What If Fantasies

Have you ever dreamt of being someone else?

I never thought I would. I've lived a pretty good and stable life. I've got a great job. I have 3,000 friends on Facebook. I get to watch movies, go to the beach and enjoy my daily dose of coffee everyday. My family is super supportive and there was never a time that I felt my efforts will materialize to what could be great results.

Until you start entertaining the "what ifs" in your life.

Anti-Valentine

Everywhere around the world, people are celebrating the Day of Hearts. Call me a Valentine’s Scrooge, but I have never really believed in the spirit of V-Day.

Planner Without Planning

I got myself three Starbucks planners this year. I didn’t actually use any of them. I gave it to friends and family while jokingly telling them that I don’t need a planner --- because I have no plans. 

In reality, I’ve always tried to plan ahead, but God likes to throw surprises and curveballs when I least expect it.

God + Dog

I used to be deathly afraid of dogs. 

And this is not just the fright that comes with seeing a huge, menacing canine. I would literally get fevers just at the mere sight of a small pup. I was five years old, and I would come home with chills at the thought of running into a dog on the street or in our school playground. Call it odd, an exaggeration if you will, but I wasn’t just scared of them like I would at horror movies. I was seriously, seriously terrified. 

The Best Advice Ever

Unless you are an author of an advice column, or your name is Dr. Phil, we all know that giving advice can be difficult, tricky and downright stressful.

I was never really that good at giving advice.

You Might Not Finish Reading This

Francis Chan entitled one chapter of his book by saying "You might not finish this chapter".

While that's freakishly scary or unbelievably ridiculuous to you, the irony of it is that it is actually true.

And you might never even get to finish this blog post either.

 

January 1 on December 30

I was reading through a post by one of my favorite writers, and his declaration was "Today is my January 1."

I looked at the date -- and he wrote it on December 23.

10 Things I'm Thankful For in 2010: The Return Of The Comeback

Return of the comeback is a term that I used when referring to Tito Vic and Joey movies. (Yes, I am an 80s kid.) Who doesn't love a great comeback? Whether it's a funny response to a silly question or a successful revival after 20 years, we all love how we are able to make something out of nothing at all. (That would be my last 80s reference, I promise.)

Giving Thanks This Christmas

Celebrating the holidays have always made me feel quite generous.

Buying presents. Sending messages. Remembering people you haven't seen in a while. Christmas and New Year's always brings a wave of generosity over me. Spending Christmas at work has pumped me up quite a bit. As cheesy as it may sound, I wanted to show my team that I am willing to spend my holiday with them, as much as they have spent their Christmas Eve in the office and away from their families.

But amidst the generosity, there's one G word that I know I should think about more.

"bad things happen to BAD people!"

"bad things happen to BAD people!"

Question asked on Formspring: "bad things happen to BAD people!" Or maybe it was something that pertained to my last post, which is completely unfair to judge.

Here's my answer: There are really no “good” people. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that all of us are tainted by and with sin, and not even the holiest person on the planet is "good". Everyone, including you, would be bad.

Romans 5:8 says - “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Don't know why you're hating, but whatever it is, I hope that you find the peace that you're probably still looking for. :)

Ask me anything

On God's Side.

My boyfriend Jay's dad used to call me by another person's name.

This happened during the first few months of our relationship. I got the chance to share a lot of stories with his dad. It was fun, and he had a lot of funny stories to share about his trips, his favorite food and his quips. And then he called me by a different name.

I was weirded out, hoped it was a mistake and got a bit disappointed that he didn't know what my real name was. I wanted to say "Barbie po" ("It's Barbie"), but I was too surprised to even try to contest it.

Jay said that his dad never knew one of his exes enough to actually call her by her first name. It was also the name of one of the hosts of the hit noontime shows, "Wowowee" that was always number one on the viewing charts. His father would watch it everyday. And then it hit me: he didn't refer to me as Jay's ex. He referred to me as the host of his favorite game show on TV.

That and other countless happy moments remind me of Jay's dad. He passed away peacefully last night.

Forgetting To Remember

“You are a hypocrite!”

Have you ever been called a hypocrite in your life? I mean, I never experienced it until this blog. I was called mean and flat-nosed and chubby, and all three have been equally annoying, but being labeled a hypocrite was a first. My initial instinct was to get angry or try to draw out a long list of people who probably didn’t like me, people whom I’ve hurt in the past, or people who just doesn’t understand my nature.

Interesting Church Sign

Ah, Facebook.

God Loves You!

“God loves you!” 

On my way home one rainy night, I bumped into a group of Koreans. It was drizzling and we were just right on the street. They were in umbrellas and asked me in a Korean-English accent if I could respond to a short questionnaire. I looked at the 5-point quiz and it was about the Bible. I was pretty confident in my answers; much like a student who wanted to impress their teacher, I finished it pretty quickly, and they said goodbye by reminding me that God loved me. 

He's Not Hot, Nor Is He Cool

I found this on a Facebook quote today:

"Satan is a hot man who likes to do very bad things."

The way that this stranger described Satan made it sound like he was some rockstar or celebrity. Colin Farrell is a hot man who likes to do very bad things. Russell Brand is a hot man who likes to do very bad things.

As sexy or cool as it may sound, we are still talking about the devil. Oftentimes we underestimate the power of the enemy. He's not cool (or hot) as you think he is.

Impossible Is Nothing.

I am a KG fan. One of the reasons why I like the Boston Celtics (sorry Lakers fans) is because of Kevin Garnett. This is a pretty old ad, so I may probably be one of seven people who hasn't seen it, but it's pretty cool. Be ready to (unconsciously) start singing this in the shower.


I see God this way sometimes. He's got the whole world in His hands...and because of that, NOTHING is impossible! 

Hollywood What Ifs.

If you're asking about the guy in the picture, it's Brad Renfro.

I'm not sure where you were in the 90s, but from where I was he was pretty popular and starred in movies like "The Client" and "The Cure". I used to watch all his movies and buy magazines like Tiger Beat just so I can put his picture in my wallet (very girlie, I know). He would have been my husband.

…if God granted ALL my prayers.

 Did you ever wonder, what if God automatically answered all our prayers to Him?

Sometimes, one short verse is all you need.

"In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever."

-Psalm 41:12

All-Time Bestseller.

No Harry Potter, Twilight or Lord of the Rings can outsell the undisputed number one read of all time. This book has been there for centuries. It has been translated in several different languages and has taken various shapes, sizes and versions. It was written by folks dressed in sheepskin and (probably) vintage Birkenstocks. It tells us stories of fires, famine, women turning to salt and sticks turning to snakes. It's chockfull of action, drama, romance and adventure. More so, it talks of a carpenter who died on the cross for a sin he didn't commit.

The Bible. Special, radical and very controversial.

Every Life Has a Story

Dan T. Cathy is the President of Chick-fil-A. It's a chicken-based fastfood chain in the US (second to KFC).

Chick-fil-A's mission is "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A." They are also famous for being closed on Sundays.

I love this video because it reminds me a lot about listening. Every life has a story, and it gets more interesting when we hear about it!