Who is in control?

Everyone likes to be in control, there is no denying of that. Everyone wants to control their own life, make their own decisions, sometimes we even try to affect other people's decisions to be the way we want it to be. I realized recently that we can try our hardest to take control, we can do everything in our power to try to affect an outcome, but the end result is not in our control at all. A simple example is planting a seed in the ground. We plant the seed in the soil, we water it, we add fertilizer, we give it sunshine, we do everything we can to make it grow. But whether it actually grows or not is not in our control at all.

And what is the result of this desperate need to be in control? Frustration and stress. When things don't go our way, we are frustrated with ourselves, with others, and with God. Sometimes we begin to question our abilities and our own value. Then we become stressed trying to do better, trying to change the outcome, and and trying to change ourselves.

The solution to this is very simple, we need to realize that God is in control of all things. We need to kneel down before Him and pray because really, a lot of times, there is nothing we can do but pray. Even Jesus prayed when He was in distress:

"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, he said to them, stay here and keep watch. Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed..." Mark 14:34-35

We need to follow Jesus's example. When our heart is burdened, let us come before God and pray to Him. God cares about us so much that He wants to bear our anxieties for us.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

A lot of times it takes a lot of faith to relinquish that control and to trust in God. But we can count on Him to keep His promises. After all He has never once broke a promise He made. God reminded us in Jeremiah that He has plans for us, and it is so comforting to know that  the plans are all for our benefit. These plans are made by us, but they are in God's control.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

So what do we have to do? All we have to do is let God be the driver in your life, let Him take the wheel. 

 
So relax, and let God take control.

Sushi Garden

Address: 4269 Lougheed Highway
 
Sushi Garden is probably one of my favorite sushi places in Burnaby. So when it's time to meet up with a bunch of ex-coworkers for lunch, I suggested this place. This restaurant is on Lougheed Highway right beside Staples. There is very limited parking in the front, but tons of parking in the back of the building.

Like the Sushi Garden on Kingsway, this one is also very very busy. You definitely have to wait a bit to get a table, but because it's bigger than the one on Kingsway, the turnover rate is quite fast.

Since there were 6 of us, we decided to order a bunch of things to share. First we started with salmon sashimi, and there were 8 big pieces of nice fresh salmon.

Then we had the Agedashi Tofu, which was pretty good, but I found the sauce to be a bit weaker than the ones I'm accustomed to.

Then we had Alaska Roll and Scallop Roll. The Alaska roll was delicious, but it was very runny, it didn't look very appetizing. The scallop roll was very good, the presentation was different from other restaurant though.

Finally we had Yam Tempura Roll, Dynamite Roll, and Spider Roll. The yam roll was okay, a bit bland for my taste. The Dynamite roll was good, two pieces of shrimp instead of one. The spider roll was good. My biggest complaint is the size of these rolls. It's like impossible to stuff the whole thing in your mouth. But if you don't, it defeat the purpose of eating sushi... Anyways, it took a lot of effort to get these things into my mouth.

Anyways, I had a great time with the girls. This place is still the top of my list in Burnaby.

#1 Beef Noodle House

Address: 4741 Willingdon Avenue

This place is definitely NOT #1 in my book. I only picked this place because it was nearby, and it opens until midnight on a Mon night. I really don't like the food or the drinks here. I actually really don't recommend eating here because according to Fraser Health Food Safety, this place isn't very sanitary -_-' But I figured I'm there for a hot drink, so it should be okay right? Anyways, the drink of the night was almond milk tea with pearls. The pearls were disgusting, not chewy at all, more slimy than anything else. The drink was overly sweet with undissolved powder. I think I'm really gonna have to look for another late night bubble tea place near by.  

Struck down, but not destroyed!

My friend said to me the other day that even though she is going through the hardest time of her life right now, she never felt closer to God. That's exactly how I feel. Recently, I've been feeling so worn down by the emotions, by the frustrations, by the accusations, yet I feel God's presence with me so strongly at the same time.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians:

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

This is exactly what we all go through. We all go through circumstances in life where we are weighed down by the stresses and frustrations we experience. Sometimes we fall under the weight and we just can't seem to get up. But Paul reminds us that we may be struck down, but we are not destroyed. That with God's help, we can find the strength to get up.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm 45:1

God is extending His hand waiting to pull us up, all we need to do is to grab on... Let us have the trust to grab on and never let go.

I saw this inspirational video recently and I want to share it with you guys. It's about an Australian guy name Nick Vijucic. He was born without limbs and he often questioned his purpose in life. Then through God he found both a purpose and the strength to go on. This video is an excerpt from a motivational talk he did. In the video, he spoke of the strength to get back up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY

Life without limbs to life without limits!

Listen!

PW and I have started weekly bible study together and we had our first session this week. We are studying together because we both want to grow in the Word of God, but we don't have enough self discipline to keep ourselves on track. So we decided to study together at the same pace and meet up weekly so we can hold each other accountable. Right now, we are studying the book of Mark together.

When I was reading Chapter 4 of Mark, I had a big question mark. I kept thinking and wondering why Jesus taught in parables. Parables are nice because they demonstrate with such fitting and powerful pictures, but they are also harder to understand. Wouldn't it be much easier for people to understand His teaching if His messages were more direct? Wouldn't more people understand and trust Him if His messages were easier to understand? Also, in Chapter 4 it is said:

"And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see, but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." Mark 4:10-12.

I kept meditating on this because I could not understand why Jesus would not want people to understand, or worse, He would not want them to turn and be forgiven. Then when I re-read chapter 4, God reminded me the importance of seeking and listening. When Jesus used parables to teach, He taught the apostles and the rest of the crowd the same thing. However, the difference is that the Twelve and the people who had the heart to seek approached Him to ask Him to explain it to them. You see, it's not that Jesus didn't want to explain it, it's that He only explained it to people who wanted to know and sought to know. Throughout chapter 4, Jesus repeatedly used the word "listen". He also said repeatedly

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear".  Mark 4:9

It finally occurred to me that Jesus wants to tell us and teach us so much, but it is up to us to listen. If we don't have the heart to listen, then no matter what He says, it is just going to fall onto deaf ears. How many of us had the experience of telling someone something, and it's like it's in through one ear and out through the other? That's how God's word is to us sometimes, He wants to share so much with us, we just have to seek with our heart and listen. Jesus said "the secret of kingdom of God has been given to you", now who are you going to be? The apostles that sought to listen or the crowd that pretended to listen?

Dirty Cupcakes

Yesterday I made these to bring to my fellowship. These are chocolate cupcakes covered with chocolate butter cream, then decorated with oreo crumbs as dirt and candle worms. I had a blast making these and they were very well received.

The recipe I used can be found:
http://bakingbites.com/2010/10/dirt-cupcakes/#more-7251

I made quite a few changes to the recipe, so it's actually quite different from the recipe. But I would definitely recommend following the recipe for the first time and make any changes in the subsequent times.

Happy baking!

Zipang Sushi

Address: 3710 Main St.
Website: http://www.zipangsushi.com/

My friend and I were both craving sushi, so we were looking for a Japanese restaurant for our lunch date. Since Zipang sushi has such amazing reviews from Urbanspoon. This restaurant is a very small restaurant with a few tables. It's not the typical Japanese restaurant where you walk in and the whole crew shout "Irasshaimase". It's actually the opposite, quite calm and zen. They have no parking, so you have to either park on the Main St or on the side streets. It wasn't too bad looking for parking for us, but I can't imagine how it would be like on a busy day.

As we scan the menu, we decided to share a few of their specialty rolls and an appetizer. So for appetizer, we had the edamame. Then we ordered the Zipang special, which is a roll of scallop, salmon, soy seats, and radish sprout. We had no idea what soy seats are, but we order it anyways because it's named after the restaurant, so it must be good right? When the rolls arrived, we figured out that soy seats are apparently those yellow sheets that wrapped around sushi. Anyways, we quite liked the taste of it. We also ordered the Caterpillar Roll, which is avocado, eel, and cucumber. This roll was okay, but the eel taste was barely detectable. Finally, we shared the Philadelphia Roll, which is salmon with cream cheese. This was actually surprisingly good, I didn't think salmon and cream cheese in rice would work so well, I quite like it. 

A mother's whisper

Recently, a family friend approached me to chit chat. As we talked, she confided in me that she is going through some rough time. Her son recently broke up with his girlfriend and he is taking it quite hard. He became quite depressed and withdrawn, and he has lost confidence in his own ability. It's been hard for the mother to watch her son going through these emotions, especially the feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. She said to me, I wish he could understand how much he means to me, no matter what anyone in this world said or thought, he will always be worthy to me. I wish I could take away his pain, I wish I could show him that things will get better. As I listened to her and watched the tears streaming down her face, I could feel the raw pain she felt and I could feel the love she had for her son. I wish I knew what to say or how to comfort her, all I could do was cry with her and remind her that God has the power to heal. God knows both their pain and He will be their stronghold and comfort.

We all go through life feeling worthless sometimes because of circumstances or because of people.Whether it is because we failed in our schooling, or because we can't find a job, or we just broke up with someone we cared about, we question our own value. Especially when we go through difficulties in life, we often wonder if we are good enough. God made it very clear in the bible what He thought of us. Quoting the most powerful verse of the bible:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

The almighty God, the creator of all things, is willing to ransom His own life for you, doesn't that tell you how much you are worth? Even when we lose sight of who we are and what we are capable of, God knows. God is constantly thinking about each one of us and His thoughts for us is greater than the sands of the sea. 

"How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you." Psalm 139:17-18

Not only does He thinks we are worthy, He also reminds us what we are capable of. Paul said to Philippians church,

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Now let us say that! We can do all things through him who strengthens us! Note it doesn't say we can do all things ourselves, it says we can do all things through Him! So it doesn't matter what people of the world tell you, we must realize that with God, we are capable of anything!

If God thinks you are worthy of His sacrifice, and He reminds you of your capability through Him, how can you otherwise?

After talking to the family friend, this song was playing on the radio as I was driving home. It's amazing how well it fits with what I wanted to share. Let us all be strong in the Lord, and never give up hope!

Sidewalk Prophets - The Words I Would Say

Tough days...

As I go through my trials, some days are harder than others. Some days it just feels like I'm going in circles, I just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some days it just feels like the pain is more than what I can bear. Then I cry out to the Lord, and He reminds me of His power to heal.

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" Psalm 147:3

 Then when I'm on the verge of giving up, I have to remind myself of God's promises. For He said:

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 

I just have to trust that things will get better and the suffering will go away. I have to trust that God is healing my heart. Right now, it is not me holding onto God, it is Him holding onto me.

I'm just waiting for the morning to come, for the darkness to fade...

Tenth Avenue North - Hold My Heart

Soup kitchen

Yesterday was my first day volunteering at the soup kitchen in downtown. So I thought I give a little update on how that went. The soup kitchen took place in a Baptist church in downtown. It is probably the oldest, most run-down church I've ever been to. When you walk in, it's actually bit shocking how run down it is, but at the same time, it is probably one of the warmest place I've ever been to. Every Tuesday, the church opens its doors and operate the soup kitchen, cooking and serving food to the poor and the needy. Each night they serve food to 120-150 people. Then at night, its doors are open for people to sleep in a safe and warm environment. The most amazing thing is, the church has been doing this for 12 years! I truly understand today that the value of the church really isn't defined by it's appearance, but by what it's doing for the kingdom of God.

As for the volunteers, it was quite diverse. There were Canadians and international students, Christians and non-Christians, and people of all age and backgrounds. The only common thing between the volunteers is that everyone is there to serve. The evening started with everyone pitching in to prepare the food and to set up the dining area. After everything is set up, everyone gathers into this viewing area where the pastor puts on a video and gives a little message. The message last night was on happiness.

The video shown was of a Harvard professor presenting his findings on his research about happiness. In his research, he compared the level of happiness people experienced from the onset of the event to three months after. The two groups of people he interviewed were people who won the multi-million dollar lottery and people who became paraplegic. Of course in the beginning, the level of happiness the two groups experienced were the opposite extremes of the pole. The interesting thing was that the level of happiness the two groups experienced were almost exactly the same at three months. The pastor then used this example to remind us that happiness placed on material things is not everlasting. A lot of people say, I know I'll be happy when I'm rich, or I will be happy when I'm married. What happened when we obtain these things? What's next? We will always want more because we are dissatisfied with what we have. The pastor reminded us that true happiness is from God. We can obtain happiness from Him because it arises from His love for us.

Finally, I want to leave a little note about the people we served at the soup kitchen. These were homeless people of all ages and you can tell from their appearances that they've been through a lot. A lot of them were quite sick, HIV, cellulitis, liver cirrhosis, various amputations, you name them. Seeing them, it just really made me thankful for what I have... All in all, this was a great experience and I praise the Lord that I take part in serving the community in this way.

Carrot Cupcakes

I finally had some extra time at home yesterday to do some baking, so I made a batch of  carrot cupcakes. For those of you interested, here is the link for the recipe. 

http://thevillagecook.com/carrot-cupcakes/

I didn't have any cream cheese to make the frosting, so my cupcakes were a little naked. I quite liked the appearance and the taste of these cupcakes. They were moist and not overly sweet. Plus, they were made from carrots, so that made them cardiac healthy :P The only changes I made to the recipe was I added about 4 tbsp of milk to the batter as I found the batter a little too dry.

  

 Bon appetit!

Estea in Burnaby

Address: 6401 Kingsway

Estea is probably one of the worst Taiwanese restaurant I've been to in Burnaby. The restaurant was super empty when we walked in, which is probably a good indicator of their quality of food. I've been never to a Chinese restaurant that won't serve tea to their customers, and when you ask, their reply is "you have to pay for tea here"! Anyways, they finally brought us 3 cups of water, and when I finished half of the glass, I realized that there was a piece of napkin floating in my water! -_-'

As for the food, I had the braised beef omelet rice and it was mediocre. I thought an omelet rice thing is suppose to be like a omelet wrap, but as you can see from the picture, that's not the case. It's really just an egg over rice with braised beef on the side.

One friend had the salted fried chicken special thing and I had to take a pic of it. As you can see from the picture, there actually isn't that much chicken, the few pieces are placed on a bed of cabbage, so it looks like a lot, but it really isn't.

Okay, even though I knew I was going to be disappointed, I ordered the tofu pudding with taro and pearls. It was probably one of the worst tofu pudding I've had. The taro pieces were hard and difficult to chew on...



Finally, the restaurant stunk, literally. The minute you walk in, you are overwhelmed with the smell of something rotten. All the seats in the restaurant are covered with dirty white cloth and the seats kind of smelled. Not impressed with this place at all. I will definitely not return to this.

Abide in God

I was reading Our Daily Bread today and the message really spoke to me. In the message, the author Jennifer Benson Schuldt described of an instance where she bought a red balloon in a store, and while she was loading the car, the balloon flew away. As she watched the balloon fly away, she described how it became a red dot in the distance, then just a memory. Then the author compared this to the way love sometimes vanishes from lives. This love she described could be children, spouse, friends, or parents, regardless who it is, they could all disappear from our life. She ended the message reminding us that only God's love is steady.

This message was interesting for me because it's something I've been thinking about. It is true that people change, life change, circumstances change, but only God is a never changing God.

"For I the Lord do not change;" Malachi 3: 6

It's just so comforting for me to know that although everything around me could change or is changing, God will always be the constant that will never change, and I can centre myself on Him. Only God's love is steadfast. Jesus said

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." John 15:9

Only when we abide in Him, we can find peace and comfort. As for the people in our life, I believe that God put each person in our life for a reason. Whether they are just passing by or here to stay, they leave their footprints behind. With these footprints left, we become who we are today. 

Gratitude

I've been thinking recently for some practical ways to praise God through the storm. While reading through Psalm, God reminded me that the best way is to count my blessings. King David praised to God in this way:

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. Psalm 9:1

As I reflect on this, I realized that although I'm going through some tough times right now, there are still so much in life that I need to give thanks for. I'm thankful for my friends; they are there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on. I'm thankful for my mentors, they provided me with so many words of wisdom and prayers. I'm thankful for my family; they have been so supportive. I'm thankful for my job and the wonderful people I work with. Most of all, I'm thankful that I have God in my life, the God who will never forsake me. Although things are looking gloomy right now, but I know God is in control and He will carry me through. This is a promise we can count on!

Sometimes I think about how God feels when He sees us cry. Even for us, when we see people we care about in pain, we wish we could bear that pain for them. How much more of this must He feel when He loves us with such unfailing love? One of my favorite verse in the bible is:

"You have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?" Psalm 56:8

Isn't this amazing? Not only does God know all our suffering and sees all our tears, He actually collects our tears. We only collect things when they are precious to us, so our tears are so precious to God that He put them in a bottle.

Finally, I want to end this with a story everyone knows. It is a simple story, but it is a powerful and comforting reminder that God carries us during our trials. The song at the end is based on this story and it is sang by Leona Lewis. 

FOOTPRINTS
One night a man had a dream that he was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonging to him, the other belonging to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints, and that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life...
This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it. "LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied, "My precious, precious child. I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

Leona Lewis - Footprints in the sand

Pearl House Restaurant

Address: 7152 Sperling Ave, Burnaby

We went here for dessert after a big dinner at Balkan House. Pearl House is probably one of my favorite Taiwanese restaurant in Burnaby. I think it has the best Taiwanese tofu pudding and shaved ice. My friend has never tried Taiwanese style tofu pudding before, so I brought her here to try it. Taiwanese style is different from the HK style ones in that it doesn't have the gingery taste. You also have the option of having it hot or cold. Anyways, the one I had was cold tofu with Taro balls. In case you are wondering what taro balls are, it's basicly rice balls with a hint of Taro taste. I love it.

My friend has the hot tofu with taro paste. The taro paste was done very well. Although it looked pretty disgusting in the picture, but it's actually pretty good.

Balkan House

Address: 7530 Edmonds St.
Website: http://www.balkanhouse.info/

A friend and I decided to try something different from the typical dining out scene in Vancouver, so we picked this place for some traditional Eastern European food. The restaurant is situated at the corner of Edmonds St and Canada Way, so it is a bit isolated. It has a nice large parking lot right in the back. The restaurant was quite empty when we entered, and it remained that way the rest of the night. Maybe it's because we went on a Thursday night, but there were total 10 people max in the restaurant the entire evening. Not that I'm complaining, I quite enjoyed the quiet evening and the awesome service. 


We started the meal with veal and vegetable soup. It was very flavorful, but a little too salty for my taste.

 

Then we had the roasted pepper salad. Now I am not a big fan of pepper, actually, it's one of those veggies that I leave behind on my plate after a meal. But this pepper was different, it was marinaded in some type of sweet and sour sauce, and grilled to perfection.

  
The finally, we shared the all famous Balkan meat platter. It consisted of 6 assorted house special meat: meat patties, sausage, bacon, shish kebab, smoked pork neck & cevapcici. Although I wasn't 100% sure what I was eating, I quite enjoyed them all. 

Although the food was delicious and the ambiance was great, the best part was definitely the company.
Thanks for the great night Banana!

Praise Him through the storm

Someone once reminded me that it is when we go through trials and tribulations that we need to give thanks and praise God more. It is very easy to praise God when things are going fine and dandy, but it is much harder to do when we feel like our life is spiraling out of control. This is still something I'm trying to learn.

God has given us many examples of how to praise Him through difficulties in life. For example, King David  has gone through so many tribulations in his life; he had to hide in the forest from King Saul, he had to cope with the death of his son Amnon, he had to run for his life from his son Absalom...yet, if you look at the book of Psalm, King David wrote so many songs praising God, especially during the time of trials.

"Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
My Savior and my God" Psalm 42:5

I often wonder how King David was able to do it, how he was able praise God with such fervent heart. As I read through Psalm, I think the answer became pretty clear. David was able to do it because He trusted God with all his heart and he knew God will keep him safe. Especially in times of trouble, God will protect him, as well as us, under His wings.

"He [God] will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shied and rampart." Psalm 91:4

King David was also able to do it because he knew where to find hope, comfort, and joy. He knew he can find help in our mighty God.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

It is no wonder that God calls David a man after God's heart. It is time for us to learn from David's example, so we can also become someone that's after God's heart. Let us lift our hands and praise Him through the storm!

Here is another song I've been listening to recently that really helped me. Hope it helps you as well. It speaks so clearly of this message.

Casting Crowns - Praise you in this Storm


On a side note, God showed me this when I walked out of the washroom the other day, it was at a time when I was really down. Thought I share this with you. : )

Dark before the morning.

This song is for those out there that are going to tribulations right now. This song helped me a lot through my previous difficulties in life, and it is still helping me in my current trials. Every time I think about giving up, this song reminds me to hold on, it reminds me that the pain will go away and the glorious joy is coming. Right now, it is just the dark before the morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZDQzR8LK-c

Love is...

How do you know if you are in love with someone? I used to ask my friends this question all the time. One of my friends said "you know when you are willing to die for the person", another said "when you feel utterly comfortable with the person", the most common answer I got was "you just know". I don't think there is a real answer to the question, I think all of us experience it differently, but I want to take this opportunity to share with you what I think love is.

Recently, I've learned that love is composed of three things: self sacrifice, forgiveness, and acceptance. 

I think when you love someone, you are willing to sacrifice for him/her. The person become so important to you that you start to place his/her happiness before your own. You become willing to compromise because you just want that person to be happy. It could be simple things like doing things you don't want to do or eat things you don't want to eat. Or it could be more complicated like supporting them in the decisions they've made that could hurt you. The most important thing is that you are doing all this not because you have to, but because you truly want to.

When I think more deeply about this, I realized that's exactly the love God has for us. If we humans, can have a sacrificing love for each other like this, how much more must our God love us. Here is Jesus, who could have anything in the world, who is in control of all things, He willingly came into the world to die for us. He did this not because He has to, but because He regarded us more than His own life and suffering. This is one of my favorite verse, and it sums it up pretty well.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

You also know when you are in love with someone when you can forgive them for hurting you. We all hurt each other intentionally and unintentionally, especially those we are close to. Sometimes we cause each other harm with our actions, other times it is with our words. Forgiveness does not come easy, but it is God's command.

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossian 3:13

I think when you truly love someone, it is easy to forgive them for the pain they've caused you. Again, you do it because you want to, not because you have to. This forgiveness is not a superficial forgiveness where you just say it verbally, but you've truly forgiven them in your heart. Some people say "I forgive, but I don't forget". I don't know if it is true forgiveness in this case because how can you say you've forgiven them when you can't stopping thinking about how they have hurt you.

Jesus demonstrated true forgiveness for us in so many ways. The most obviously way is that when He was being crucified on the cross, Jesus said :

 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."Luke 23:34

When I was a young believer, I used to wonder all the time why Jesus was able to pray for the people that were crucifying Him. Why doesn't He hate them or curse them instead? Then I understood, it is because His love for the people is far greater than anything else.

Finally, I think love is about accepting the person as a whole, faults and all. It is easy to love someone because of their good qualities, but it is harder to love them when you see so clearly of their faults. No one is perfect, except God. I think when you love someone, you love them despite of their short comings. Their short comings are no longer what you focus on, instead, it becomes more like background noises that you notice occasionally.

This is how God's love for us is like. God loves us despite of our faults. No one knows us better than God, David wrote in Psalms:

 "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar". Psalm 139:2

God knows even the things we are ashamed of that we try to hide from the rest of the world. Even though He knows everything about us, He still loves us nonetheless.

True confections

Website: http://www.trueconfections.ca/
Address: 866 Denman St.

After dinner, we went to True Confection for dessert. True Confection is one of those places that no matter when you go, it's busy. It was amazing they were able to accommodate all 15 of us! Anyways, the minute you walk into the restaurant, you are staring at a large display fridge with all the delicious looking cakes.

There were so many options! Since they are most well known for their cheesecake, I had to order one of those. After a lot of pondering, I settled for the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake with blueberry sauce. The cake was delicious, but I have to say though, you can't taste the white chocolate or the raspberry at all. The slice was pretty big so I couldn't finish it after my dinner at La Terrazza.

My friend had the marbled cheesecake, she said it was delicious, but a little too sweet.

Another friend had the almond pear tart, that was pretty good, but I didn't like the crust very much.

That's all the pics I was able to take before everyone dived into their cakes :P

All in all, I quite enjoyed the cakes.

La Terrazza

Website: http://www.laterrazza.ca/
Address: 1088 Cambie Street

La Terrazza is a nice large Italian restaurant situated in Yaletown.

It had a very nice interior with lots of seating. I don't know if it's because it's a Sunday, but it was quite empty when we arrived at 5:30pm. There were 15 of us, so we were seated at the corner of the restaurant.

Their menu is not very comprehensive, but it had all the typical pastas and terras. Their specialties apparently are the steak and the roasted lamb. I ordered the Vitello Piccata, which was this tender veal medallions served with mushroom gnocchi and chestnuts. It was delicious! The veal was very tender and the gnocchi was perfect.

My friend sitting next to me had the veal cheek pasta. It was very nicely presented and it was so delicious! It kind of tasted like dried version of Taiwanese beef noodle. 

All in all, I was pretty impressed with the restaurant and I would definitely return again.

On a personal note, two of my good friends got engaged last night! Congrats to the happy couple! I'm so happy to be part of your special night!