The gospel is God's love letter to us. In it He never tires of telling us how much He loves us.

How to live life

Rule No. 1: Have friends

Lightbulb moment

You know, I think I need to pay attention when I start feeling like I need to fix things and correct others. It is not my job to save the world; that’s God’s job and He will do a better job than me.

Performance

Checking in

Sometimes work can throw really hard stuff in our way. I'm thankful that God has provided a friend who understands what this life is like, and who watches out for me.

Isaiah 40: 1-5

Comfort, comfort my people,
    says your God.
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
    that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.

³ A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord^[a];
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.^[b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

LB2

One of God's ragtag teams.

What now?

Help.

Typhoon damage

Huh?

As far as I'm concerned, this describes almost all of HK island.

Typhoon humor

This made me laugh. It doesn't seem photoshopped.

Typhoon Mangkhut

Yes, it's a super typhoon but this seems excessive. It also looks like HK will only be at its edge.

Ah

I cleaned my apartment and then it started raining. Everything feels extra nice for some reason.

Malaysians trying out a Malaysian restaurant

why so hard ....

I feel like in this season I should learn to relax and let God be my Dad. He’ll handle everything and I don’t have to worry or do anything because He’s the one in charge anyway.

My mind, heart, and body need to learn to adjust to this new truth!

5 minutes before the rain arrived

Back at work again

My mentor suggested we meet after the dust settles as we all begin a new semester. Then in one of my replies to something we were discussing over email, I said, "Gosh!!!!!!"

And he immediately offered to meet sooner rather than later because I included so many exclamation marks. He is super sweet.

But nothing's wrong. I used a lot of exclamation marks because I've been having trouble getting back into a respectable work routine and for that moment--and actually even now--I don't feel very motivated to get back into work.

I'm sure God wouldn't approve, but wouldn't it be nice if life were a nice long vacation?

Summer storms

adulting

“The crisis of identity is fundamentally a spiritual crisis. In terms of our faith development we are far enough along in life to know what matters to us most and what our faith represents—a complete adult trust in God as reflected in our resolve to love God and others. If we face ourselves honestly, doubtlessly we will know that no matter how accomplished we are or how talented or how capable or how connected we might be, we are not really in control” (66).

-- Gordon Smith, Courage and Calling

Joy

Gordon Smith's definition of joy: “....rooted in confidence in the goodness of God, trust in his providential care and hope in the ultimate triumph of justice and peace” (160).

Phew

Retour

The highlight of returning to a less than ideal reality: getting my hands on books I ordered while I was away. Three of them by Tim Keller.

Blessings beyond compare

I feel like I lived several different lifetimes in the last few months. Not all of has been easy, but I can say that God is still good. I couldn't have planned the last few months the way they have unfolded. Sure, I would get rid of the hard parts, and that's probably why God wouldn't let me plan my life.

What will the next few months look like, I wonder?

Croatia

The water is so clear you can even see to the bottom at night.

Mediocre dinner because my mom got impatient so I sat down at the nearest restaurant. Worst food I've ever had in Italy....