Day at the Zoo

It was an interesting end to the work day today. Around 6pm when we're supposed to be able to leave the office, my boss's entire class showed up at the office. My boss teaches a class in the city and he likes to give them some perspective of the 'real' world by inviting them in to the office and show them around. So I'm trying to leave at 6pm, and see a mob of people in the lobby where the door to the elevator is. Great, I guess I can't leave just yet, it'd look bad for my boss. So I go back to my office and wait until the coast is clear to make a dash for the door. The office is a square so once they start to move towards one direction, I can go in the other direction and miss them. Then as they started to come around the offices, I realized that he was literally introducing all of the employees to the students as they were passing by the offices. Great, I guess I should stay until he introduces me. I hear him introduce the intern to his students by asking him to tell them what his SAT score in math was - of course, he said 800 (he's Chinese). Great, am I the only Chinese person who didn't get a perfect score in math? My office mate scrambles to clear off his desk a little as he finds a packet of paper and starts reading. I quickly open a book that was already in my bag and put my head down, looking engrossed in what was on the page, just as my boss walked by. He introduced the two of us and a few of the students smiled at us, I smiled back out of politeness. After he leaves, the rest of the class trails behind and one by one they glance in the office. It was like we were a bunch of monkeys at the zoo, and they were observing us in our natural habitats, hahaha. Except I don't think the monkeys have to pretend to look busy when people walk by. And as they headed into another office, I went around the other way and out the front door. I was home free!

Yum .... steak ....

One week my parents were in Phoenix, Jackson made me steak for dinner - a sure way to win any girl's heart :) Especially one who LOVES meat, haha.

More Cookies!!!

Another cookie baking (and decorating) adventure with the girls!

Gospel Gamp Labor Day Weekend

My first bouquet of flowers from Jackson when I was home sick. They were so pretty :)






































I had the opportunity to be a part of Gospel Camp for several Chinese Christian churches in the area - it was held in southern Jersey on a beach. It's mostly for adults but they needed a few leaders for the youth group so that parents don't have to leave them at home for the weekend. It was a challenging and humbling experience to lead a weekend long program for the group, especially since the group turned out to be twice as large as we expected! The program consisted of worship, lessons about God's Word, testimonies, discussions, and lots and lots of games! At the end of the weekend I was absolutely exhausted. It was quite draining but very rewarding at the same time.


Eating crab that were caught just a few hours prior - so fresh and yummy!
































Sea of Chinese people in the cafeteria - I think we exceeded the max occupancy of this place .... the funniest thing is that cold water is nowhere to be found during meals - only hot water is available, that's when you KNOW you're surrounded by Chinese adults
















The campground was beautiful































Leaders debriefing after lunch
































We played a lot of crazy games, hahaha





















Rita's Ice!
















Crabbing - we didn't catch much















































Leaders' table - not sure who came up with this ...

Girls' Fellowship Group Song Offering

So it's been a little over a year now since I started the girls fellowship group at the church I've been going to. I'm amazed at how God has given me the grace to be able to connect with them on some level even though I am so old compared to them, haha. I've actually been pleasantly surprised at the maturity level of teenage girls - sometimes the things they say catch me by surprise. And I think, did I think this way when I was 13? They're a lot of fun to be around, and it keeps me young at heart in a way. I love being a big sister - it's such a joy to see them grow and be an encouragement to them. Not to mention how fun it is to see their faces light up with the smallest things like decorating a cake or making hot chocolate :)

This was the first time that we sang together at church as a group

Lisa's Bachelorette Dinner @ Mercat

We sat at the bar waiting for the limo to show up at the restaurant with Lisa and the bridal party.

















I loved this dish - it's potatoes with this mayo like sauce - I couldn't get enough!
















Tapas are the best!

MIA

Sigh, I'm sitting at my desk at work. When I should be focusing on work, all I can think about is how much I miss writing my blog. It's so hard to get back into things when you know it's almost impossible to catch up. But if something is important enough, I need to make time for it. Stay tuned for updates from the past few months! From the way this blog looks, it's like my feet just stayed planted to the ground, which perhaps is a reminder to myself that I need to keep moving forward and not become stagnant.

Self-absorbed

How many times do we say hi and make small talk with the same person but never taking the time to really get to know him or her, ask deeper questions, see if there's anything that they need?

How many times do we walk past people who look like they need help, thinking we are too busy and don't have the time to stop, or that someone else will help them?

I've been so exhausted these past few weeks trying to juggle work, church, meetings in preparation for gospel camp labor day weekend, helping people with requests, spending time with friends, family, boyfriend. On certain days, I'm so stressed and caught up in things I have to do that I can't even think about other people. I think God has recently been reminding me that we need to look around and make ourselves available to those in need, whether it's someone we know or a stranger. This past Sunday at church, I had 30 minutes to eat lunch, chat with moms, friends, acquaintances, finish helping a sister with a document, find all the girls that I was going to take out for ice cream after church. How am I supposed to have fellowship if I give each person 2 minutes then have to run and talk to someone else? I look around the church and realize that everyone always talks to the same people, about the same superficial topics. When are we going to realize that there are other people besides our small circle, that we should be willing to take the time to reach out to someone we don't already know? It amazes me that we can see the same people every week but know nothing about them, and not really caring because we're so busy with our own lives.

Last week, I saw two girls crying on separate occasions, strangers whom I didn't know. I thought about going over and just asking if they're okay, but thought that they probably didn't want to be bothered and I'd be intrusive. If I don't even do anything about the opportunities that I actually SEE, I seriously wonder how many opportunities I just let go by because I'm so absorbed in my little world.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. There is so much need in this world. We need to do our share of the work instead of just waiting for someone else to pick up the slack. How can we as Christians receive so much undeserved love from our Father and not want to share it with as many people as possible? Love someone - make yourself available to them, not just when it's convenient or with the bare minimum, give abundantly and freely without expectation - love someone with the love you have been shown through Christ.

My First Visit to the High Line

Who would have thought - an elevated park in the middle of the city built from abandoned railroad tracks? Only in Manhattan :)

It was surprisingly peaceful and scenic - even though there were a lot of people





















































Chairs for tanning??!! Pretty amazing .... oh and some of them have wheels on the bottom so you can move them to get optimum sun exposure, hahaha

























































Area where you can sit and watch the traffic down below - creative










































































Can't wait till the rest of the high line is finished! It's gorgeous - highly recommended :)

Lisa's Bridal Shower

I went to Lisa's surprise bridal shower a couple of weeks ago. It was seriously THE nicest, most sophisticated bridal shower I've ever been to. The venue is an art studio that rents out the space for private parties - it's a fancy afternoon tea party! The planning that went into it was unbelievable. They had videos of her fiance saying something nice to Lisa and answering questions for the newlywed game.



















Not only did we enjoy a beautiful bridal shower hosted by the bridesmaids, we also got gifts!

















Picture collage










































































My table








































Yum! I love tea parties!























Watching Lisa open presents



































The bride to be with a homemade veil / hat