LoL. Whoa!!!!!!!
I was going through my old blogs (all three of them... I know... impressive lol...) and I'm kicking myself for not keeping up with this.... I'm back in Miami. The family time has been awesome but five months later... I still miss China!! Ah. Well that's not the point. We'll see if I can do a better job at blogging this time around lol...
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
TeSTiMoNieZ... FeBRuaRy 1- FeBRuaRy 7
Sunday, February 1: I thank God for a real SUNday. It was beautiful today! The weather has its way of affecting my mood so I felt pretty good today. I thank God for the way He speaks. This morning’s message was about staying fresh. We were encouraged not to allow our familiarity with Christ keep us from being excited about doing his will… to keep the fire we once had as a new Christian. I thank God for this message because it’s something that I needed to be reminded of. God is good.
Monday, February 2: I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to chat with a group of some of my closest HoMieZ in Miami. I really do appreciate some of the simple things in life. LoL. It was just a group MSN chat but it really made my day. I just thank God for the people in my life that can make me “LoL” for real.
Tuesday, February 3: I thank God for allowing me to start something that I’ve been putting off. LoL. I’m horrible at keeping loved once posted on what’s going on with my life but I’ve come up with a possible solution to that problem… “blogging”. We shall see how this works. I was also able to drop a few e-mails to my family and close friends at home. Thank God for motivating today!
Wednesday, February 4: I’m just grateful for some much needed me and Jesus time. I had a chance to catch up on some reading and conversation with God. I am really in love with the “Butterfly in Brazil” book. I thank God for always being there… for speaking when we truly seek Him for real. I pray for consistency. That this isn’t a one day thing… Oh and I got to go to a prayer and my International place of worship. That was cool too!
Thursday, February 5: I thank God for the chance to hang out with a friend and classmate that was in town for a day. I guess I’m just grateful for good times… lol … for good food and good laughs. I thank God that she is also pretty chill and laid back. Today was a good day.
Friday, February 6: I first want to thank for allowing me to have a safe flight to Hainan. I also want to thank Him for awesome one on one time with Him. I finally finished my “Butterfly in Brazil” book. I feel God asking me to apply so many of the principles brought up by the author. For example, focus on the small everyday things you can do to change the world rather than vague ideals or concepts. There are specific things that can be done where I am. I need to remain faithful. I pray that God will give me a specific thing to be passionate about. When it came to reading, I went through Jeremiah chapter 2. I was moved by verses 21 and 32. It really is interesting how we humans can forget or deny God even though He is so good to us. I guess I just pray that He will help me to live my life in a way that shows He exists; that I can represent him well; that (as mentioned in “Butterfly in Brazil”, I can live a life of true sacrifice) That everyday will contain constant self-denial and the killing of the flesh. LoL. Because I’m SO not there yet (may God-He who can keep us from falling… according to the Book of Jude- handle my many issues and keep me from falling on the real!). I am also grateful for the time I had to read his word, for His clarity, and for the feeling that my relationship with His is improving. God is too good to me. I really don’t deserve Him.
Saturday, February 7: I thank God for the day I’ve spent in Hainan. I am grateful for the awesome weather (HOORAY for sunshine and real clouds lol. I am loving the HEAT!!) and just the chance to walk on a beach. I’m so shocked at how much I miss beaches. I am also thankful that I got to chill by a nice pool. LoL. There were definitely a few “incidents”/”challenges” today but I thank God for just giving me a positive spirit. LoL. I wonder how I would have viewed things if I didn’t have that one on one time with Him last night. I thank God that we found a cheaper place to stay in a great area of town. I really thank God for the peace that only He can give.
The beach we went to in Sanya, Hainan... =)
Monday, February 2: I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to chat with a group of some of my closest HoMieZ in Miami. I really do appreciate some of the simple things in life. LoL. It was just a group MSN chat but it really made my day. I just thank God for the people in my life that can make me “LoL” for real.
Tuesday, February 3: I thank God for allowing me to start something that I’ve been putting off. LoL. I’m horrible at keeping loved once posted on what’s going on with my life but I’ve come up with a possible solution to that problem… “blogging”. We shall see how this works. I was also able to drop a few e-mails to my family and close friends at home. Thank God for motivating today!
Wednesday, February 4: I’m just grateful for some much needed me and Jesus time. I had a chance to catch up on some reading and conversation with God. I am really in love with the “Butterfly in Brazil” book. I thank God for always being there… for speaking when we truly seek Him for real. I pray for consistency. That this isn’t a one day thing… Oh and I got to go to a prayer and my International place of worship. That was cool too!
Thursday, February 5: I thank God for the chance to hang out with a friend and classmate that was in town for a day. I guess I’m just grateful for good times… lol … for good food and good laughs. I thank God that she is also pretty chill and laid back. Today was a good day.
Friday, February 6: I first want to thank for allowing me to have a safe flight to Hainan. I also want to thank Him for awesome one on one time with Him. I finally finished my “Butterfly in Brazil” book. I feel God asking me to apply so many of the principles brought up by the author. For example, focus on the small everyday things you can do to change the world rather than vague ideals or concepts. There are specific things that can be done where I am. I need to remain faithful. I pray that God will give me a specific thing to be passionate about. When it came to reading, I went through Jeremiah chapter 2. I was moved by verses 21 and 32. It really is interesting how we humans can forget or deny God even though He is so good to us. I guess I just pray that He will help me to live my life in a way that shows He exists; that I can represent him well; that (as mentioned in “Butterfly in Brazil”, I can live a life of true sacrifice) That everyday will contain constant self-denial and the killing of the flesh. LoL. Because I’m SO not there yet (may God-He who can keep us from falling… according to the Book of Jude- handle my many issues and keep me from falling on the real!). I am also grateful for the time I had to read his word, for His clarity, and for the feeling that my relationship with His is improving. God is too good to me. I really don’t deserve Him.
Saturday, February 7: I thank God for the day I’ve spent in Hainan. I am grateful for the awesome weather (HOORAY for sunshine and real clouds lol. I am loving the HEAT!!) and just the chance to walk on a beach. I’m so shocked at how much I miss beaches. I am also thankful that I got to chill by a nice pool. LoL. There were definitely a few “incidents”/”challenges” today but I thank God for just giving me a positive spirit. LoL. I wonder how I would have viewed things if I didn’t have that one on one time with Him last night. I thank God that we found a cheaper place to stay in a great area of town. I really thank God for the peace that only He can give.
The beach we went to in Sanya, Hainan... =)
TeSTiMoNy LoG... =)
2009 Testimonies
I thought it would be a good idea to keep a daily record of how God moves. As humans, we easily forget or overlook the small testimonies of everyday life. The goal is to record at least one thing God has done in my life on a daily basis. LoL. We’ll see how this works with my inability to commit.
=) + ♥ GOD BLeSs ♥ + (=
January
I decided to start this on February 1st so I don’t have daily testimonies from the month of January. I still want to share how God answered a prayer I had. I REALLY wanted to spend my Spring Festival in China. It’s the year of the ox (MY YEAR) and I’m in China so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I did not know much about this celebration so my prayer request was that I could spend Spring Festival with a friend and his/her family. I got a chance to spend my Spring Festival in Zhongshan with my friend. To make a long story short, I had and amazing time and learned so much! I thank God for their hospitality and willingness to teach a weird foreigner like me. God is good! Oh! I’ve got to thank God for the final grade in one of my classes. I got a grade that I SERIOUSLY did not deserve…. a B+ when I honestly deserved a low C at best! I thank God for His miracles!!! I got A’s in my other classes and I pray that next semester will be as good….
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Y i'M iN CHiNa: My 1sT BLoG eVeR!!!
I thought it was about time that I made an effort to start writing on this thing. I guess I’ll make this an intro blog. LoL. Well I’m basically keeping this blog in hopes of better sharing my life with my loved ones. I’ve been in China for about five months now. I love Hangzhou! It’s an aMaZiNG city but I can’t help but miss my family and friends on a regular basis. It’s hard to be away from the only people you’ve ever really known… The people you feel most comfortable with in this world. I talk about my life like it’s horrible, lol, but life here is good/ I can afford to do what I want while working less than twenty hours a week. I’ve been meeting some really cool people and learning so much.
Well let me get to the point of my first blog ever. The question is: why am I in China? LoL. Here’s the rundown. I started my undergrad studies as a pre-med student. The goal was to become a coroner. I love anatomy and I figured I wouldn’t have to deal with people trying to sue me if they’re dead. So I tool General Biology 1 & 2, General Chemistry 1 & 2, and Calculus 1 & 2, during my first year at F.I.U. I was passing my classes but I was so unmotivated. I would miss classes and basically cram for exams. Not a good sign. If I’m already like this during the first year, how in the world am I going to survive classes like Biochemistry? LoL. So I decided to take a few more sociology/anthropology classes (since I fell in love with my World Ethnographies class) while I decided if I would continue with this pre-med thing. I figured I could always take the prerequisite courses for medical school and major in another subject.
I came to the conclusion that I wanted to stick to sociology/anthropology and let go of the medical field. LoL. My dad was so upset. Most Haitian parents want their children to become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. He wasn’t very supportive of my choosing the social sciences instead. LoL. I couldn’t help myself! I was in love! I actually wanted to go to class! A lazy student like me wanted to attend class! LoL! I couldn’t believe it! I took a variety of classes and found that I was passionate about the social inequalities. Things like world hunger made no sense to me. If we pay people not to produce and discard unbelievable amounts of food, why is it that people are going hungry? The more I learned the angrier I got with the world. I was annoyed by the systems that existed. I began to hate out capitalistic society. These practices and that of organizations such as the World Bank and IMF triggered a desire in me to do something about all this. I knew what I wanted to do with my life! I WANTED TO CHANGE THE WORLD!
I spent my time wondering what I could do to make the world a better place. I tried to be helpful in my community but I felt that this wasn’t enough. Non-profits, for example, are great but they don’t solve the real issues at hand. The problem is that we have systems that perpetuate inequalities in the world. These systems need to be destroyed if we hope to change what is. Well I graduated in 2007 and had no idea what to do with myself. I was still working at the company I worked with throughout most of my time at FIU. It was a cool place. They kept me busy and I had some awesome co-workers. I just felt so empty though. The days seemed to blend together. I knew that I wanted to go back to school or find a job that helped me accomplish my goal in life. I just couldn’t seem to find a job. I didn’t want to take a drastic pay cut for a company that I wasn’t passionate about. Jobs always came easy to me so I felt that God was telling to chill out. LoL. So I stopped my job search.
As I was playing on the internet I came across a university that offered a Master’s in International Studies. The program is for about a year and consists of the student teaching English in China for a year while working doing coursework on the internet. I thought this was a pretty cool deal. You get to live in another country and get your Master’s degree in such a short period of time! I e-mailed asking for more information, knowing that I would never take part in this program. China is a LONG WAY from Miami and I wasn’t trying to leave Florida!! In September or October of 2007, I went to Sonburst, a Christian conference held for university students in South Florida. My main question at that time was “what’s next”? I wanted God to tell me what to do with my life. Throughout my time there, I felt God asking to let go. I was holding on to so much. I wouldn’t consider leaving Miami because my entire life is there! What would I do without my family? Who would I hang out with if I left? Who would take care of my car? I had all these strong ties to my hometown that I wasn’t ready to do away with. God was constantly telling me to let go and trust Him. I told Him yes. I would do whatever it is that He asked me. I felt free but worried about what was to come.
God is joker. He has ways of messing with me and I love it! Soon after I got back to Miami (Sonburst was in Orlando), I received an e-mail from my contact from the university asking me if I was still interested in their Master’s program. She included the application information. It was clear that God wanted me to apply so I did. I was hoping that I wouldn’t get accepted because I didn’t want to be away from my family and friends for a whole year! Wow this is getting long! I’ll try to wrap it up soon. The school accepted me and requested that I let them know if I plan to take part of their program. I had a deadline to give them my answer. I basically avoided thinking about it and the deadline soon came. I had no idea what to tell the school. I hadn’t seriously prayed about the situation yet either.
I checked my e-mail the day of the deadline to read that I had a two month extension to make my decision. God is good. It was His way of asking me to seek Him. To really find out what He wants me to do. That’s what I did. I prayed about the entire situation and asked friends to do the same. I am so grateful for the consistency of my brothers and sisters in Christ that went to God on my behalf. How time flies… it was soon less than a week before my deadline and I felt that I still had no clue what God wanted me to do. Maybe I thought He wanted me to go to China but I wasn’t going to leave my family and go across the world for something I “thought” was true. I needed a CONCRETE CONFIMATION!
I often spent my lunch breaks in my car. I’d try to read something from my Bible during that time. I remember sitting in my car that day and having a conversation with God. I was straight to the point. I asked Him what He wanted me to do. I explained me anxieties to Him; that this was such a big step and I wasn’t going to take it unless I was certain it was something He wanted me to do. As I sat there, something told me to turn on my car radio, so I did. The first station I selected was talking about China. I figured that has to be a coincidence. China’s hosting the Olympics this year so of course people are going to be talking about the country. I told God that I wanted more. I wanted to hear from Him clearly. Something told me to open my phone. I did and it said “Made in China”. I later saw that the battery said made in Japan but the only thing I noticed at the time was “Made in China”. I thought to myself, EVERYTHING’S MADE IN CHINA. LoL. I asked God for a third and final sign that I could not deny. If He wanted me to go to China I wanted it to be 100% clear. I felt something telling me to close my Bible so I did. My eyes immediately came across something that I’d never noticed before. The tab of my Bible cover read: Gregg Gear Fits Hardcover Books XL @ Gregg gift Company IRVINE, CA. MADE IN CHINA. The made in China was not what did it, but the Irvine, CA. That is where the school is located.
I was in awe. God spoke. I’M GOING TO CHINA. There was this peace. I wasn’t worried anymore because I felt that God made Himself clear. I am His. He wouldn’t try my set. LoL. I knew that if He told me to go, He would take care of me. I was also excited. I mean, I always said I wanted to change the world. How can I begin to change something I know nothing about? So here I am in China… He has been aMaZiNG. My God is a provider. He is so good to me even when I don’t give Him the same in return. Life here is good. I love Hangzhou. I’m happy to be here. I just get homesick on a regular basis. I’m also realizing that I’m forgetting the big picture. I need to keep my eyes open. To look for what God is trying to show me; to His efforts at preparing me for the next step because only He knows what that is...
This a pic of my older bro Abe, his fiancee, and I during their final night in China. Big bro didn't want little sis to go across the world all by herself! I'm grateful to have had there here for my first week in China.
Well let me get to the point of my first blog ever. The question is: why am I in China? LoL. Here’s the rundown. I started my undergrad studies as a pre-med student. The goal was to become a coroner. I love anatomy and I figured I wouldn’t have to deal with people trying to sue me if they’re dead. So I tool General Biology 1 & 2, General Chemistry 1 & 2, and Calculus 1 & 2, during my first year at F.I.U. I was passing my classes but I was so unmotivated. I would miss classes and basically cram for exams. Not a good sign. If I’m already like this during the first year, how in the world am I going to survive classes like Biochemistry? LoL. So I decided to take a few more sociology/anthropology classes (since I fell in love with my World Ethnographies class) while I decided if I would continue with this pre-med thing. I figured I could always take the prerequisite courses for medical school and major in another subject.
I came to the conclusion that I wanted to stick to sociology/anthropology and let go of the medical field. LoL. My dad was so upset. Most Haitian parents want their children to become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. He wasn’t very supportive of my choosing the social sciences instead. LoL. I couldn’t help myself! I was in love! I actually wanted to go to class! A lazy student like me wanted to attend class! LoL! I couldn’t believe it! I took a variety of classes and found that I was passionate about the social inequalities. Things like world hunger made no sense to me. If we pay people not to produce and discard unbelievable amounts of food, why is it that people are going hungry? The more I learned the angrier I got with the world. I was annoyed by the systems that existed. I began to hate out capitalistic society. These practices and that of organizations such as the World Bank and IMF triggered a desire in me to do something about all this. I knew what I wanted to do with my life! I WANTED TO CHANGE THE WORLD!
I spent my time wondering what I could do to make the world a better place. I tried to be helpful in my community but I felt that this wasn’t enough. Non-profits, for example, are great but they don’t solve the real issues at hand. The problem is that we have systems that perpetuate inequalities in the world. These systems need to be destroyed if we hope to change what is. Well I graduated in 2007 and had no idea what to do with myself. I was still working at the company I worked with throughout most of my time at FIU. It was a cool place. They kept me busy and I had some awesome co-workers. I just felt so empty though. The days seemed to blend together. I knew that I wanted to go back to school or find a job that helped me accomplish my goal in life. I just couldn’t seem to find a job. I didn’t want to take a drastic pay cut for a company that I wasn’t passionate about. Jobs always came easy to me so I felt that God was telling to chill out. LoL. So I stopped my job search.
As I was playing on the internet I came across a university that offered a Master’s in International Studies. The program is for about a year and consists of the student teaching English in China for a year while working doing coursework on the internet. I thought this was a pretty cool deal. You get to live in another country and get your Master’s degree in such a short period of time! I e-mailed asking for more information, knowing that I would never take part in this program. China is a LONG WAY from Miami and I wasn’t trying to leave Florida!! In September or October of 2007, I went to Sonburst, a Christian conference held for university students in South Florida. My main question at that time was “what’s next”? I wanted God to tell me what to do with my life. Throughout my time there, I felt God asking to let go. I was holding on to so much. I wouldn’t consider leaving Miami because my entire life is there! What would I do without my family? Who would I hang out with if I left? Who would take care of my car? I had all these strong ties to my hometown that I wasn’t ready to do away with. God was constantly telling me to let go and trust Him. I told Him yes. I would do whatever it is that He asked me. I felt free but worried about what was to come.
God is joker. He has ways of messing with me and I love it! Soon after I got back to Miami (Sonburst was in Orlando), I received an e-mail from my contact from the university asking me if I was still interested in their Master’s program. She included the application information. It was clear that God wanted me to apply so I did. I was hoping that I wouldn’t get accepted because I didn’t want to be away from my family and friends for a whole year! Wow this is getting long! I’ll try to wrap it up soon. The school accepted me and requested that I let them know if I plan to take part of their program. I had a deadline to give them my answer. I basically avoided thinking about it and the deadline soon came. I had no idea what to tell the school. I hadn’t seriously prayed about the situation yet either.
I checked my e-mail the day of the deadline to read that I had a two month extension to make my decision. God is good. It was His way of asking me to seek Him. To really find out what He wants me to do. That’s what I did. I prayed about the entire situation and asked friends to do the same. I am so grateful for the consistency of my brothers and sisters in Christ that went to God on my behalf. How time flies… it was soon less than a week before my deadline and I felt that I still had no clue what God wanted me to do. Maybe I thought He wanted me to go to China but I wasn’t going to leave my family and go across the world for something I “thought” was true. I needed a CONCRETE CONFIMATION!
I often spent my lunch breaks in my car. I’d try to read something from my Bible during that time. I remember sitting in my car that day and having a conversation with God. I was straight to the point. I asked Him what He wanted me to do. I explained me anxieties to Him; that this was such a big step and I wasn’t going to take it unless I was certain it was something He wanted me to do. As I sat there, something told me to turn on my car radio, so I did. The first station I selected was talking about China. I figured that has to be a coincidence. China’s hosting the Olympics this year so of course people are going to be talking about the country. I told God that I wanted more. I wanted to hear from Him clearly. Something told me to open my phone. I did and it said “Made in China”. I later saw that the battery said made in Japan but the only thing I noticed at the time was “Made in China”. I thought to myself, EVERYTHING’S MADE IN CHINA. LoL. I asked God for a third and final sign that I could not deny. If He wanted me to go to China I wanted it to be 100% clear. I felt something telling me to close my Bible so I did. My eyes immediately came across something that I’d never noticed before. The tab of my Bible cover read: Gregg Gear Fits Hardcover Books XL @ Gregg gift Company IRVINE, CA. MADE IN CHINA. The made in China was not what did it, but the Irvine, CA. That is where the school is located.
I was in awe. God spoke. I’M GOING TO CHINA. There was this peace. I wasn’t worried anymore because I felt that God made Himself clear. I am His. He wouldn’t try my set. LoL. I knew that if He told me to go, He would take care of me. I was also excited. I mean, I always said I wanted to change the world. How can I begin to change something I know nothing about? So here I am in China… He has been aMaZiNG. My God is a provider. He is so good to me even when I don’t give Him the same in return. Life here is good. I love Hangzhou. I’m happy to be here. I just get homesick on a regular basis. I’m also realizing that I’m forgetting the big picture. I need to keep my eyes open. To look for what God is trying to show me; to His efforts at preparing me for the next step because only He knows what that is...
This a pic of my older bro Abe, his fiancee, and I during their final night in China. Big bro didn't want little sis to go across the world all by herself! I'm grateful to have had there here for my first week in China.
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