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irenecho
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Name: irene
Birthday: 1/14/1986
Gender: Female
Interests: food, music, friends
Expertise: making people feel like a comedian
Occupation: Student
Industry: Non Profit
Message: message me
Member Since:
12/19/2005
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| it took me a about 4 minutes to figure out how to post a new blog on xanga. (i feel like i shouldn't use the word "blog" and "xanga" in the same sentence...feels like i'm cheating on someone)
my has xanga changed. apparently you can connect your xanga site to blogged.com. but really that's like treason, no?
why am i posting here! i don't know!
just wanted to state that Christ is the only constant person/thing/whatever in my life. my mind always reverts back to what God would think of me when i do certain things...even if if i refuse to acknowledge or just plain forget that he is there. and anyone who's tasted the supremacy of our Lord can't deny that we feel called back from time to time to speak of his name and come back to him. i talk to friends sometimes who can't seem to find God again...but it's all about letting go of your selfish ambitions and giving your life again to God. it's really hard to step away from the lives we build for ourselves...we want to make things easy, fun, and fulfilling, but honestly nothing will satisfy like Christ and it's just the truth. and proof of this that is the panging feeling of loneliness that that creeps up on you...or the incessant wondering of our purpose...etc. and plus that bible collecting dust in the corner does not look appealing does it? but it's so full of wisdom which is FAR more precious than jewels (or money).
okay i'm feeling unfaithful to my blog account. i end here. maybe i'll come back again
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| i've decided to move out of xanga land and write in a new neighborhood: blogspot
apparently you can publish your blogs in a book and that's pretty cool
here you go:
http://irenecho.blogspot.com/
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| i went to a retreat with 5 different universities this past weekend. ididn't know what to expect. first of all, i thought it was just ourschool at some small retreat site. but i was blown away by thewonderful retreat center, the beauty of nature, and the people i metand became closer to. most of the things i learned were things i'veheard before and thought about, but it was such a blessing to get awayfrom an entire weekend and seriously reflect on how i'm going to liveafter i graduate. whatever i write might be all over the place...sorry.
What did I do to help build the kingdom of God?
What part did i play in people's choices for the kingdom?
contemporary work attitudestend to be negative and sometimes at either ends of the extreme. webecome workaholics and really obsessed with succeeding, find value onlyin the money that we earn, or just accept work as a necessarynuisance...really mundane and complain about it all the time. we'regoing to see this often when we start working...and we'll also betempted to fall into those patterns.
but from a biblical perspective we have to remember a few things:
-workis honorable and good. God was a worker...umm the earth? i just saw amovie in geology today about how the earth was probably formed over 4.6billion years ago. and it was seriously one of those amazing thingsever. the entire process of how dust and particles turned into grains,pebbles, and rocks....ultimately shaped the earth and then millions ofyears of molten rock exploding everywhere and volcanoes releasing steamalong with frozen meteorites to make water. and you know in genesis itsays...God created this and that and saw that it was good. hell yes itwas good.
Jesus in the work place
oneof the most encouraging things i heard from this session was hearingstories about a social worker who has amazing affected his workenvironment without even talking about jesus. by law he can't imposeany of his beliefs or bring any religious perspective to his work as acounselor. but by showing jesus' love, he was able to relate to humansuffering by recognizing that he is a sinner like any other man...andhe has no right to judge the people he counsels. by understanding thatwhat kind of family we are born into..it's not really our choice but wedo have the responsibility of making good choices. he was able torelieve really disastrous tension in the workplace and extends christ'slove and graciousness to environments that craved that kind ofattitude. he prayed incessantly for the people around him...and Godreally used him.
humility
ithink what i loved most about this speaker was his candid honesty. ifyou talk to him he's so patient, humble, and wise. but he told us thathe was a walking disaster. he partied, slept around, did drugs, kickedout of school...all of it. But by the grace of God he was transformedand then people started to think he was just the best guy next tojesus...and soon he was starting believing it as well. when he married,he and his wife wanted to do work int he mission field and througharrogance they thought they were just so strong and great leaders, butsoon after marriage they had a baby and realized that missions was nottheir calling. and then parenthood slapped him in the face and allthose "jesus characteristics" just melted and he found his ugly side.he said he started acting like his father. he said...the only word ican describe him as is an asshole (and that was refreshing tohear...this godly man being real lol). so he was really humbled by hisactions as a father and it turned him around. the point of this storywas to maintain faithfulness and obedience to God. life happens...andyou can't always plan out exactly what will happen in your life.
this pie called life
lifeafter college...your life becomes compartmentalized. in college..thingsjust blend together. you live, study, work with your friends.everything just seems to blend together. but once your move away andget a job you have to make time for things. think of a pie chart:there's work, friends, rest, hobbies, family, community...not muchmushes together. if you want to make friends after college you have towalk that extra mile. it's not easy anymore. that's probably one of themost depressing parts for me. it's like going from highschool tocollege but much worse. transitions are so daunting...but if God waswith me during my other transitions in life, he's be there for thisnext huge transition. the thing is..i've gotten a glimpse as to howlife could be like when i start working. you work 9-5 add in 3.5 hoursof commuting and by 7 pm you are EXHAUSTED and then you have to sleepby 10 or 11 to wake up at 6 am the next day. i think it made me prettydepressed. and when i start working i need to be aware or this and usemy time wisely. or just live really close to work (please pleaseplease).
living in a materialistic society/budgeting
thisone hit me pretty hard. it's so tempting in this society to wanteverything. and just because you have the money doesn't mean you needeverything. the leaders that spoke all lived pretty simply...even withsmall things like cable tv. do you need it? not really. andcars...they're ultimately a means of transportation. but honestly, thisone is difficult. i think when i grow up i'll have trouble with it. butwith unnecessary luxuries, who are we trying to impress? ourselves? idon't think so. we're trying to impress Them. but why should we haveto?
so with budgeting....this was truly applicable. they gave usexcel documents to help us budget our income. the point was that weshould keep track of everything that we spend and see how much we cangive back. as in tithing, or just supporting other people. i am veryinspired to budget wisely...and to tithe. why tithe (whichmeans...tenth part!)? I earn my money because i work hard with mytalents and skills. but where do i get these talents/skills? everythingis God's. our church needs our support, missionaries, and anyone whojust needs support, it's should be our joy to serve them. and startingright now will make it easier in the future when the income increases.so november...i shall start budgeting.
relationships after college
ididn't learn anything completely new...but it was good to hear someaffirmation about what i believe. and i also received some hugeaffirmation about obeying your parents through relationships. i havethis issue of whether or not i'm dishonoring my parents with arelationship they won't agree with. if their reasons areunbiblical...then i am not dishonoring them. parents don't always seethings objectively. if i am being biblical about it and right beforeGod, then i don't have to feel guilty about it. of course i'll alwayswant my parents blessing on everything at the end. and plus, i amactually an adult. and you can't please your parents with every singlething in your life. you know...being a korean and an american is sodifficult.
I also had my eyes opened to the dangers of sexual sin.having accountability,praying, and setting boundaries is insanelyimportant. i realized that christian womendon't really ever talk about sex and temptation. it seems to be somemale thing. and we feel like it's taboo and shameful to admit thingsand talk about sex openly. but females are human, too. sexualtemptation exists. we want to maintain an image that is pure and thatprevents us from feeling comfortable about it. and even if we act likewe understand we're still in shocked in our minds. but how can we trulyremain pure if we surpress everything? and i wish there wasn't anythingto be shameful about because if we're sisters in christ...we should notjudge and really support each other. i know that i'll eventually struggle with all this...and to whom can i be honest with ? somethingto think about for the christian women out there. that's all i have tosay about that.
God's been throwing things at me left and right since January. good and bad...i am so blessed.
i'll be home in 20 days :) | | |
| do you think that sometimes we pray with a meager amount of faith? 'cause i'm so guilty of it and it was thrown right back in my face with the blessings that God has been giving me lately. here are some prayers that have been answered
my mom's perspective...that our conversations/fights penetrate her mind
my humility in regards to issues with my parents
for me to see my hypocrisy and down falls
open mindedness from friends whom i've been praying for
opportunities for my sister and i to grow closer together
consistent bible reading
better praying skills
opportunities to talk about my faith in Christ
a church in stockton
more contact with Christian friends here
clarity and direction for relationships
a smooth transition back into school
there are probably some more....
wow that is soo much. a good amount of blessings are things that i've been praying for months...or even years and things are slowly happening. God is so good to me. God has really blown me away with his faithfulness...which only reminds me of how unfaithful i can be sometimes..and also how unworthy i am for all these blessings. when i pray...i need to truly believe God will work. and with all this happening how can i doubt God?
and it's not like there isn't any crap that i'm going through. there are a number of burdens that i carry, but that's what the Lord is there for. it's possible to be chill despite the mess.
my semester has been going really well thus far. i have a good weight of responsibility from my 3 jobs and i have such a light school load. it's so refreshing! and waking up at the same time every morning regardless of how late my classes are...it's good to have that quiet time.
so does anyone have anything i can pray for? let me know.
always remember that God's timing doesn't always match with ours :)
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