289 times...at least

In the Bible, God is referred as "Sovereign LORD" 289 times.

LORD, (actually 'Yahweh'), is so holy of a name that the writers of the Bible didn't dare write it down but instead opted to use "LORD." 'Yahweh' is God's proper name, just as my proper name is "Nancy Wu." Given the significance of names in the Bible, it is especially important when we discover that Yahweh, God's name, means "I AM." God just is. . . He doesn't depend on anything else to exist; He just is, He has, and He will be.

Now, dictionary.com defines sovereign as "supreme power and authority," but I feel like Doctor Steve's description from AMI has more oomph and oooooh to it: Sovereign means that nothing can happen without first passing through God's hands.

So now, here we have an all-powerful, all-loving God who IS and at the same time controls all things in our lives and in this world. Take this statement to be absolutely and infallibly true, and apply it to our lives. This is huge! Like, really mind-blowingly huge! Every little part of my life has been in God's control this entire time, and it will continue to be for the rest of my life. It's even more assuring because I know that God acts in a way that is all-loving for me, giving me exactly what He knows is best for me.

So why am I writing this post at 1:45 in the morning? Today, I found out a lot of stuff that is going on with my family, and I guess I just wanted to process it all ...

With the recent earthquake in LA (no major damage, thankfully), a really serious car accident in the family (please, please pray!!), and just all the kinks that come with transitioning and living far apart and in new environments, I have to cling onto the promise that God is sovereign. He is absolutely in control of my life, of my aunt's life, of my family's lives. . . When Jesus says "do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (John 14:1), I can let my heart rest at peace with all the chaos going on because I believe in a God who is trustworthy and sovereign over everything. I have that promise, not just 289 times repeated to me on paper, but infinitely fulfilled for me here on earth and into eternity.

Read this!

Excerpt from Chapter 14 of Revolution in World Missions, by K.P. Yohannan:

Asia makes up the vast majority of 3.8 billion hidden peoples who are being missed by traditional missionary efforts and mass media evangelism. They are most lost of the lost -- trapped in utter spiritual darkness.


I am not trying to minimize the social and material needs of the Asian nations, but it is important to reemphasize that Asia's basic problem is a spiritual one. When the Western media focuses almost entirely on our problems of hunger, for example showing all these pictures of starving children on TV, it is difficult for Americans not to get the false impression that hunger is the biggest problem.


But what causes the hunger? Asian Christians knows these horrible conditions are only symptoms of the real problem -- spiritual bondage to satanic philosophies. They key factor -- and the most neglected -- in understanding India's hunger problem is the Hindi belief system and its effect on food production. Most people know of the "sacred cows" that roam free, eating tons of grain while nearby people starve. But a lesser-known and more sinister culprit is another animal protected by religious belief -- the rat.


According to those who believe in reincarnation, the rat must be protected as a likely recipient for a reincarnated soul on its way up the ladder of spiritual evolution to Nirvana. Though many reject this and seek to poison rats, large-scale efforts of extermination have been thwarted by religious outcry. As one of India's statesmen has said, "India's problems will never cease until her religion changes."


Rats eat or spoil 20 percent of India's food grain every year. A recent survey in the wheat-growing district of Hapur in north India revealed an average of ten rats per house.

Of the 1982 harvest of cereals in India, including maize, wheat, rice, millet and so on -- a total of 134 million metric tons -- the 20% loss from rats amounted to 26.8 million metric tons. The picture becomes more comprehensible by imagining a train of boxcars cars carrying that amount of grain. With each car holding about 82% metric tons, the train would contain 327,000 cars and stretch for 3,097 miles. The annual food grain loss in India would fill a train longer than the distance between NY and LA.



The devastating effects of the rat in India should make it an object of scorn. Instead, because of the spiritual blindness of the people, the rat is protected and in some places, like a temple thirty miles south of Bikaner in north India, even worshipped.

Clearly, the agony we see in the faces of those starving children and beggars is actually caused by centuries of religious slavery. In my own beloved home of India, thousands of lives and billions of dollars go into social programs, education and medical and relief efforts every year...



The real culprit is not a person, lack of natural resources of a system of government. It is spiritual darkness. It thwarts every effort to make progress. It dooms our people to misery to both in this world and in the world to come. The single most important social reform that can be brought to Asia is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over 300 million of my people have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. They need the hope and truth that only the Lord Jesus can provide.

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty....I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

John 6:35, 48-51

Priority #1 isn't more food programs or charities -- the world needs Jesus.

Eat and eat till you're replete

When I visited the French Culinary Institute a few weeks ago, they gave me a grand tour of the entire school, including their 5-star restaurant where their students cook up fantastic meals for the public. They invited me in for a meal for 2 (on them), and I happily obliged and promised them I would make a reservation soon. So this past Wednesday, Mallory (a huge foodie) and I had the privilege to dine and feast at L'ecole for free!

We went in expecting a good meal, but what we received was mind-boggling VIP treatment! There were so many moments when Mal and I just stared at each other in disbelief. We were placed in the corner window seat, treated with complimentary chilled Fiji water, and even though we had already chosen our 5 courses, they brought out additional dishes "on the house" for us to try!!! Oh, the joys of being "special guests of the school." ^_^

Their baguettes are considered the "best in the city," and Mal and I tried not to fill ourselves up with this amazing bread... Thankfully, they brought out a complimentary beef tartar for us to eat before our appetizers came out. Raw meat never tasted so good.

1st course: Appetizers
Gnocchi Parisienne with Fresh Peas, Grape Tomatoes and Parmesan Reggiano
Five-spice Marinated Duck Breast with Pickled Cherries and Goat Cheese (YUM to the max!!!!)

They also brought out an extra appetizer just for fun: Shrimp, Tomato and Basil Pizza (the shrimp were ginormous and super fresh!)

2nd course: Fish
Fillet of Bass with Creamed Corn, Fava Beans and Grilled Squid in a Spiced Lobster Broth
Sautéed Diver Sea Scallops with Oyster Mushrooms and Sweet Curried Carrot Sauce (the scallops were the biggest scallops I've ever seen in my life -- 2-3 inch diameter!)




3rd course: Meat
Beef Tenderloin with Pomme Fondant, Cremini Mushrooms and Red Wine Reduction
Leg of Lamb with Sweet and Sour Black Pepper Sauce, Potato Gratin and Baby Bok Choy



And..they brought out an extra vegetarian dish as well! Carrot ginger soup and a sandwich...




4th course: Digestive Salad
Arugula, Peach Sorbet, and Ricotta Cheese


5th course: Dessert + Coffee

All of the desserts looked pretty good, and I was indecisive about which one I wanted. I asked Mal, "Hm. If I say that I can't decide between two, do you think they'll just bring out both for me?" I gave it a go, and when the waitress heard my dilemma, she said "Why don't we just bring out both for you." O M G. We were both like O_O "SERIOUSLY?!" To make matters even crazier, she asked us if we wanted their "really good" coffee or cappuccino, "on the house, of course." We both ordered a latte, decaf. Yum.

Chocolate-Almond Cake with Lemon Cream
Fruit Soup with Vanilla-ginger Ice Cream (the ginger hits you afterwards!! =D )
Apple and Cherry Pie with Cherry Sorbet (Don't be fooled by the humble name. It's actually a "deconstructed pie". The apple was wrapped around this cream filling and you eat it together with their cherries and granola "streusel topping" -- BEST dish of the night)



All in all, we were both ridiculously satiated with food and we felt gluttonous for eating 14 dishes between the two of us. Hahaha... Thank you, French Culinary, for a wonderful meal and mind-blowingly awesome experience!

treats truck, my butt

As someone who loves baked goods, I want to try out all the good bakeries around and gain some ideas and insights into the bakery world. I recently heard about treats truck, a bakery shop on wheels that parks itself in different locations throughout NYC on different days. Today they were finally parked by my work place, so I decided to make the 4-avenue trek over to see if it was any good.

The line from its 45th St. and 6th Ave location was a good 10 people deep, and they had only been open for 20 minutes. Although I had already looked at their menu online, I was intrigued by their goodies on display in the window of the truck, like their cupcake cone or their peanut-butter sandwich cookies. Waiting in the humidity, I observed as the people in front of me bought cookies by the dozens. But wait, these cookies were tiny, and they cost roughly $1.25-$3 each!! One particularly popular cookie was the "lemon drop," and it was literally a 1/5 inch thick, 3-inch diameter cookie with a light layer of frosting and sparsely scattered sprinkles. Those were going for $1.75 each. o_O After laying down their $25+ purchases for their small bag of brownies and cookies, people walked away with huge smiles on their faces. As my turn quickly approached, I made impulse decisions on what I wanted to try, and I settled on a Mint Chocolate Trucker and a Peanut Butter Chocolate-Creme Sandwich Cookie. The total came out to $3.75, and I cringed a little when I walked away with my tiny, tiny cookies and my slightly thinner wallet.


I waited until I got back to my office to try these. As soon as I bit into the PB cookie, everything crumbled and fell apart. A few nibbles into it, I got a headache from the overdose of sugar. As for the mint chocolate chipper: it was nice and soft, but worth the $1.75? Hardly.

Now, call me strange, but I started to get really angry. Hear me out on this...

I don't understand why people were shelling out big bucks for cookies that were 1) really really expensive given their size and 2) weren't even that good. They would wait in line for 20 minutes and drool over them in line with their friends and talk about how "delicious" that lemon drop cookie looks when in reality those baked goods weren't any better than Subway cookies (which are 3 for $1.29, mind you). Is it because these came out of a truck? Shoot, give me a car and I'll sell cupcakes out of my "Cupcake Cruiser."

I just don't get it... Seriously, $2 for a cookie? I could make a batch of cookies with the money I spent on two cookies.

Okay, I digress...

The point is.... I think I'm angry because I feel the injustice. People are getting ripped off!
Or maybe, I'm angry because I'm envious. I envy the fact that they can rip people off with bad baked goods when all this time I feel like I could feed people so much better, and still make the same amount of $ treats truck makes... It made me envious to see people walking away so happily with their crappy expensive baked goods, because deep in my heart, I wish I was the one that made them that happy.

Yargh. treats truck... *shakes fist in air*

Directive

(For those of you who haven't watched the movie yet, this might contain slight spoilers)
























"After 700 years of doing what he was built for, Wall-E discovered what he was meant for."

There's a critical moment in the movie where Eve and Wall-E are thrown into the trash chute, and Eve must make a decision to either save Wall-E or to bring the plant to the center of the Axiom ship. Wall-E's controller card had been fried by Autopilot, and he was almost at the end of his battery life. Eve, now emotionally invested in Wall-E, insisted on looking for a replacement controller card for him, but Wall-E kept on pushing the plant into her face, repeating "directive... directive" because he knew the importance of the ship returning to Earth, not only for his own sake of getting replacement parts but also because Earth needed the humans to return.

How accurately this can apply to our Christian lives as well...

Wall-E was "built" for trash compacting, but who would have guessed that this humble, rickety, lovesick robot was meant to play a role in the "salvation" of humans out of their own gluttony and laziness and back into experiencing what life truly is -- pizza trees, dancing, and hoe-downs included.


Similarly, we humans may be "built" for schooling, working, producing... but there's so much more. Jesus' last command for us it to: go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28: 19-20). This is our directive, this is what we are meant for. I mean, let's look at Jesus' directive:

Matthew 20:28
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

John 10:10
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Jesus came to give us life in all its fullness. What if he hadn't come and made a way for us to have this eternal life? You all felt how incredibly sad it was seeing those people on the Axiom wasting their lives away, but how much more does your heart break for people who aren't experiencing the fullness of God's infinite love? John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Eternal life starts here and now.

Our directive is this: Make disciples of all nations, baptize them, teach them to obey, open their eyes to see the life they can have. What a great privilege it is to do so; it's no wonder Wall-E was willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of the passengers on the Axiom.

So we can choose to be like the old Wall-E, living our lives day after day comfortably compacting garbage, but I believe that in our hearts there is a deeper aching for something greater, something of far worthier purpose.

#3 again!

I love telling people that I grew up in the 3rd best place to raise your kids, and we made the list again! We're not only known for the really bad dance crew, Extreme Dance Force... Hahaha


No. 3: Naperville, Ill.

Population: 142,900

Miles from Chicago: 26

Job growth: 18.8% since 2000

Public library: Ranked No. 1 among small cities

Pros: Topnotch schools, abundant parks, a booming downtown

Con: Lots of traffic

When Pete Makris’ employer, a large winery, transferred him to an office in Chicago’s populous western suburbs last year, he and his wife Libby had their pick of towns to live in. Naperville won in a landslide. “The education and the services here just blew away any of the other places we could have chosen,” says Pete, 40. They love Naperville’s schools (they have three daughters, Olivia, 8, Anna Grace, 7, and Hope, 3), vibrant downtown and strong sense of community. “You meet incredibly nice, wonderful people almost on a daily basis,” Libby says. “And I think that’s pretty rare.”

No wonder Naperville has made MONEY’s Best Places list three times now. The walkable downtown area is packed with restaurants and shops. Residents point you toward the popular Riverwalk, a nearly two-mile brick path that follows the DuPage River’s course through town. On it you’ll pass Centennial Beach, a swim park fashioned out of an old quarry, and Millennium Carillon, a 72-bell tower that sits at the base of grassy Rotary Hill and plays music three times a day. A renovation, due to be completed next year, will make the path even more scenic.

Naperville’s proximity to Chicago—it’s just 30 miles away—is a plus, but there are plenty of jobs to be had right here. Edward Hospital and Nicor Gas employ more than 8,000 people between them, and companies such as BP America, Lucent and Tellabs have offices in town as well. Graduates of the city’s schools handily outscore state and national averages on college entrance exams. And Naperville residents like to boast that their public library is ranked the best in the nation among small cities by Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings.

On the downside, housing is pricier here than in some nearby suburbs; the typical three-bedroom, two-bath house runs $380,000. And congestion on the city’s major roads can slow traffic to a crawl. But for Kristen Bolduc, 39, a stay-at-home mother of three who moved here 16 years ago, the good things far outweigh the bad. “I’m very lucky to be raising my family in this area,” Kristen says. “We’ll never move.”

From Money Magazine (with more stats): http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008/snapshots/PL1751622.html

Psalm 37

During leader's meeting this morning, PB had us all reflect on Psalm 37 for a solid chunk of time. Totally what I needed to hear from God.

4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

.......

23 If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;

24 though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.

Lord, would you teach me what it means to delight in you, to commit my way to you, and to trust in you.

How To Date Men

Haha, the title got your attention, didn't it?

I guess working for a professional matchmaker gives me certain... insights to the world of relationships. I am currently putting together an article for Janis by splicing tidbits from her two books, "How To Date Men" and "Get Serious About Getting Married." She gave me a copy of the latter (and if any of you want to borrow it, I won't judge you =P), and just flipping through her HTDM book, I can't help but laugh at some of the ridiculous things in here. To give you an idea, some of the chapter titles are "Even Men Need Hugs (Sometimes): When one of you has a bad week" or "I Won't Laugh at Your Underwear If You Don't Laugh at Mine: Your first night together". Hahahaha

The book is a progression of the dating cycle: where/how to meet men, your first date, subsequent dates, spending nights together, meeting friends, meeting the parents, marriage, etc all with Janis' personal advice inserted in, with a few anecdotes to liven things up. I love this one:

How to flirt with a guy:
- Tell him your name -- always a good place to start!
- Show off your intelligence. Guys will sleep with dumb blonds, but they're not going to marry one.
- Be confident. If you've made up your mind to flirt with a guy, commit to it. Otherwise it's REALLY awkward.

There are more, (are you curious, readers?) but I'll spare you for now... :)

zZzzZzZz

My 10 PM bedtime title is misleading, since for these past 3 weeks I've been sleeping pretty consistently past 12AM. As a grandma, this is simply unacceptable. Unacceptable, I tell you!! I don't know when or how I got so busy, but in between traveling every weekend, leading a summer small group, updating the RWC missions budget, trying to stay fit by going to the gym, hanging out with people, practicing guitar, birthday + going away dinners, and now looking for a new job, summer has become busier than the school year. There's a fine line between wanting to be "responsible" and going to work every day (especially since I've missed so many Fridays b/c of travels) and just calling in a sick day so I can take care of things, like my sanity... Okay, maybe the line isn't so "fine," but hey, I'm lazy.

Sigh.

In other news, I created a new blog: http://wildmanatee.blogspot.com :]
Hopefully I'll have you all drooling with each new post. Oh yes, and I must try out the 10-lbs of White Lily flour that Jooho got me for my bday. Apparently the flour is super special because it is contains less protein, so baked goods (namely biscuits) come out lighter. Cheddar Bay Biscuits, anyone?

[show some love, gimme a high-five!]

Matchbreaking...

I quit my job at Janis'. Now, onto bigger and better things....

When reality hits

Today, I almost cried at work. Actually, I teared pretty hard, and if I wasn't surrounded by my coworkers, I probably would have broken down.

After years of knowing I was going to move, and even after having packed up all my childhood memories and said my goodbyes, it hit me, really smacked me upside the head that my--no, my family's home is no longer Naperville. This sadness isn't because I myself will miss "Chicago" things, like Portillo's or Midwestern "A"s or Millennium Park, but the sadness comes in realizing that my family is being removed from the support it has known for the past 15+ years.

Take my brother, for instance. He's practically lived his whole life in Naperville, and he's gone through a lot with the friends he's made here. From winning 1st place in AirBand (dance competition) to competing in 293874 different sports to fighting through the ups and downs of our church together with the other HS kids, he's gone through enough to shape him into the mature guy he is today. His friends have pushed him athletically, broadened his comfort zones through dancing, encouraged him with their testimonies, and shared countless hours of "just being boys" through video games. Now that he's off to USC for college, he won't be seeing his friends during breaks since he'll be spending them in our new "home" in LA. He's also sacrificed and done a lot for our home church, but will he be able to see the fruit of his labor?

His friends made him this video slideshow as a formal goodbye, and church friends held a goodbye party for him. Old church friends whom we haven't seen in years came to say goodbye...

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=1040488649660&ref=share

The most heartwrenching of all, though, is this:


This is a picture taken of the church praying for my family a week before they left. My sister was telling me today about what happened, and she described how my whole family was crying. Also, if you look closely enough, you can see their emotion... I *rarely, rarely* ever my family them cry. It's actually really scary when I do, because it means that something huge is happening. I think my whole family doesn't like to show weakness (or emotion...)(I guess I lack that gene, cuz I cry all the time).

Crying is contagious to me usually when I see people cry, but man, just hearing about it today set me off, especially when I realized how hard it must be for my family to say goodbye to these people.

We've held numerous potlucks at our house, my parents planned almost every event this church has had in the past 15 years, my grandparents celebrated their 60th anniversary in the midst of these brothers and sisters, and my sister/I/my brother have grown up with these families our whole lives.

Not only are we being torn away from our church support, but my family is being torn apart as well. Growing up, my family and my cousin's family had always done things together since we lived so close to each other. Even when my sister and cousin went to college, they were still only a town away. But now, we are being scattered across the continent. My cousin Joe moved to Hawaii, my other cousin Steph is in New York with me, my sister is staying in Chicago, and my aunt and uncle will remain in Naperville. While my sister was in college, and even now as she is working, she came home to visit every weekend. My uncle's family lived about 15 minutes away from us and would come over to just hang out w/ the grandparents or share meals together. Memories of my brother and I taking piano lessons from my aunt, my sister coming home and sharing stories of her misbehaving students, my dad and uncle conversing about politics or business, my grandparents cooking up a feast to feed the families, ... these are now just memories.


Despite all of my sadness, I know that God will be faithful to my family in Diamond Bar, just as He was when we first moved to Naperville. My brother will make awesome friends at USC, my parents will continue to serve their hearts out at EFC-East Valley, my grandparents might feel a *tiny* bit out of place with people their age that can speak English fluently, but hopefully the great weather and awesome food will lessen the pain a little...
Man, it's been an incredible 15 years in Naperville.

Poco a Poco

It's been 1 year since Peru Missions...

tidbits from my 7/7/07 journal entry, our first "real" day in Pucallpa:

"I feel like there's so little I can do for these people. The language barrier, the fact that I don't want to "act like I know more" than them, etc.. what exactly do we as missionaries bring here, ya know?
....
7:30 Service -- Enrique [Edinson's older bro who is going to seminary] & Italia led worship. They sang the song P. Andy sent us -- people were really into it and James 5:13-19 was a blessing. Being able to pray for them was cool too -- mixing Spanish & English. The people are all so hungry for God. It's contagious! Then the really long song about how God was dead and now alive and lambs jump & etc. . .
....
Personally, I'm pretty psyched. It's awesome being able to worship with these people in a different language/culture. Their hunger and passion is really encouraging, and I do sincerely hope that they'll be fruitful long-term. My heart is a bit torn though -- I selfishly want to stay in Pucallpa -- good food, water and electricity, and no mosquitos [though I did get a TON of bites today], cute kids, fun jovenas, but God's calling us to San Marcos and San Pedro ... must respond to the calling..."

[untitled]

It hurts to see people not enjoying God to the fullest ...

In unsure seriousness...

I have an appointment to visit the French Culinary Institute next Thursday at 1:00 PM.

hEllo.