23

That’s how old I am now! It has been a week-long celebration, and I felt so loved and celebrated. When an intern has a birthday, all the other interns contribute $3 for a group birthday gift. That way, the birthday person receives a gift worth ~$50 while only spending a total of about $50 for 17 other people’s birthdays. But for my birthday, I requested not to receive a group gift; instead, I asked each person save money so that they could cook dinner with me as an apartment. Last week, we had hot pot, and then I made dumplings with another apartment! I almost forgot how good food can taste – not that my own cooking is bad, but it’s just different eating with people who also enjoy the food. And it also looked aesthetically pleasing :D

So Delicious

Then we had Friendsgiving on Tuesday, which was pretty amazing! I didn’t make anything fancy, just heated up apple cider with spices and orange peel. But we had quite the spread, and everyone shared what they were thankful for. I am grateful for the community I’ve found here, and it’s hard to believe that we were all strangers just 110 days ago. And this is me and the new intern, Ruth! We finally got a picture together :) 

Thankful 

There was actually another another lady at Cru who had her birthday on the 19^th (she’s in Orlando on Lake Hart ), and our apartments got dinner together Wednesday night. I made her a cookie cake, which she said was amazing. I thought it looked cool.

Two Desserts in One

Birthday Girls + Roomates

At this point, it’s basically a week-long birthday celebration. But here’s what happened on Thursday (my actual birthday).

I got breakfast with my roommates at First Watch. It was delicious and cute, and we got a buy one get one free coupon, which makes everything better.

Breakfast with Keren & Jennifer

When I got to work, I was greeted with a lot of gifts, and it was so sweet to get presents! My remote team sent me an Edible Arrangement, and I got to see most of them on a video call that day. My new team also celebrated my birthday by getting me flowers and key lime pie, which are so much better than balloons and cake.  I spent the day in a training learning about search engine optimization (SEO) from Jeffrey Kranz, who was engaging and knowledgeable.

All the Presents

And then we had worship night, in the evening, which was super sweet! Aftyn’s friend visited from Michigan, and he jumped onto the cajon and brought so much energy. I love how people can just bond and work together through music. It’s almost magical.

It says "Savior"

This last event has nothing to do with my birthday, but Song, Ruth, and I had dinner with the Sudarmas last night! David Sudarma is the Director of Technology at Cru, and he and his family moved from California three years ago. I know the last name isn’t very telling, but they are also Asian American, and we bonded over good Chinese food, common experiences, and testimonies. It was very cute to see how excited his kids got over roast duck and char kway teow :D I was probably the same when I was little haha. Oh, and I made a small strawberry bouquet for them for dessert. So much cheaper than an Edible Arrangement.

Asian American Squad

Homemade Strawberry Bouquet

Saturday

I finally got to explore Orlando a little bit today. We (my roommates, Song, and Josh) went to downtown Winter Park, where "posh people come and spend money." We visited the Orlando Tea Exchange, Olive Oil, and Krungthep. Here are some pics from the excursion:

Teas galore

So Many Olive Oils

I Love Them

Thank you for reading! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend also 😊

Grateful

When my birthday is around the corner, it means that Thanksgiving is almost here! If Christmas music and Jesus weren’t things, Thanksgiving would actually be my favourite holiday.

Thankful

I get to go home home soon, and I am so excited to be with my family, see my friends, and eat GOOD food (brisket and corn bread can be good, but it’s always the same. I like variety.). But wow, I have been in Orlando for… almost 4 months? Here are a few things I am thankful for. In no particular order:

My roommates. Keren and Jennifer are a delight to live with. It was definitely slow going in the beginning, but both of them are so sweet and lovely. It’s been fun having mattress chats, going on shopping excursions, and having discussions about apartment décor. Keren introduced me to “Your Lie in April,” which is a fantastic anime about piano and classical music. It's so good! We were also in the same group at Preview Weekend in February, and God just knew that putting us in the same apartment would make transition a little easier. And Jennifer is so kind and welcoming as a second year intern! She was so gracious to drive me before my car came in, and having someone with more knowledge about Orlando and Cru helped make adjusting easier. Love them 😊

Roomies

Transition and change. Moving across the country was not easy. I cried a lot more than I thought I was capable of, and I miss a lot of things about the Bay Area (but not the drought or traffic). But in the midst of this move, God revealed, and continues to reveal, the many things He wants me to surrender, change, and grow in. Challenges are hard, but the following passage has been a theme for many people, and it shows that God shakes our world so that we hold firmly on Him and focus on His kingdom.

“At that time his voice shook the earth, 

but now he has promised, 

“Yet once more I will shake not only 

the earth but also the heavens.” 

This phrase, “Yet once more,” 

indicates the removal of things that are shaken — 

that is, things that have been made — 

in order that the things 

that cannot be shaken may remain. 

Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving 

a kingdom that cannot be shaken, 

and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, 

with reverence and awe, 

for our God is a consuming fire.” 

– Hebrews 12: 26-29

The intern community. I will say up front that it is far from perfect, but the 16 other interns I get to do life with has been such a blessing. It has shown me how much I was not in community toward the end of college. Doing life with all these different people has been a lot of forming, storming, norming, and performing, but I love being a part of all.

Music! Well, I no longer play classical music or have access to beautiful Steinway grand pianos, but I have the opportunity to serve on Nona Church’s worship team, and it has been an absolute joy to use this specific gift and skill here in Orlando. Also, Keren helps me get my classical music fixes. It has also been really fun hosting worship nights with the interns (we're having one on my birthday!!) too, and I'm learning new Christians songs like “Psalm 34,” “Mighty God, Father, Friend,” and of course “Way Maker.”

Worship

Walt Disney World. Wow, never in a million years would I have thought that I would go to Disney every week, much less do ministry there. I am thankful for the many new relationships I have made through Disney ministry. I pray that God will continue to move in our interactions, and we will be able to lead them to take their next step toward Jesus. And of course, what a privilege it is to just casually hang out at Disney after work or over the weekend. Strange, but that is my life now.

My team. This refers to the five-person marketing team I am on (which has changed, but more details to come later). Ryan, Leah, Kelsey, and Christina make teamwork so easy and enjoyable! And I've raved about my supervisor before, but the more I work with him, the more I experience his professional management and personal care for me and the rest of the team. I'm so grateful for this team and the kingdom work we get to do together 💖

Beautiful skies. One of my teammates moved from Orlando to San Diego, and I told her that one of the things I love about Orlando is the sky and ever-changing clouds. And because there are no skyscrapers or mountains (for better or for worse), I can see so much more sky here than at home. There's also so much water and naturally green grass (that is not watered with tuition money @SCU)

(Almost) Eternally Blue

You. Even though I am not with you physically, I love seeing your faces and messages on screen. Those moments make being in Orlando a little bit easier. Thank you for your prayers, love, and support, from more than 2400 miles away. 

That is it for now. There is so much I could be writing about but I want to be thankful first. What are you thankful for?

"Give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Stewardship

So continuing the train of thought from the previous post about brokenness. I’ve thought a lot about the future and what is it that God wants me to do/ what I should do with my life. And then I went to church, and the message was on stewardship. God’s timing is always perfect timing.

There wasn’t anything necessarily new about the sermon, but it was a very good reminder and perspective given my high-strung and anxious nature.

Matthew 25 is the story of the Servants and Talents, and it is a passage I have read and learned about time and again. There is a master who goes away on a trip, entrusting his wealth to his servants. Something that I tend to gloss over is a small phrase quite important in the setup of the story: the servants are entrusted with wealth, each according to his ability. None of the wealth belongs to the servants; they were given temporary stewardship of their master’s wealth. Similarly, everything we have is given to us temporarily by our Heavenly Father.

“What we think we own, is on loan.” 

(Try saying that out loud. It rhymes hehe). Pastor Collin flashed a slide with a bunch of bullet points. Our Time. Ability. Family. Body. Vocation. Relationships. Resources. Health. Influence. Knowledge. None of this really belongs to us. The list doesn’t seem like a big deal, until I started reflecting on each one specifically. My time is on loan, yet I am so possessive over it. My ability is from God for me to steward, yet I am so proud of all that I can do. My family is a gift from my Master, yet I so often think I deserve all their love, prayers, and support.

Obviously these are not free gifts. Well, they are free gifts, but we are accountable for the gifts that God so graciously gives us. The master in the parable returns from his journey and settles accounts with each of the servants. They were responsible for what they did with the wealth. Here, we notice that the servants were held accountable for their faithfulness, which Pastor Collin defined as “a long devotion in one direction.” Success was not measured by output, but by faithfulness. The master (which in our case is God) does not care about what we do compared to others, but what we do with what He gives us. This is scary, because I know for a fact that God has given me an abundance. Today, I learned that one only has to make $32,000 a year to be considered the top 1% of wage earners in the world. While I don’t make quite that, I am wealthy in so many other ways. Relationships. Resources. Health. Knowledge. Just to name a few.

At the end of the sermon, we were asked the following questions. Some of them I don’t have an answer to. But if you want to share your answers or just talk about the things you feel like God has given you to steward, I’d love to chat! But here are the reflection questions:

-       Am I using what I’ve been given for me, or for my Heavenly Father?

-       If God and I settled accounts, would He say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?

-       How am I investing my life in others?

-       How is the world a better place because of my being a part of it?

Ending thoughts I had in my notes that I starred:

“I am made on purpose for a purpose.”

“God is for me, but it’s not about me.”

And then we sang a new song called “Way Maker.” It really blessed me, and I hope it blesses you too. And this Sunday, I got to play it with the worship team! It was so, so cool to see how God uses music to touch people (ya know, when you see people crying because it’s the last song in the set and the lights turned on).

Anyway, thank you for reading about a sermon. Have a blessed start of your week! Gotta love these Orlando clouds :)