Lots happened at home yesterday.....student housing is total jokes. lol. Our toilet upstairs flooded (for some unknown reason), and the excess water seeped into the air vent, and thru the walls.... we ended up w/ a big leakage in the furnace room, and in the ceiling right above our stove (the dry wall bubbled, and water dripped out). Lots to tackle, but it was quite humorous. We just put out buckets and pails to collect water. Reminded me of summertime, when our dining room ceiling collasped due to water leakage and molding from the tub upstairs. Good times. = P Our reliable Rogers hi-speed internet works 10% of the time, with mostly just ICQ connected. Our TV is wonky, it has a bad signal, and it channel changes by itself randomly....kinda hard to follow a show that way. hehe. But I'm content. Actually, it helps me focus on school work and essay writing better. So it's like a blessing in disguise.

I'm glad I went home this weekend. Cuz I had the chance to go w/ Aletheia on a chicken soup run downtown. A few brothers and sisters had prepared this thick, creamy, rich homemade chicken soup for the homeless. I've been privileged to have experienced meeting and talking to some of these street ppl. At first, I had my own reservations of going, but the Lord is faithful, and my eyes were opened, realizing that He loved them just as He loves us. I met Dorothy, Bernard, and Mumford around Nathan Philips Square on Fri. night. When we first approached Dorothy, who was huddled on the pavement facing a large office building, I felt very emotional, and my heart cried out for her. Here was a lost child of God, alone, and cold in the dead of winter, lacking necessities such as food and shelter. As we sat down w/ her as she ate, I forgot about how cold I was, and my own problems/burdens. Instead, my mind swirled w/ questions like, what happened to her? How did she end up here? What can I do for her? It was a humbling experience, and some of us were able to share about God's love to them. I pray that the Lord will continue to change our hearts, and spur Aletheia to reach out to others in our community.

Thanks so much Cho for helping me w/ my template! Yay, I'm learn-ed now. hehhe....so to apply this new found knowledge, here's a picture from the ACF winter retreat.

the gals at retreat

ACF winter retreat this past weekend has been...WOW. I went b/c I knew I'd be blessed worshipping God, with so many brothers and sisters. But I really didn't go w/ an active seeking heart. Maybe b/c I've experienced so much already this Christmas break, and I felt that the Lord has spoken to me in so many ways, I really didn't know what else I could experience in such a short amount of time. I don't know where to begin, words don't do justice to what the Holy Spirit was doing through out this retreat. Walls were broken, pride set aside, and unbelief shaken off. I have been convicted of my own unbelief in certain people in my life, believing that they'll never change. But it's a lie. Praise the Lord!

It was a fun day yesterday. Thanks for dinner Cho! mmmm....good times playing Uno, drinking water, watching T.V., laughing to the point of bursting and whatnot. Heeheh.....fun playing soccer too at nate's. That was like my exercise this week. lol. good sweat. Then we went over to Theresa's and played spoons, watched Friends and ate free pizza! Yeah, really nice to hang out with ppl you don't get to see collectively anymore. Great way to hang out before retreat. ; D

Snow is all around. I wake up every morning to even more snow. Snow, snow, snow, snow. I made a little snowman right beside the Proudfoot bus stop across Alumni Hall yesterday, and I was happy to see it still there today. I thought somebody would have stepped on it, or kicked it apart by now.
In light of this cold cold weather, I wrote a poem:

"Ode to Snow"
Snow is light, snow is bright, snow might get you in a fight.
Snow's so pretty, so cold and fluffy, but it will kill a little guppy.

lol. Sounds like one of my many grade school poems/limericks.

I should really fix this page up, and learn html to alter the template. I actually don't know how to post pictures up still. lol.
So this is my Chinese new year's resolution, to keep and maintain a better blog. ;D
My real New Year's resolution is to abide in Him always.

Urbana 03 was an amazing experience I will not forget. The theme was "Your Kingdom Come, Your Will be Done." Praise the Lord for giving us the opportunity to experience Him. He met with us, and after hearing His calling, we'll never be the same. I've anticipated it since Sept. and excited to hear His call for me as a student.

It was a great convention for myself and thousands of other delegates. The sermons were powerful, the worship was moving, and the seminars insightful. I took something away from every aspect of it. I was most strongly impacted by my small group; we spent time together twice a day to study the Bible, and share with each other what the Lord was revealing to us daily. It was such a blessing to meet with other students who have a passion for God's Kingdom; encouraging and praying for one another.

Three important lessons that I took away were:
1. We must first repent and give up our idolatries of this world. This includes self-fulfillment, self-comfort, our dreams/ambitions and affluency in order to take up our cross to follow Him.

2. We are all called to go and serve God's Kingdom. It's not a choice, but a command. Luke 10:3 "Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves."
What risks are you willing to take for Jesus knowing the many dangers in serving our Lord? A speaker quoted, "It is very costly to follow Christ, but it is far more costly not to follow Him."
Luke 12:48 "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded: and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
This is something that we can all reflect on, because we as North Americans have been blessed with so much more than the rest of the world.

3. Jesus will take your weakness, fears, and things you thought will disqualify you from serving, to empower you with His strength by the Holy Spirit. Doubt and feelings of inadequacy in ourself is not a legitimate excuse to refrain from obeying Him. It is rather the dependance on the Holy Spirit in our lives that helps us carry out God's Will.