was a checklist for Lead Teachers', too... *sad sigh* Somewhere in the middle of the weekend, I went from feeling overwhelmed to ...fear. Actually no, the word I was looking for is trepidation. I felt a sense of trepidation sweep over my spirit. As if I was standing in front of God and could not explain myself. A full year (or more?) of being an unfaithful RE Secretary and Lead Teacher....and maybe even teacher, left me feeling soiled. Like a hypocrite. I was too tired? I had too much on my plate? Those were excuses that I know wouldn't fly. The fact of the matter was that I was not faithful in my service. If I were, I would be at peace before God and say, "Lord, I tried my best - you know, for you search my heart and know my thoughts." In Mk 9: 24, the father of a sick child desperately cried out to Jesus, "Lord, I believe; Help my unbelief!". He has the right to cry out to Jesus because he has done his best but is still lacking. God is always there to help us, but not when we haven't done our part and, worse, when we excuse and justify ourselves out of duty. There are fewer things worse than a shamelessly unaccountable worker. I'm sad to say: this is not the first time in my servitude when I've come to this same point. I've confronted my unfaithfulness many, many times. And each time, I sincerely decided that I needed to do better. That I can to better. That I will do better. I will really put my heart in it. I won't make any more excuses. Just put in the time and effort, right? Isn't it really just that simple? Then why, oh why, can I not just be a faithful and reliable servant for Christ? Dear friends and family -- please pray for this unfaithful servant! I'm taking a day off to recoup from the trip (will post my reflections on that later!). Since our room faces east, the morning light made it much easier to photograph so I promptly grabbed a camera to take some photos! Well, actually what I did first was make the bed, straighten up the magazines, remove the misc. items from the side tables and picked things off the floor. :D *sigh, if only we can keep it spotless and clean at all times. *Beware! Sappy, emotional post. Please bypass if you have a weak stomach*
So today I'm heading off to Dallas for RECORW. Not a big deal, right? It'll only be for a weekend. Plus, I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of friends again! But last night, a blanket of sadness came over me as I was dragging myself to start packing. I started to miss David. Yep, even before we actually parted. It's such a strange feeling and the last time I remember feeling this way was when we were dating. I'd miss him when we were apart, and I'd miss him when we were together (because I knew the days were numbered and he would have to go back to St. Louis again). Actually, I'd miss him the most or feel the moodiest the day he was leaving. It's a strange, obsessive, irrational neediness. I don't know how to justify it or explain it, it simply is there. And I don't think anyone other than a lover can tolerate you when you're in that state. I don't agree with Juliet when she says that "parting is such sweet sorrow". Maybe I'm forgetting the context here, but parting is sorrow. That's all. Nothing sweet about it. I feel bad, this is like the 3rd post on things that I want, but I just have to share! I was on etsy (of course) looking for a soft throw blanket to add to the rocking chair for the reading nook... Sorry before I go on, I have news! The pendant light came in last night (I was SO, SO, SO EXCITED!!!) and David hung it for us! It's SO BEAUTIFUL! It brings in a beautiful light glow to our bedroom and pulls in a lot more light than we currently have. I temporarily pulled a chair we got for free on CL while the rocking chair is still under construction. I then perched there for a couple hours and read like four Martha Stewart Living magazines. Oh...what a perfect, relaxing evening I had last night. So back to the soft throw. As I was saying, I was on etsy scouting for a soft throw that would complete the look of the reading nook and I came across these towels. That's right, TOWELS. I immediately added a link to the store under Retail Therapy. I want all three (not sure what I would do with three, but that is not the point). I even added them to my etsy basket, clicked on each them multiple times to admire, but eventually deleted them.
*sigh. Gotta live within the budget. Plus, I'm feeling guilty for all the home spending I've already done this month (pendant light, for one). It's so rare to be able to find the perfect fabric for a home project. I went to Joann's yesterday afternoon, browsed all their fabrics (even custom order ones) to find the perfect fabric for the rocking chair we are making over. After an hour of detailed browsing, I gave up and went home. Then I went online and saw this beautiful fabric on etsy.com. It's just PERFECT! I feel happy every time I look at it. So I convo'ed the seller to see if I can buy 1/2 yard of it instead of the 27"x18" fat quarter. She replied today and said that she is completely out of this particular fabric and it won't be available at least until May! :'( 3/15 Update: I cannot believe my luck!!! I found another esty store that carries this exact fabric for the same price! Needless to say, I swiftly ordered 2 fat quarters. Yay!!!!
:) ![]() For my birthday, David signed us up for a cooking class at Draeger's in San Mateo. I've never done a cooking class before so I was really excited about it. I was even more excited that we'll be learned how to cook Mediterranean food--one of my favorite cuisines. So on March 3rd, we trekked to San Mateo for the class. I was expecting that we would be getting our hands dirty and actually do some cooking, but it turned out to be a demo! We watched the chef cook and then ate as things came off the stove/out of the oven! Now, this is my type of cooking class! :) The chef is an Israeli (I think this is the first time meeting someone from Israel!) and she would talk about the spices they use in Israel. For example, Za'atar, an herb from the oregano family, is a much-loved spice in Israel. Za'atar, as it turns out, is hyssop in the Bible! I just loved that. Somehow, I don't know why, I felt more spiritually connected. I thought about how lucky the Israelites were to be God's special chosen people. They're so fortunate to have a culture that was so closely tied to the Bible--unlike me as a Chinese, nothing in my culture or tradition is remotely related to the Bible. Yet, it's so tragic that they forsook their elite status... Of the dishes we learned, I really loved the Fatoush (a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese & pita chips) and the Beef Kofta Kebabs. After the class, I felt much more comfortable trying my hand at Mediterranean cooking, so I decided to make those two dishes for dinner last Thursday. :) Here's how it went. The kitchen was a mess after all this chopping, but it was nice that I didn't even have to turn on the stove! Afterwards, I realized I had made enough dinner to feed four, so we had to eat it again for lunch the next day.
I found this amazing art print on esty a few years ago and came across it again the other day when I was searching for items related to the Book of Proverbs. I was amazed the entire Book of Proverbs can fit so nicely on a 24x36 and it's only $10!!! It's a beautiful print and a wonderful thing to have in the house to remind us that we need to live our lives more wisely. And as a wife, I love having constant reminders to help me be more like the Proverbs 31 woman. Right now, I'm just a wannabe!
I'm waiting/hoping for the artist to reprint this in other colors - oh I don't know, like in blue/silver/white would be so nice. |
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