Oh, this has gotta be the good life. =)
A lot has happened since I last blogged. Jia Wern was away at a conference for four days, my toothache has finally stopped, and it is SO HOT nowadays. All I'm doing right now is sitting on the futon and blogging, and I'm sweating. Perhaps it has something to do with being on the second floor, closer to the sun and all. =P On the upside, I'm hoping we also stay warmer during the winter. I can handle the heat, but not the cold.
The past few days have been pretty eventful even though JW was gone most of the time. I'm so thankful for friendships. Check out my schedule for the past few days:
Wednesday: Dropped JW off at RDU Airport, movie night at small group.
Thursday: GoMentor with my mentee, dinner at Alice's with two other friends.
Friday night: Completed my weekly Coursera homework, made pineapple tarts.
Saturday: Went shopping at the Tanger outlets with Alice and Guan Wen, hung out with Jane and her husband later that evening.
Sunday: Went to the Brier Creek Campus for church because the Carolina Theatre had a power outage, and picked JW up from the airport right after. The Brier Creek campus is very conveniently located more than halfway to the airport, and the 11.30am service time was just perfect for picking him up. DDC couldn't have picked a better time to cancel services. =P
Monday: Cooking date with Stephanie. Made blondies (cookie batter brownies), roasted asparagus and ginger chicken with potatoes. After she left, SoY came over and taught me how to use acrylic caulk to seal up the holes in our floor so that roaches wouldn't find a way in. I gave SoY some blondies, she gave me two Korean pancakes. Food trades are the best. xD
It is just amazing how God sends friends to fill up my days even though I have a more relaxed schedule this year. Speaking of which, Stephanie asked if I have had a good stay in the States, and I think I'll really miss this place. Never in my life would I have planned to give myself a two-year break overseas from my studies/work, but He opened up doors and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. On my own, I would have just gone straight to work after my studies. Living abroad? Not in a million years, not if I could help it - that's way too far out of my preferred comfort zone, and not practical, to boot. A responsible adult starts earning his/her keep once they're out of school! But His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts are higher than mine. I'd say that even though there were times I wondered if I was just wasting my time here, the good times far outweighed the mundane and I have learnt so much.
I'll definitely miss the States when we go back home. I'll miss the easy driving, the nice spring/autumn weather and how friendly people are here. I'll miss being able to speak in English to most people. I'll miss how well-equipped even under-resourced schools are, and how creative their curriculum is. I'll miss how easy it is to get things here...the clothing closet I volunteer at gets expensive baby stuff as donations and I probably won't have that resource back in Malaysia where the ringgit is inflated and import taxes are sky high. I'll miss spending in USD and buying high quality, branded clothes on sale. =P I'll miss driving a Nissan Altima, even one as beat up as ours is. I'll miss being able to bake or roast food anytime I want, mainly because I don't know if we'll have an oven in our kitchen, or if we'll even have a house. It might just be a tiny apartment for some time.
These are all just material things, however, so I don't think it's going to be so bad. I know that God is with us wherever life takes us, and that nothing can separate us from His love. Isn't our God great? He is with us every step of the way, going before us and bringing up the rear all at the same time. Even when hard times hit, He is powerful enough to overcome them, or use them to refine you and redeem the brokenness. But even if you can't see His hand in what seems to be random evil and suffering, it is enough to know that Jesus suffered the ultimate punishment by dying on the cross for our sins and that He more than understands whatever you're going through. When you're surrounded by this kind of love, you can be at peace with whatever life may throw at you.
And you can learn the secret of being content in any and every situation. =)
The past few days have been pretty eventful even though JW was gone most of the time. I'm so thankful for friendships. Check out my schedule for the past few days:
Wednesday: Dropped JW off at RDU Airport, movie night at small group.
Thursday: GoMentor with my mentee, dinner at Alice's with two other friends.
Friday night: Completed my weekly Coursera homework, made pineapple tarts.
Saturday: Went shopping at the Tanger outlets with Alice and Guan Wen, hung out with Jane and her husband later that evening.
Sunday: Went to the Brier Creek Campus for church because the Carolina Theatre had a power outage, and picked JW up from the airport right after. The Brier Creek campus is very conveniently located more than halfway to the airport, and the 11.30am service time was just perfect for picking him up. DDC couldn't have picked a better time to cancel services. =P
Monday: Cooking date with Stephanie. Made blondies (cookie batter brownies), roasted asparagus and ginger chicken with potatoes. After she left, SoY came over and taught me how to use acrylic caulk to seal up the holes in our floor so that roaches wouldn't find a way in. I gave SoY some blondies, she gave me two Korean pancakes. Food trades are the best. xD
It is just amazing how God sends friends to fill up my days even though I have a more relaxed schedule this year. Speaking of which, Stephanie asked if I have had a good stay in the States, and I think I'll really miss this place. Never in my life would I have planned to give myself a two-year break overseas from my studies/work, but He opened up doors and gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. On my own, I would have just gone straight to work after my studies. Living abroad? Not in a million years, not if I could help it - that's way too far out of my preferred comfort zone, and not practical, to boot. A responsible adult starts earning his/her keep once they're out of school! But His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts are higher than mine. I'd say that even though there were times I wondered if I was just wasting my time here, the good times far outweighed the mundane and I have learnt so much.
I'll definitely miss the States when we go back home. I'll miss the easy driving, the nice spring/autumn weather and how friendly people are here. I'll miss being able to speak in English to most people. I'll miss how well-equipped even under-resourced schools are, and how creative their curriculum is. I'll miss how easy it is to get things here...the clothing closet I volunteer at gets expensive baby stuff as donations and I probably won't have that resource back in Malaysia where the ringgit is inflated and import taxes are sky high. I'll miss spending in USD and buying high quality, branded clothes on sale. =P I'll miss driving a Nissan Altima, even one as beat up as ours is. I'll miss being able to bake or roast food anytime I want, mainly because I don't know if we'll have an oven in our kitchen, or if we'll even have a house. It might just be a tiny apartment for some time.
These are all just material things, however, so I don't think it's going to be so bad. I know that God is with us wherever life takes us, and that nothing can separate us from His love. Isn't our God great? He is with us every step of the way, going before us and bringing up the rear all at the same time. Even when hard times hit, He is powerful enough to overcome them, or use them to refine you and redeem the brokenness. But even if you can't see His hand in what seems to be random evil and suffering, it is enough to know that Jesus suffered the ultimate punishment by dying on the cross for our sins and that He more than understands whatever you're going through. When you're surrounded by this kind of love, you can be at peace with whatever life may throw at you.
And you can learn the secret of being content in any and every situation. =)
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