Lexus Competition

Yesterday or rather the day before yesterday was the longest day of my life. We worked all night just to produce two perfect A4 pages of "perfect service" definition. We worked on it 23 hours non-stop. We wrote, explained, debated, re-wrote, re-debated, re-worked, re-explained, we re-ed everything n times. Our target deadline was shifted 4 or 5 times. We shared 4 meals together. We... All for a perfect definition of "perfect service" and a creative project using our creative logo for Lexus. I hope we win.

After we mailed our MASTERPIECE, I received this email:

From 阿佩：
Dear BB3550
莫名的就從昨天晚上弄到了Deadline 傍晚五點XD
討論合作到現在覺得很開心，我們真的很厲害，
很用心把短短兩張A4+創意製作物弄完了
記最終版本給大家留底
五十萬五十萬五十萬～阿屋阿屋阿屋～～
要好好補眠修養身息

From Jessie:
嗯
很難忘的一次回憶^^
希望能如願拿到50萬XD

From 42B (阿碩):
哈哈哈...這兩天辛苦大家囉!!!
昨天一直在檢討為什麼會花掉這麼多時間...
其實，我們真的花了很多的時間在做重複的事情..
而最主要的原因是我們沒有好好的溝通彼此的想法...
我沒有想到我們彼此的思考模式會差這麼多...
但是在溝通的過程中...也讓我學到了很多的事情...
那進入複賽時，我們在進行撰寫以前，一定要一直做溝通…
減少不必要的重複工作…
Anyway,和大家合作很愉快喔...
也謝謝大家的配合...

My reply:
Dear all~
It's been a dear dear pleasure to be in a team with you.
I value this experience so much!
Even though we spent a lot of time working on two A4 pages,
I cherish this process because we got to understand each other thoroughly
and because we grew and we succeeded.
Whatever the result,
in my mind we won for we accomplished something big,
we overcame obstacles!
Not once did we back away!
We did it~
It was a pleasure guys~ 阿豆仔

Thank You Lord!

Praise the Lord! He is my helper and my provider. He is Immanuel. My interview yesterday went very well. Actually, it was way better than I expected. I know that that doesn't mean that I will get to go on exchange, but I know that everything happened under God's watch. I know that He will take me where He wants me to be, whether that is Taiwan or somewhere else. I know, without the slightest of doubt, that God has a path prepared for me and that will be the path I take. Hallelujah! Thank the Lord!

Pre-Interview Nerves

Lord help me!
I am pretty nervous.
Actually, very nervous.
In less than a couple of hours I have an exchange student interview. Rationally and faithfully I know that God will take me to the place He has prepared for me. I know that if God wanted me to go to a specific country, He will let the results be that country. I know that if God wants me to stay in Taiwan, the results would be that I do not qualify for exchange. I know all this, but I am still nervous! I guess, I'm nervous before any interview. But, I also guess that I want this to happen for me. But then, do I really have the courage to go abroad? I guess I won't know until it really happens to me. Whatever the result will be. I know that God's will is above all. His will will be done. What I seek is not my will, but His. I will surrender myself to Him. Lord, have your way in me. Lord, let this interview be after Your own heart!
Thank You Lord.
Thank Your for letting me know that my life is not random, but Your immaculate design.

I will not back away

Lord, strenghten me.
Strengthen my faith in You.
Give me courage and will to fight this battle.
Let me proclaim Your name at all times,
whether I'm in my highs or in my lows.
Lord, I will go where you take me
and do what you tell me to.
Lord, I am your servant.
I will not back away.
No attacks can scare me away.
For He who lives in me is the greatest of the world!
Lord, I have won this battle
for You won it centuries ago.
Lord, I will shout Your victory.
Lord, I live to glorify You!

Beat from discussion

Any small thing can just crush the merriness out of a discussion. Today, when I was discussing Lexus with my team, we had our bottlenecks; but, with mutual encouragement, we overcame each one of them. We had a lot of fun: we came up with more than eight logo sketches, and most importantly, we had fun with it. Our ship was moving forward at a satisfactory speed. Yet, when we decided to put the sketches to test, we realized that they did not produce the effect we had expected. Adding to the fuel, another team member who arrived late gave us a tremendous "reality check" (I use this word to try not to let my emotions cloud me, but I don't know if using this word is in fact biased by the effect of trying to avoid clouded judgment). There was a "takeover." All our ideas were discarded without the slightest hint of approval or encouragement for our effort and our three hour wasted. There was a tyranny: we were forcefully steered in the way this member wanted and any effort to pull back was ignored. Honestly, I was disappointed. That's not how a team is supposed to work. Everyone was disappointed. Our team spirit was recalibrated back to zero. But, life goes on. The rest of us pulled ourselves together to continue on. When we did so, this member simply ignored us and started drawing sketches of his own (what he told us not to do or in fact should not have done; he did what he told us to refrain from doing). Once we went into deeper discussion of our report framework, he simply went to sleep. I simply felt beat. I still feel beat. Oh, Lord! Help me! Don't let me explode. God, have your way in me.

Obedience

Today, when I was reading Mark 3, I read that Jesus said,

"Whoever does what God wants him to do is my brother, my sister, my mother." (Mark 3:35, GNB)

I had my computer on, so I decided to read other versions of that passage.
I looked up the same verse in The Message and I found one additional line that is not found in GNB nor NIV nor NASB. It was,

"Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God's will is my brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:35, The Message)

The line "Obedience is thicker than blood" jumped out at me. I knew that God stressed importance, but I hadn't realized that this message was so clear in this passage. I really thank God for His word. I'm going to keep this in mind. From now on, obedience to God is at the very top of my list.

My nature?

There are moments in grad school when I don't know how to react. Alright, I don't know how to react most of the time I'm at school. I don't know if its a religious thing or a cultural thing or a personality thing. Perhaps its a combination of all of that, or perhaps those three things represent the same thing.

Sometimes I feel that I am interpersonally inept. I don't really know how to act when I'm not alone. I don't know what to say, how to act, what to think, etc. I always feel that my hands are tied.

I guess its different looking in and looking out. My classmates tell me that I am outstanding, when I don't feel that I have any abilities whatsoever. I don't know if they really think that or if they're just saying it for the sake of socializing. (I don't think I have the courage to trust people until I feel that they've proven themselves to be trustworthy, e.g. Church.) The truth is that I don't have the answer for a lot of my questions, and I never will have the answers to them. I know I am insecure: I doubt myself, way too much I guess. But brothers and sisters from my fellowship give me love that I don't think I deserve. They look at me and see qualities, which I don't think myself having. I feel that I'm submerged into this period of insecurity. I thought I was supposed to be over that after puberty.

God help me. I realize that when i have thoughts like this, I'm being self-centered. Why do I have to explain everything from this self-centered vantage point? Why do I think people have evil natures? Is it because I've been burned one too many times? But, that is ironic: I've been burned by people from fellowship, yet I trust them and doubt my friends (not from fellowship) yet they have not done anything to hurt me. What am I protecting myself from? My coward nature is preventing me from loving others as God loves me.

Lord, help me.
Lord, change me.
Lord, have Your way in me.

He's with me!

Recently, I've come to notice a pattern in my spiritual life. It seems as if I have periods of closeness with God followed by periods of wandering in the deserts. When I noticed this I couldn't help praising God for letting me realize that I had this weakness. By knowing this, I know that I don't have to fight this battle alone. I can rely on Him to help me; I can pray to Him.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God alone is my Lord. He guides my every footstep. I will go wherever He takes me. Even though I am dead scared of unfamiliar places/environments, I will pack my bags and leave this place when He calls me. I was never a big supporter of going to Korea for "FangHan," but I was surprised to realize that I wanted that intimate relationship with God so much that I told God that I would go to Korea.

As soon as I had thoughts of going to Korea, Satan put all those doubts in me. It told me that I wanted to go to China during summer for internship; it told me that that was the rational thing to do, since I am an MBA candidate in emerging Asia; it told me that Korea was a bad idea, that people at church used it as a "qualifications test of holiness"; it told me that I did not have any money; it told me that my family was not as economically well off as before; it told me lies, too many lies. All lies.

But, thanks to the Lord. He helped me block all that out. He gave me faith and courage and wisdom to hold on to His word and to the Truth. He showed me His grace and strenghtened my resolve in Him by showing me that He works miracles in my life. When I told my mother that I wanted to go to Korea this summer, I was amazed and speechless when she asked me if I was going with people from church and that she was OK with it. God is truly amazing. He opens doors, clears paths, and rids obstacles for me. I can't help but say: "Hallelujah!!!"

你是否感到群山震動

超級好聽的詩歌！
讚美主！！！

你是否感到群山震動,聽見大海在怒吼
萬民都在揚聲歌唱,耶穌基督已復活
你是否感覺人心惶恐,聽見萬民在歌頌
失喪人們開始呼喊,耶穌基督我救主

我們看見神大能運行,活水江河正流向萬邦
男女老幼都轉向耶穌,天堂大門正敞開
來預備復活救主降臨

天堂門打開,音樂響起來
讓讚美充滿這世界
唱出新盼望,喜樂湧上來
歡呼祂的公義永存在

黑暗勢力正在顫抖,當主百姓同心歌頌
山川小溪匯成河流,洗盡一切破碎憂愁
我們看見神大能運行,歡呼慶賀時刻已來臨
男女老幼都轉向耶穌,天堂大門正敞開
來預備復活救主降臨

天堂門打開,音樂響起來
讓讚美充滿這世界
唱出新盼望,喜樂湧上來
歡呼祂的公義永存在