“I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety.” -Psalm 4:8
When I become anxious or depressed, I feel as though I am in a fog, unable to navigate through the thick clouds that prevent me from seeing even two feet in front of me. It becomes hard for me to breathe: my heart races and my mind cannot focus. The only remedy for this seems to be sleep — at least, when I am unconscious, I am unaware of my anxiety and depression and am able to be free of heart palpitations. Of course, this is only a temporary solution. But what if it wasn’t?
To be is an identification. My being – My identity – I am ___. I am God’s child. I obey. I am a member of Christ’s body. I serve. I am a minister. I pastor. But what determines my being?
To be is also passive. I am ___. I am loved by God my Father. I am chosen to belong to God. I am called to participate in His plan. I am being ___, therefore I am ___, therefore I do.
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, Before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. For to all to whom I send you, you shall go.” Jer. 1:4-7
They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Is 40:31
I am formed, I am known, I am consecrated, I am appointed, I am sent. And so I run and am not weary, and I walk and am not faint.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Wendy became a Christian while attending Queen’s University in Canada. She graduated from Fuller Seminary in 2016 with an MA in Theology, and from Multnomah Biblical Seminary in 2023 with a DMin in Heart-based Spirituality and Christian Formation. Wendy lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters, and serves as a minister at Evangelical Chinese Church of Seattle.
After too many years of wondering if my husband John’s love for his parents might compel us to move to Louisville, Kentucky – which still might happen someday – there’s time to love the people we get to live next door to.
Three families all in a row have children who were born on July 14th! (Who knew Halloween was such a popular time for conception? ;D)
I love Ecclesiastes 3. We had it read at our wedding, 13 years ago. I still resonate deeply with its wise words. I find myself returning to it again and again these days, eager to let it form and shape me.
In the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, it says that God has made everything “suitable” for its time. The NIV says he has made everything “beautiful” in its time. I prefer the diction of the NRSVUE. Because not everything is beautiful. But so many things I realize, are, indeed, suitable. “This works. That’ll do. We’re getting life done, and it’s good enough. Check.” I love beauty, but sometimes there’s not time for tweaking every last detail. Suitable works for me.
When I first learned that resilience was the topic of reflection, I immediately thought of what it means to be resilient in turbulent times of grief, loss, and trauma. As a practicing mental health counselor, learning resiliency is a theme that impacts children, adolescents, and adults alike.
Sometimes when I speak with clients about learning resiliency, they mistaken this to mean “getting over” a hardship, when it is a much more complex aspect to learn and is not so black and white. Clients describe being told by others that “things will get better” and some are under the impression that this means they will become happy, or it means that the distressing thought will go away.
Now that summer and vacations are almost a memory, I thought to share about a simple but important role of vacationing: to help us recover when we face life’s challenges.
Traveling is often fraught with surprises. As drivers make sudden U-turns in front of us, it begs prayers in utter panic in the fear of meeting head-on. Being spared from an accident is quickly acknowledged and composure restored, directing our thanksgiving for God’s protection.
A few years ago, my husband and I received a calendar with inspirational sayings. I saved this one: “Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”
I thought of that saying when I received resilience as my topic for today. For although the quote doesn’t use the word, it’s really all about resilience. The quote starts with the ability to bear the hard thing —which lines up with dictionary definitions of endurance as “the ability to withstand hardship.” But the quote also goes beyond endurance to resilience — not only bearing the hard thing. but recovering from it and transforming it into something more, turning it “into glory.”
In his letter to the Romans, Paul says, “In hope we were saved.” Because I choose to see myself as a person of faith, optimism for me cannot be understood outside the notion of biblical hope. As such, hope is more than just an optimistic attitude in life. Hope is being able to see life and more importantly, my relationships with friends and loved ones through the lens of God’s goodness and promises. Biblical hope puts me in the center of the community and holds me accountable to hope not just for me and my future, but, also for another who might not be in a place to hope for herself/himself.
When I first started doing pre-marital counseling using the program, Prepare and Enrich, I thought it was interesting that one of the things they assessed couples on was “Idealistic Distortion.” Scoring high in this category (above 65%) indicated that the person was overly optimistic and idealistic about their relationship, seeing it through “rose-colored glasses.” This wasn’t a good thing! They had a better chance of success in their marriage if they scored lower on idealistic distortion. Of course, if they score TOO low, then they have a pretty hopeless view on their relationship and there’s probably no point in getting married at all! While optimism and idealism are important in any meaningful relationships and situations, they can be dangerous if not tempered with reality and anticipation of potential suffering in our lives.
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