some of my favourite pics of my favourite people... (in no particular order haha)

hehe... what do you get when you put one egyptian, one korean and one chinese girl together? haha... MADNESS and lots of loooove... hehe, our jokes are always at another level. A level where I don't think I should type on this blog... haha... YELA and SA DANG HAE!!!

hehe... Kingston would not be as fun without the random outings and random events that happen on those outings. This has been a great year to watch ENDLESS hours of tv, cook, play games and chill with. Thanks girls and Peter! haha

"The Family"- from Agape to graduating university, we have seen each other grow in many ways. Whenever C and E get married, this will truly mark the milestone in our group. Haha, becuase it was when we used to hang out at First Markham that it happened! haha, i love the girls even though it's harder to see each other becuase of school. God bless!

My family. I thank God for them. They are always there to support me financially, mentally, spiritually. Truly a blessing from God.

OH Oxford House... we all started out not knowing each other in first year, but by the end of fourth year we had so many memories. Each one of us had a role to play in our beloved house. Judy as the house-maid who made sure everything was spotless and sterilized. Mel as the treasurer who made sure that we always had money. Elim and Gigi as the house bums... haha, both either playing games or watching tv. All I can say is that it was a pleasure to be your House Prez... haha... miss you girls!


For the past 3 years, this has been the source of my laughter, tears and growth. It's amazing how different we were but yet, I think that we have a way of filling in each other's weaknesses. I am so amazed at everything that we've been through. Distance is something that is only short-term as long as we are following God's calling. Thanks for everything P!

Friends forever... no matter how long we are apart, I can always count on having many laughs with these people. Truly a family to me.

I love playing mah jong with friends.. haha, truly one of my pastimes and it's the best with someone who makes fun of everything you do... haha... miss those times at the cottage :)

spirituality in education?!!

For the past couple of weeks I've been taking a "Spirituality in Education" course. At first I wasn't interested in it, but then my housemate Doris and Angie were taking it and persuaded me to take it. It was quite interesting and different than any other course that i've taken before. We started out the class with a "Ritual" chant in a dark room with a candle in the centre. At first I was a little uncomfortable with this becuase I had never really seen myself being the "chanting" type of girl.
However, the issues that are brought up in this course have really helped me to reach deeper into myself and realize more about my character and personality. As a teacher, what is my personal philosophy about the spirituality of my students and the spiritual presence within my classroom? Do not mistake "spiritual" in a sense of a particular religion, but it is a more abstract concept that I'm still trying to grasp. How are students viewing life? Do they ever wonder about questions without answers? For example, some of the questions that we brought up were:

Why are some people so rich and others so poor?
Why am I here on earth?
What is my purpose?
Can I make a difference?

This last question was my favourite question becuase that's a question that I often ask myself.
I think that in order to answer this question "Can I make a difference" we must first determine what scale of difference do we want to make? Do we want to make a positive difference or a negative one? A lot of people who have made big differences have often never lived to see the results/impact of their actions. On a similar note, one small action can also make a big difference in others. These were just some of the things that got me thinking about what I want to do and the ways that we make a difference in this world.

on another random note, haha, for this course I have to learn a new skill. I choose to learn a new language. At first I wanted to learn korean. But my roommate Van persuaded me to learn Mandarin. Haha, so here we both are learning new languages. She's learning Korean and I'm learning Mandarin and it's HILARIOUS becuase we're both sitting in our rooms and reciting random words and noises... hehe

Urbana 06

I remember contemplating whether to go to Urbana 3 years ago. My excuses were that it was too much money, i didn't think i would get much out of it and frankly I didn't want to waste my holidays away from all my friends and family. Well, God has a funny way of doing things and 3 years later, I found myself going to Urbana 2006. This was the best possible time for me to go to a mission's themed convention becuase I have more opportunities to think about long-term service and ways to serve God with my occupation.
I know i haven't blogged in a long time and for those of you whom I've vented or shared my frustrations/anxieties with, you'll know that in the past couple of months I've been struggling a lot in terms of big decisions for next year. I must admit that I'm a perfectionist who likes to plan ahead and know things ahead of time. I prepare for my future always in advance and like the feeling of being in control. In addition, I have always set out certain goals and dreams for myself to achieve (in terms of a career etc).
But after Urbana, I think God has really helped to confirm my fears and steer me in a different direction. I had always had plans to apply for grad schools for the coming year. It was my dream, my ambition and something that I was eagerly looking forward to. However, over the past couple of months, I have gotten signs from God, friends and family about different options. It really frustrated me that I was in a way "giving" up on things for God.
At Urbana, the theme was "Live a Life worthy of the Calling". God spoke to me in big and small ways to let me know that He has other plans for me, different than any I would have ever imagined. I don't know the details of where He is calling me exactly, but I have learned that the only response that I am able to give is "HERE I AM LORD". I was scared before about the uncertainties and lack of control that I had over my life, but now I understand more than ever that my life is in complete control. But instead it is controlled by God. I don't want to settle and make a name for myself. I don't want to say no to God. I don't want to wake up when I'm 60 and feel like I've accomplished absolutely NOTHING for the Kingdom of God. I want to say "Yes, Lord".

One thing that really touched me was when I went to a seminar on "Christians called to Journalism". The seminar speaker was a Christian journalist who wrote for magazines. He basically outlined the importance of maintaining integrity in your "secular" writing. I really was fascinated at the amount of influence journalism had on shaping public perspectives and opinions. I was overwhelemd to think of the many oppotunities to live out Christ in any occcupation, especially journalism. Then, a girl raised her hand and asked the speaker a question. She said that she was interested in fashion journalism and wondered how the fashion industry had any relevance to Christianity and whether it was a career path worthy of God's calling. Everyone in the room laughed and joked about her question. However, I thought that it was quite a legitmate question becuase I had thought of it before. The speaker thought for a brief second and answered the question in a simple way that spoke profoundly to me. He answered "There are many industries and professions in our society that are darkened and have no light of God within them. If you can find some way to look at the fashion industry as a place of ministry for God. To change the definition of beauty and elegance in our society, then that is a HUGE calling that is definitely worthy of God." It was then that I felt the passion in my heart to do something one day with my profession to please God. I want to have a profession where I will impact others and also shed God's light in the darkened corners of these industries. I don't know exactly where or when He will give me the opportunity, but that is what I will be praying for.

When looking back at the sermons and bible studies at Urbana, I have come away with one profound lesson. That is that God will use me wherever, whenever and however. All I have to do is say yes to Him.