January 15, 2019 by aawolsisters
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By Jerrica KF Ching
Every year towards the end of December, my mom will often ask my siblings and I if we have any New Year resolutions. I often stick with the same answers (as most people have) — being more active, having healthier eating habits, working towards becoming financially savvy, etc. I also will admit that I say these half-heartedly, as I know towards the end of March and the beginning of April, I will become more lax with myself and my determination begins to waver. So when I was informed that the topic I would be writing about was ‘time,’ I did a bit of self-reflecting, looked at my peers around me, and concluded the following: people with resolutions begin to falter because they begin to believe they don’t have enough time.
Now if we really dig deeper, in the beginning of the new year, we have a lot of intention. Our actions are intentional! We deliberately set aside time in our schedules to work out, meal prep, and put more money in the bank. We view ourselves as proactive, productive, and efficient. We are constantly going, constantly doing, and constantly planning. Then March comes around and we realize that we have been doing this constant movement for so long, and we have gotten so successful with it that it’s okay to skip a few days of our well-intentioned planned out time.
But soon these few days become weeks, then sometimes even months, and we tell ourselves that we are too busy, too tired, and too stressed. But oftentimes, our schedules did not change at all nor did we take on additional responsibilities. Proverbs 21:5 reminds us that the plans of the diligent lead to profit, while haste leads to poverty. So when we begin making our New Years resolutions, we are being well-intentioned. Several months down the line, we have not lost any time, but perhaps we have lost our intentions behind those plans.
So to all of my AAWOL sisters and other readers out there, may we be reminded this year in 2019 that God grants us all the time we will ever need to do His will, and we will always have enough time to utilize our God-given gifts.
Jerrica KF Ching lives in the beautiful state of Washington and works as a licensed mental health counselor and Asian/Pacific Islander mental health specialist at Columbia Wellness. She graduated with an MA in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling from George Fox University. She continues to be a guest lecturer on the importance of recognizing and acknowledging culture within the therapist-client relationship. Her research on racial colorblindness has been published in The International Journal of Social Science Studies.
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January 8, 2019 by aawolsisters
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By Melanie Mar Chow
I seized an opportunity to attend the Urbana 18 Student Missions Conference and was reminded that no one transitions from one year to another better than this. How awesome it was to be with like-minded people who love on the college campus and know what it means to join into worship and praise of our Lord Jesus. Urbana offers something that many don’t experience: the experience of being with thousands of people who intentionally gather for a week in a freezing cold environment (ok Cali bias) to praise Jesus and be encouraged to do something bigger than our individual experience could ever offer via missional communities sharing the infectious love of Jesus. Continue Reading »
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January 1, 2019 by aawolsisters
By April Yamasaki
What is time?
I’ve been watching a mini-series on Albert Einstein, the brilliant physicist who asked this grand question, whose great intellect and imagination were so taken with it, to the detriment of his personal and professional life. Continue Reading »
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December 25, 2018 by aawolsisters
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Today I forgot to buy red peppers for a dish I’m making for a church potluck. A week I ago I forgot I had a house community dinner. A few months ago I completely forgot a meeting and left a friend eating lunch by herself. Age, it seems, is catching up with me. It’s not bad if I remember to write things down. Still, it’s rather disconcerting when your mind, or body, begins to betray you despite your best efforts to live like nothing is changing. Continue Reading »
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December 18, 2018 by aawolsisters
Photo by Nan Palmero
By Ajung Sojwal
Soon after I turned 31, having been a stay-home mom with two kids for six years or so, I became anxious that life was passing me by. I became afraid of waking up one day filled with regrets for having wasted my life. My conversations and reading materials seemed to begin and end with everything to do with children and nothing else. Continue Reading »
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December 11, 2018 by aawolsisters
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By Angela Ryo
My dad turned 80 last month. I never thought I’d see the day my dad would turn 80, but there I was, driving to Chicago from Detroit to celebrate his 80th birthday. He celebrated just the way he wanted: Eating take-out Chinese food from his favorite place, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, and talking to his 88-year-old brother in Korea over the phone. Continue Reading »
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December 4, 2018 by aawolsisters
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By Sarah D. Park
In the bathroom of my parents’ home, there is a poem scotch-taped to the wall. Should you sit down on the toilet, you can easily read it from there. I cannot remember when this poem first appeared — at least since the time I was in fifth grade — and it did not come with any explanation or fanfare when it simply appeared one day. And I’d like to share it with you. Continue Reading »
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