Christmas Sight Seeing

It is finished!

My mom got baptized today!!! Praise God!

We also had lunch together with her small bible study group. My whole family was able to come. My mother and I also shared our testimony of how God has been moving in ours lives. It was so liberating to be able to talk about God freely in front of everyone. I no longer I have to hide my light or my faith. This verse just popped into my mind.

Mt 5:15
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it

gives light to everyone in the house.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!! :))) Simple yet so true to my faith life.

Today as I was doing my daily devotionals I was touched by the story of the poor widow who gave everything she had as an offering to God. The fact that God is so pleased at the little we have to offer gives me such hope. Stories of how Jesus responds to sinners in the New Testament have really been painting a clearer picture of who He really is. I, like the poor widow, have nothing to offer in and of myself, yet when I give to God freely my time and resources, He is satisfied. How simple.

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with...the cares of this life... (Luke 22:34)."

Yes. Amen to that. Sometimes I get so worked up with my pursuits in photography, education, and even in relationships, that I forget that it is finished, I am saved, the rest is history, the price is paid, and Heaven is waiting with open arms at the end of this life. I hear myself criticizing people and their actions and personality traits, yet at the end of the day, I realize that God is not putting me under a magnifying glass and being critical of my every whim and action. He is accepting me and forgiving me and loving me. If He is truly alive in my heart, than I should be loving others in the same way. Thank God for His patience. Because this little girl, is stubborn and naturally hard hearted.

"Today is the day the Lord has made, and I will be glad and rejoice in it (Psalm 118:24)."

Experiment

I am experimenting with my shutter speeds. I got some pretty interesting images.

Tomorrow my mom is getting baptized after 2 years of praying for her every night. Every tear I have cried, every moment I spent worrying and agonizing about her salvation has been wiped away. These past two months have been life changing. I can honestly say that I am not who I was two months ago. I have joy and peace which surpasses all understanding. I have a hope for my future and the future of the Yu family. I have no more secrets. Everything is in the light. P-R-A-I-S-E God!

Fear was such a theif.

Now I am free.

The riches I hold in my hands

the Theif can never steal

I am sheltered

Beneath the wings of my Savior

Is where I lay.

Anne Lamott

Today I started reading Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott. I cried, sighed, smiled, and praised God with each word, line and page. Here are some of my favorite passages:

"All those years, i feel for the great palace lie that grief should be gotten over as quickly as possible and as privately. But what I've discovered since is tha tthe life long fear of grief keeps us in a barren, isolated place and that only grieving can heal grief; the passage of time will lesson teh acuteness, but time alone, without the direct experience of grief will not heal it."

"I'm pretty sure that it is only by experiencing that ocean of sadness in a naked and immediate way that we come to be healed-which is to say that we come to experience presence and spaciousness and peace."

I love her thoughts on the intersection between pain, faith, and joy. I guess it is because the three have been colliding in my life these past few months. James was right to say that we are to "consider it joy when we encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

There are many moments in life when we crack. The cracks spread like spiderwebs. But only then can the light shine through. When we are broken, desperate, and willing to love and be loved. To forgive and be forgiven. It's not crazy to love Jesus. It's crazy to not accept His love.

I will end on that note.

1:28 a.m

I can not sleep.

All I think of is the verse from Totem Maples poem:

What does it mean to live, if Jesus didn't die for you?

Amen.

The rest of this month will fly by, I can already see it and feel it. I want to cherish every moment of this season in my life. This season of exploring the world with Jesus by my side and the Holy Spirit living within myself. Come to think about it...I hope this journey does not last for merely a season. I pray it lasts until I am received in Heaven.

This is the day my walk truly began. September 15, 2007.

I am still learning who Jesus is. I hope I never stop learning. I hope I am teachable until the day He is revealed fully to all. God is so good. Even when you have insomnia at 1:37 A.M the night before you have a full work day ahead. God is still good. I will still wake up saying to Him: THis is the day that the Lord had made, I will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24)."

Coffee House December 2007