Singleness - Be Joyful Always

Be joyful... not only when life is good and everything is going right, but ALWAYS.

Joy is not the same as happiness. One author describes happiness as circumstantial, while joy "is directly related to God and is the firm confidence that all is well, regardless of your circumstances". God is eternal, which means He will always be there for us, and therefore our joy should be constant, even through difficult times (James 1:2). Does that mean we shouldn't feel sad that we don't have a significant other? I'm sure most singles will have moments where they feel a tinge of jealousy or pain when they see couples getting married, or even just holding hands. In fact, the other day I found myself rolling my eyes in the elevator when a guy said something cute and cheesy to his girlfriend. I wasn't rolling my eyes because the phrase was stupid, but because I was a little jealous there was no one in my life saying cheesy things to make me feel special. When you go through times like that, and you think "God... why don't I have someone like that?" just remember that God has something special for you and your life... whether you go through it with or without someone special.

Here is something my friend wrote to me to add to what I said:

"Happiness is circumstantial while joy is something that is constant and underlying in our lives. We can be happy, but not joyful, and we can be joyful, but not always the happiest due to circumstances. But in those circumstances, there is always something more because of the joy we have.
Being single is a wonderful time to be cherished! Though it does get hard at times (and these times usually reflect our sinful nature or discontent with what God has given us), it's so amazing to think that it's just you and God.. your heart is completely His without the distraction of [being in a relationship]."

I found this quote, and really liked it:

"God can take your greatest pain and through it bring a great promise. God did it with Jesus, taking his greatest pain for the greatest healing on the planet. Whatever fear you might feel, walk in faith knowing that rainbows only appear in the rain." - James Choung

So how do we find joy in EVERY circumstance, whether we are single or in a relationship? Through prayer and thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6-7), loving our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30), loving others (Mark 12:31), trusting God to take care of us (Prov. 3:5-6, Isaiah 43:1-7), and counting our blessings (Psalm 77:11-12). To sum it up with one word: OBEDIENCE (Jeremiah 7:23).

Singleness - Introduction

(I started writing these next few posts the day after Valentines day, and have been working on it slowly since. This is just the introduction... my roommate told me to split it up so people would actually read them.)

I've been reading a lot of articles about singleness for the past few weeks because of Valentine's Day. There was always a part of me that hated not having a boyfriend... but for about a year or so, God has been showing me how being single can be, and is, a blessing.

In most of the articles I read, the authors seem to add glimmers of hope for singles, telling them to trust that God will provide them with a partner. I am not about to tell you NOT to trust in God, but I do want to point out a few things. God never promised any of us that He would bring boyfriends or girlfriends into our lives, or that we'd someday be married(*). We can't get mad at God if we remain single for the rest of our lives, because God did not promise us a husband or wife. What God DID give us, though, is a relationship with His beloved Son, a perfect love that we will never fully understand, and a promise to watch over us (John 15:13-15, Psalm 33:18-22). So, instead of writing about trusting in God to bring that special someone to us, I'd like to write about trusting that God has a purpose for our current situations even if we can't see what good can come out of it, and how we should not just be "okay" with our singleness, but fully appreciate it... even if it means we stay single for the rest of our lives.

For the purpose of my next few posts, I will be using a passage of scripture (1 Thess 5:16-18) that God has been repeatedly showing me for the past few months. 1Thess. 5:16-18 sums up what God desires in our lives with three phrases: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances. Please keep in mind that these verses do not apply only to our relationship status, but also to every aspect of our lives!


(*)If anyone disagrees with me on this point... then please tell me. I don't want to misinform anyone. BUT as far as I know, there are no verses that say "I will give you a husband/wife". Genesis 2:18 does not promise us marriage. God wants to give Adam a helper suitable for him, and it's true, He did make us relational creatures! That's why we have family, friends, and our brothers and sisters in Christ as our helpers and encouragers!

ハイチ地震 - Haiti Earthquake (translation at the end)

　今からハイチで発生（はっせい）した大地震について書かせていただきます。
　ハイチは、アメリカの南にある列島（れっとう）の一つの島にある国です。ハイチでは、千万人ぐらいの人がすんでいました。


　一月十二日にハイチで２００年の間一番大きな地震が発生しました。地震はマグニテゥード７．０でしたので、大統領宮殿　（きゅうでん）、 議会議事堂（ぎかいぎじどう）国連本部（こくれんほんぶ）などの建物が倒壊（とうかい）されました。ハイチのプレバル大統領が地震の犠牲者（ぎせいしゃ）が数千人に達する（たっする）恐れがあると語いました。世界中の人たちが今ハイチで人を助けたり水や食べ物を送ったりしています。建物を立て直したり、体の傷を直したり、心の傷をいやすためには何年もかかりますので、世界中の協力が必要です。


　約２００，０００人が死亡し、２５０，０００人が大ケガしたそうです。大地震で出た死者や行方不明の人はハイチの人だけじゃなく、外人達も５００人以上はいるそうです(Foreigners)。ケガをしなくても、何人もが家を失い、水や食べ物があまりなくて困っている。一週間以上たっているが、強い余震は続いてる（４．４−５．３）。


　ハイチでの問題はこれからも何年も続くけれども、世界の人達はそれを忘れる恐れが高いので、皆さんハイチの為に祈り続けるのを忘れないで下さい。


I would like to write about the earthquake which hit Haiti.
Haiti is a country located on one of the islands south of the United States. The population of Haiti was about 10 million before the earthquake.
On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by the most severe earthquake it has experienced in 200 years. Since the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0, even buildings such as the presidents palace was destroyed. President Preval announced right after the earthquake that he feared more than several thousand people have died from this quake. People from all over the world have been helping with the search-and-rescue teams, and providing food and water for the people in Haiti. Not only will the people of Haiti have to rebuild their homes and become physically healthy again, but they will also have to heal emotionally as well, which always takes a long time. In order for Haiti to at least partially recover, people from around the world must work together.
Around 200,000 people are said to have died in this earthquake, and another 250,000 are in need of urgent care. Over 500 people from countries other than Haiti are either missing or dead (Foreigners). Even if they have not been injured by the earthquake, many have been left homeless, and are in need of water and food. Even after over a week, there are still massive aftershocks (4.4-5.3).
Haiti will continue to have problems for many, many years, but people fear that the world will forget, so please don't forget to continue praying for Haiti.

New Quarter

This quarter I am taking four classes: Japanese for bilingual students, Drugs and Behavior, Psychology of Sensation and Perception, and Brain Damage and Mental Functions.
I did horribly in my Japanese class last quarter, so I am taking it p/np this quarter. I am a bit nervous about my psychology classes. The Brain Damage one is very interesting, but it is probably the most challenging psychology class I've taken so far. It is taught by V.S. Ramachandran, who is probably most famous for his mirror technique for phantom limb patients. His work was featured in an episode of House (season 6 ep.4) towards the very end. I feel very blessed to be at UCSD studying psychology, because I am able to take classes from intelligent psychology professors such as Ramachandran, and work under people like Sara Mednick.

I realized last week that I only have three quarters left at UCSD after this quarter. I do have some plans for what I will do after I finish, but God can always change those plans, and I'm pretty open to that. I guess for now though, I am thinking of taking a year off after I graduate to either go on missions or go home to help out with my family and church (or both?). After that year I'll apply to Bethel Seminary and if I get in I'll be going into the MFT program there. That would mean I'd be coming back to San Diego, which would be nice since I love the weather (most of the time at least), and I would already have people I know here.

Yesterday I was able to visit Bethel Seminary. The people there seemed very nice, and the professors looked very approachable. I attended Dr. Ben Lim's lecture, and although he warned me it would be boring, I found it quite enjoyable. The class was small (about seven people), which was a nice change from UCSD. I think I learn better in that type of intimate environment, since it is easier to ask questions during class. They opened with a devotional and prayer, which reminded me of BCHS.

There's been a few other changes for me already this quarter. I am hoping that this quarter will stretch and mature me. Of course, I don't know how this quarter will go, but I'm excited to see what will happen in the coming weeks.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thess. 5:16-18

Plans for my future

I remember in kindergarten we had something called "student of the week". It was really exciting when it was my turn... I took home my "fill-in-the-blank" poster, proudly announced my new week-long title, took out my colored pencils, and started to answer all the questions in pictures. One of the questions on the poster was "what do you want to be when you grow up?" That was an easy question for me to answer... EVERYTHING. I was a VERY ambitious youngster... I figured out a schedule where during the day I would be a teacher, then a police woman at night. One weekend I would work as a zookeeper, another I would be a mail carrier. Some days I would be a doctor, others a firefighter or a nurse. On top of that, I would paint and sell my paintings during my spare time (what spare time??). OH YAH! and I would be a mom.

I had sense enough in about 1st grade to narrow that down to artist and possibly mother. I kept changing my mind, but the one consistent one was artist. Sometime between 8th and 10th grade, after hearing a woman speak at a Japanese missions conference in Southern California about her works in North Korea, I decided that someday I would become a missionary to Japan, Korea or China... but I gradually forgot about this dream. My sophomore and junior year of high school showed promises that my long-held vision of being an artist would bloom into reality. My art teacher had hopes for Ema and myself to someday make a living through our artwork... at least one of us will be fulfilling our dreams soon =) Not me though! Senior year, art became more of an assignment to me than an enjoyable hobby... this hurt my work greatly, and eventually killed my dreams of becoming an artist. Instead, my interests drifted more towards the human mind, which is why I chose psychology as my major. I wanted to be a social worker or a therapist, and I still do want to be a Marriage and Family Therapist, but my GPA may close that door for me. As for my dreams of becoming a missionary, I have come to realize that I can be a missionary anywhere God places me in life, whether it be in the United States or in another country. My prayer is that I will never forget this calling.

The reason why I am posting this is because I wanted share my testimony about how no matter HOW MUCH we plan out our future, God's plans will overrule ours.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

The Kite Runner

I usually don't read books. Everyone wonders why, because the rest of my family LOVES to read. Our house is littered with books. When they were younger, my parents both got in trouble for reading too much, and the same goes for my two siblings. But I always got in trouble for not reading enough. Even those required books for class... sparknotes was my best friend in middle school and high school. Anyway, this is just an attempt to explain myself:

In sixth grade, my English class had this chart with all the names of the kids in my class written on it. Every time we finished reading a book, we got a little sticker beside our names. I know. Seems like something they would do in elementary school. But this chart was my pride... because according to the chart, I was the fastest reader in my class. The BEST, if you will. I was about five books ahead of everyone else in my class. I miss my days as a sixth grader... I was still considered one of the top students in most of my classes... I even got the math award for my math class that year. But anyway, one day, a boy transferred into our English class from one of my teachers other periods, and he was ahead of me... I was so mad, I DESPERATELY tried to at least catch up, but in the end, he won. After that, I hated reading... it's pretty pathetic; I basically stopped reading because I was bitter I lost... but that is the true story of why I stopped reading books for pure enjoyment.

Some times I would try to restore my love for books by picking up a book my friends recommend. Most of the time I never finish them. That's why I was pleasantly surprised this break when I managed to finish reading two books without losing interest in either of them. The first I talked about earlier in my blog. The second book I read this winter break was "The Kite Runner". What initially sparked my interest in this book was an episode of The Office where Ryan gives a kite to Toby for Christmas because Toby was reading "The Kite Runner". I talked to a few friends, and they all said they either thought it was a good book, or heard it was a good book, so I decided to buy it.

Those of you who recommended the book to me, you were right. It was, simply put, amazing. I will not write about the book because I don't want to give anything in the book away... but if you haven't read it, you should!

Some passages I've been reading =)

Proverbs 16:1-4, 9

Isaiah 55