anticipation :)

in our culture of self-centered busyness these days, the meaning of advent is overshadowed-- whether you call yourself a Christian or not. as a season of expectant waiting in anticipation of the celebration of the coming of Christ, it should be what it is... but more. i am filled with joy as the Christmas music plays everywhere i go, experience the overwhelming stress of the long lists of gifts that i still have yet to purchase, and look forward to taking time off to spend the holidays with our beloved ones. but in the midst of all this preparation for Christmas, i often forget the weight of the most important reason why we celebrate it: Christ's first coming, but also the advent is also meant to be a time of preparation for His second coming.

tonight, as i was sitting in christmas eve service celebrating the last night of advent, this feeling of overwhelming sense of gratefulness filled my heart. as we closed out service singing silent night, i was really humbled as i tried to remember and imagine what this might may have been like 2000 years ago: Christ came into this world with such humble beginnings. away in a manager, because there was no room for him at the inn (Lk. 1:7). someone so important! but there was no room. there was no grand celebration.

i'm so thankful that Jesus came for me, for you, for us, so we can have this hope that we have, with the full assurance that our lives have already been purchased by Him on the cross in order that we may have the promises of an eternal life with Him.

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense, I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
The rock and the strength of my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
-- Psalm 62:5-8 --

But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

-- Romans 8:25 --

Happy Advent and Merry Christmas Eve!

make a difference

it's been an amazing learning experience working at Hope Clinic these last few months. though i'll never fully relate or even understand how emotionally painful it is to live with how little some of these people have, i've gotten a small glimpse of the magnitude of compassion Jesus had for the people in his ministry, and it blows my mind every day i come into work. sad to say, i have a long way before i'll ever even come close to having the same amount of compassion, generosity, and patience Jesus had.

here's a confession: prior to this year, i never really believed in giving financially to organizations... even ones that are actively doing social good that i believe in and support. perhaps its the asian side of me that doesn't believe in "donating", but i'd rather support them with my time or my service efforts, or even tangible objects, rather than financially. but since i've started working at Hope this year, i've witnessed the constant need of finances-- whether its for our clients and patients, or for the organization, at the end of the day, money = resources. and this holiday season, in addition to giving what i have in the past, i'm also challenged to give generously financially. not that i have much to give, or that my small amount compared to the corporation sends in checks by the 4 zero's is going to make much of a dent, but the fact that even a trivial amount will matter to someone who has nothing.

my burden for feeding the hungry has also grown this year. recently, i saw this really cool non-profit foundation that was founded by Lauren Bush (relative of the Bush Presidents). they partner with the United Nations World Food Programme's (WFP) School Feeding Program to feed and educate hungry children, working to fight hunger and eliminate malnutrition throughout the world. i purchased my FEED bag today, get yours now and help feed some children!

Thank You from FEED Projects from FEED Projects on Vimeo.

my fobby dad, pt. 2

a recent phone conversation with the los padres:

pa: ooh, you cook a lot lately! are you doing okay? you always spend a lot of time in the kitchen when you stressed...
c: yeah, i was trying to process through some things.
pa: oh, who make you angry? i will deal with them for you.
c: no one, dad. i just have a lot of things to think about.

--- after i ramble for a little bit and he interjects a few more times, his conclusion: ---

pa: [...] well, you better not let anyone know that you like to cook when you are stressed. you should pray anyways. if your roommates or your future husband find out, they will make you angry all the time on purpose. then you have fat roommates and fat husband. that is no good. especiallly fat, lazy, husband.

hahaha. my dad is so ridiculous. love him times a thousand!

made these rudolph cupcakes tonight for our work christmas party tomorrow at Hope Clinic...
feliz navidad!

calling all the nations to your praise

thought du jour:
if we could see how much you're worth,
your power, your might, your endless love,
then surely we would never cease to praise

last night we had our last official life group of the semester. dang. God is truly awesome and has done some great things in ours. in the midst of final exams, i didn't expect us to hit maximum attendance and capacity for the semester. but, i literally thought the apartment was going to explode had one more person walked in the door. (also partially explode because of how much Holy Spirit was in the room.) and it was awesome! we even had newcomers who were giving God a chance at the last gathering of the year...

which just reminded me that even as we're headed into "break" mode, God is not. God doesn't take breaks. excited for what's to come second semester. :) but i really need to get ready over the holidays, cause i'm not right now.
let's do thissss!

let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
psalm 150:6

hug o' war

- shel silverstein -

the timmy t

just so y'all know, i'm calling dibs a name for my future son. now for many years i have staunchly believed against choosing names long before you're even expecting or even before getting married, so i've held off from making mental notes of names that i would like to name my children. i believe that naming a child should be an experience to be pursued in complete partnership with your spouse who contributed to the other 50% of your child. in fact, sometimes i think the father should have more input into the name of the child than i should. that's getting into another conversation to be saved for another day though.

however, history may have changed today.

i am naming my child Tebow. i dont even have much of an excessive infatuation with the football player, but i just think it's a legit name. and why not name your kid after someone who is athletic and holy, right? best of both worlds. (oh and not to mention the looks department are a huge plus too. and wellllllllllllll seems like we'll still have to work on the musical part but that's okay, i can live with that. minor deets, anyway-- music is the easiest characteristic to develop.)

after all, it's not that different from the name "Bowen". the two sound pretty much the same. and, millions of people name their kids after others' last names. jordan, jackson, smith, the list goes on. smith isn't even a significant last name!

so tebow it is. fyi: im also taking spouse applications for men who happen to have the last name Ng. i'll give you special consideration, because then it'd be kinda cool to name my son Tebow Issac. then his full name could be Tebow I. Ng. wow. that's so epic.

simply kate

its officially okay to talk christmas, movies, serendipity, and kate. if you don't care for any of the above, please feel free to close out of this window because the rest of this post probably would only disinterest you more.

for the rest of you who follow... 1) i love christmas, 2) the holidays are the perfect time to catch up on movies, 3) serendipity is one of the best all-time underrated christmas movies ever, and 4) i simply love kate... she's classy, and she's hot. (she studied at oxford!)



i freaking love them! i don't care how unrealistic you think the movie is (i know that), but they almost make it seem as if serendipity was perfectly real for the duration of the movie...
...it's christmas soon, so just let me live a little, okay? :)

when you know...

nesting

beehee.
dear puppy, this is exactly how i felt this morning when i woke up too.
...err, when i didn't want to wake up.
it's also my favorite position of sleep as well.
i'm glad we can relate.

when the good times start to fade...

hmmm... just revisited my 500 days of summer post because i've recently been thinking about some things that were going on back when i wrote the post in 2009 again.

it's still one of my favorite movies. good one.

even when you're gone / somehow you come along / just like a flower poking through the sidewalk crack and just like that / you steal away the rain and just like that



...ohh you make me smile :o)

jazzy julie

rain rain, go away.... it's another rainy day here in the D... i had an early breakfast at angelo's with a friend this morning, and she called it a "gloomy" day... pret's accurate i'd say. sigh, sometimes i wished i didn't have seasonal affect disorder... i guess at least it's not snow and not freezing. anyways, so far, the most effective form of coping / treatment i've found is listening to various recordings of the song below... this one's been one of my favorites recently.

enjoy, and turn that frown upside down! :)