Posted in reflections on February 13, 2018| 1 Comment »
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By Sarah D. Park
I’ve never been good at saying no to people. One drastic way of going about it is to physically remove yourself away from the people who would ask you to do things.
So I moved to Berkeley, California.
For most of my life, I had chosen to make community the driving and deciding factor behind my decisions. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged busyness, raising a family, rest on February 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »
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By Maria Liu Wong
January was a pretty tough month. It began with a fairly calm, retrospective New Year’s Day with my family. After a festive brunch, we took out last year’s personal and family goals written on strips of paper and kept in a glass jar on the dining room cupboard, a reminder of new beginnings and possibilities. We took turns reading our 2017 goals and considering what was ahead for 2018. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged spiritual discipline on January 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »
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By Wendy Choy-Chan
When we think of discipline, an image often comes up of an athlete training day after day for a sport. What we put in is what we get — the more time, the more workout, and the more practice, the better the results and the stronger the athlete. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged raising a family, vocational discernment, women in ministry on January 23, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Martin Garrido
By Tina Teng-Henson
For years, my wise younger sister would hear my husband and I plan our trips back East to see beloved family and friends, raise her eyebrows at the ambitious itineraries we’d set, and listen empathetically when a few weeks later, we’d be back to the relational rigor of our lives, no more refreshed than before. Over time, she would ever so gently extol the benefits and attributes of what she would call “a real vacation,” which involved a getaway to some new place, with fresh tastes and unique experiences to be enjoyed, interspersed with downtime and rest — to actually return home refreshed and restored. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged self-awareness on January 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Hey Paul Studios
By Liz Chang
I pay most attention to my breath when it is thrown off its normal pace. I become aware of my breath when I pant to push myself a bit further at the gym, when I hold it as I walk quickly through a smelly sidewalk in the city, when it becomes shallow in an anxiety-provoking moment, and when I take in a deep breath to sigh or yawn. Breathing brings me into the present moment and is a mirror for understanding my mood and mindset. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged God-language, Holy Spirit on January 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Photo by CLAUDIA DEA
By Debbin Gin
They say that you can tell a lot about a community by the number of different words the community has for something: the greater the variety, the greater the importance of that something. For example, where residents of warmer climates use only “snow” or “ice” to describe frozen water, the Inuit people and other native Alaskans choose from a couple dozen words, depending on the particular nuance needed for the context. Koreans have at least three words to refer to the English “hot” (dhupdah — weather-hot, mepdah — spicy-hot, and ddughupdah — hot-to-touch in English) and at least a half dozen different words just to state something is “spicy hot.” (more…)
Posted in reflections on December 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Kira Westland
By Dorcas Cheng-Tozun
Whenever I smell the scent of antiseptic, the sharp, cloying odor meant to clean and conceal, I think of my father. The three months he was in and out of the hospital. That last day, as I stroked his forehead and wept, never expecting to say good-bye to him just weeks before my fifteenth birthday.
I wondered where God was that day. I wondered why he hadn’t given us the miracle healing we asked for. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged contentment, joy, stress on December 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Giuseppe Milo
By Jerrica KF Ching
With the cold and wintry months upon us, I am sure that many of my AAWOL sisters and readers have taken precautionary measures to keep their bodies healthy and flu-free. We all know those signs of an incoming cold, right? Muscles become tired, heads become feverish, throats cough, noses sneeze, and then we are faced with the choice to keep on pushing through in hopes we will be magically cured overnight, or we stop and recharge and give our bodies the rest it needs. Our bodies give us signals of ailments to come, which allow us to plan (or not plan) accordingly to all our bodies to heal. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged Holy Spirit on December 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Taylor Johnson
By Melanie Mar Chow
After my second cup of coffee on a busy morning, almost 10 years ago to the day that I write this blog, I remember sensing that I was to call a friend who worked at another missions agency. As I wondered why should I, out of the blue call, him, I froze. Why? Could it be just to check in as he connects with my students? (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged Holy Week, worship on December 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Sharon Mollerus
By Ajung Sojwal
Who would have thought that leading a worship service involves so much of my physicality! The leap from Baptist parishioner to an Episcopal priest is nothing short of learning a new language when it comes to worship. I fell in love with the Anglican liturgy when I was in seminary. What intrigued me even more was how all my senses were called upon to be involved in worship. (more…)
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