Snowboarding through life

As some of you may know, lately I've been pretty down. I look around and I can't help but notice my failures and mistakes this year. I know I shouldn't focus on these, I shouldn't hang onto what was in the past, and I need to focus on what is entailed in the future, but it's easier said than done... Then few days ago I went to snowboarding with FW, and God taught me a lot about failing and about life through snowboarding.

The first thing I learned about snowboarding is that you should be prepared. It's best to wear waterproof clothing, gloves and helmet. I didn't want to wear the helmet in the beginning, but FW was very insistent that I put it on, so I wore it reluctantly. Now coming off the lift is probably one of the worst part for me when I'm snowboarding. My biggest fear is tripping and falling right in front of the lift. Now out of the 6 times we came off the lift, 5 times I managed to either snowboard away from the lift or fall outside of the list circle... but once I very ungracefully slipped right in front of the lift and the lift hit me right in the back of my head. Miraculously I was unhurt. Why? Because I had my helmet on. I think this is a great example of how we need to go through life in general. Often in life the unexpected happen. We can't prepare for the unexpected, but we can armor ourselves daily for these unexpected challenges of life. We need to prepare ourselves with biblical principles, we need to familiarize ourselves with the bible, and we need have people around us that can be our spiritual support. This way when obstacles occurs, we are can stand firm in our faith. The bible speaks of the importance of armoring ourselves very clearly.

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." Ephesians 6:11

Some people think that stopping or turning is the hardest part about snowboarding. For me, the hardest part is probably getting up after a fall. There is just something very unnatural about getting up with your feet strapped in front of you. There were times when I was so physically exhausted that I didn't know if I could get up again. This is the same in life. We all face different trials in life. We've all made mistakes and we've all had failures. We've all had the experience of feeling so burdened by our failure that we just want to give up. The hardest part after failing is getting up again and persevere through. The bible has many examples of failure. There is not one character in the bible that never made a mistake, well, except Jesus. Everyone else had failures because no one is perfect. Samuel Beckett once said: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” I think this rings some truth. It's impossible to never fail, but we need to learn from our mistakes and try try again.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..." Hebrews 12:1

The third thing I learned is that although snowboarding is a lot of fun, it is also painful. I've fallen and wiped out so many times in those few hours that I could barely move my body the next day. However, with each painful fall, I became a little bit better at snowboarding because I remembered my mistakes so distinctly and I tried hard not to make the same mistakes again in order to avoid the pain. There was one particular incident where I was going too fast on a curve so I digged into board hard, bad idea, I flipped into the air and landed on my back. The impact was so hard that I actually had a slight concussion and whiplashed my neck. It was painful, but I got up and continued on. But the next time when I came around the same curve, I made sure I slowed down and rounded the curve gently because I remembered the pain of the last fall. Mistakes we make in life is similar to this example in many ways. We've all made many mistakes in our life and the result of these mistakes is pain to others and to ourselves. It could be pain of losing someone, pain of hurting someone we care about, pain of hurting God... nonetheless, it is through the pain that we learn from our mistakes and we strive harder not to make the same mistake again. Sometimes we question why we have to go through the pain, but often it takes that painful experience for us to learn what we need to learn.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11

Finally, I learned about faith on the mountain. We started snowboarding after sunset because it was cheaper; it normally would have been fine because there were a lot of artificial lights. However, it was snowing really hard that day so the visibility was really poor. We basically couldn't see more than 10 feet ahead. All you can do is venturing forward and trust that everything will be alright. That's what faith is all about. A lot of time in life things happen unexpectedly and we just can't understand why things happen the way they did. Sometimes we really don't know what the future hold and we are scared of that uncertainty. It is when we can't see what's ahead that we really need to summon up our faith and trust in Him. Paul reminded us,

"For we live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

This may be hard to do sometimes, but if we look back in our life and see what He has already done for us, all the blessing and miracles, then we can stand up strong and have faith in His provision.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Spicy Court

Address: 5638 Cambie Street

My English small group wanted to go eat dim sum together and SH highly recommended this place. I've never heard of this place, so I was pretty excited to try the food. There were 10 of us and we ordered way too much food. The food came so fast that I didn't even have time to take pictures. So I just took a general picture of all the food on the table. It was a great place for dim sum. The service was good, the food was delicious, the area was clean, the price was good, what more can I ask for. Oh, and if you get the check before 11:30am, it's automatic 20% off!

I only took individual pictures of the desserts because they came and were polished off at a much slower pace. This mango pudding was awesome with big chunks of real mango.

This was lychee goji berry jelly. It was so beautifully presented, I had to take a picture. It tasted okay, a little bit bland though.

Look at these beautiful egg tarts! They were beautiful and delicious. Nice and flaky.

So this place has custard buns too, I wanted to order it, but I just couldn't eat anymore. Funny I find out about all these restaurant that serve custard buns after JM leaves, life is full of irony.

Campologo

Address: 1020 Main St

Website: http://www.campagnolorestaurant.ca/

RN, EN, and I went to Campologo for dinner after our visit to PICA. RN has been dying to try this place, so we gladly accompanied her. Campologo is a nice Italian restaurant that's kind of hard to find. The decorations are very interesting, it has a stone wall and wood tables. I think it's going for that historical yet modern look.

We started with the house bread, which was super interesting because it's not a typical bread, it was pretzel like sticks with cheese. It was absolutely delicious. Nice and crunchy with a subtle cheesy taste.

Then for appetizer, we shared the seared octopus. The menu described this as "nugget potatoes, olives, lardo, frisee lettuce". I don't know about the lardo or the lettuce, but the octopus was very well done and potato was delish.   

I ordered the Carbonara Pizza, which is smoked provolone, bacon, cremini mushrooms, onions, egg. It was so good. I've never had a pizza with an egg before, it was an interesting touch.  

RN ordered the Trust the Chef pizza. Leave it to her to trust the chef, and she was right, it was amazing. The pizza of the night was 3 different types of cheese with sundried tomatoes and basil. I couldn't exactly distinguish every type of cheese, but it was a great combo.

On a personal note, just want to wish EN all the best in Montreal. We are going to miss you a lot, Vancouver is not going to be the same without you!

Guilt...

Recently I've been overwhelmed with guilt regarding my recent mistakes and the pain I've caused. I wonder if the decisions I've made were the right decisions. If they were the right decisions, then why is everyone affected by the decisions unhappy? I feel like I had two path laid out in front of me, I picked one path with good intentions, I thought it was a path that would make everyone happy in the long run, but the truth is, right now, no one is happy. I can't help but wonder what I was suppose to do. I'm not regretting the decisions I've made, but I am confused and frustrated by the whole situation. And I am feeling burdened by the pain I've caused. I wish I could just bear all the pain, I just want the people I care about to be happy. It pains me so much watching people I love hurting. It's times like this I feel so helpless, the only thing I can do is kneel in front of God and pray. I pray for joy, for clarity, and for peace to be with the people I care about. I pray that God will lead them to still water and allow them to find peace in Him.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul..." Psalm 23:1-3

If I could turn back time, I wish I had taken more time praying and listening to God. I wonder if I took more time waiting for God, maybe things would have turned out differently, maybe less people would be hurting. When I made my decisions, I could only see two paths, I wonder if there is a secret path I could have taken, but because I didn't wait upon the Lord, I couldn't see the path. A lot of times I kneel down and I pray, but I don't have enough patience to listen to what He has to say. Or I've already made up my mind that I'm not even open to what He has to say. David talked about waiting for the Lord 18 times in Psalms, that's a lot of waiting. But because David waited, God guided him through all the up and downs, through all the sorrows and despair, through all the trials of life... Did David question why God allowed him to experience all these pain and frustration? Yes he did, but what did David say in the end? He said:

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning." Psalm 130:5-6

Pacific Institute of Culinary Art

RN has graciously invited EN and I to visit her at her school. I was really excited since I've never been to a culinary school before. RN gave us a wonderful tour of the school and we had a good look at the works

done by the students. Then we ate at the bakery which features the desserts created by the advance students. Since we were there around closing time, they only had a few things left. RN highly recommended the Pasawa thing, but my heart was attracted to the chocolate mousse cake thing. It was delicious. Next time though, we will try the Pasawa thing.

Goodbye 2010 and Hello 2011!

Only one week until the new year, I wanted to take this opportunity to write a little reflection on 2010. 2010 has been an eventful year, to say the least. I've made a few life altering decisions this year, I've reached a few milestones in life, I've experienced emotions I've never experienced before, and I've made quite a few mistakes that caused pain to people I care about. If you ask me, if I had a chance to do things differently, would I? I would say yes, there are definitely certain things I wish I did differently. But if you ask me if I have any regrets, I would say no. I think everything that happened happened for a reason. I think over time we can begin to see a fraction of why things happened the way they did. We've all made mistakes in our life, we've all said and done things we wish we could take back. Unfortunately, we can't take these back. So all we can do is learn from our mistakes and try to make amends. Then we need to look ahead. If we focus our energy on what's in the past, then we can never move forward. Paul said to the church of Philippians,

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14

Here Paul reminded us that we need to forget what was in the past, and push forward to what's ahead. There are still many more trials to be experienced, more mistakes to be made, more learning to be done. But there is a prize at the end of the path and we need to keep our eyes on that.

2010 has also been a year of tears. I've shed more tears in 2010 than in my life combined. I've used up countless packages of Kleenex, soaked many pillowcases...there were days where the tears would just stream down my face continuously like an open faucet. They were tears of sorrow, tears of joy, tears of repentance, tear of pain... King David once said that God knows all our upsets and He keep our tears in a bottle. I can't help but wonder how many bottles I've filled up this year.

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

Although 2010 has been a stormy year, but it is through the storms that I've grown stronger. It is through the storms that I learned to lean on God. I've experienced His presence with me so clearly through my up and downs this year; and I've learned that He alone can comfort my heart and in Him alone I can find peace. It is in 2010 that I've grown so much closer to the Lord and for that I am grateful.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29.

Finally, 2010 has been a year of thanksgiving. When I look around me, I am so thankful for the wonderful people God has surrounded me with, I am thankful a job that I am passionate about, I am thankful for my health, I am thankful for a God that loves me more than I could ever imagine...

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 38-39

What are you doing with your gifts?

For the last 7 weeks, I've been taking Discover Your Spiritual Gifts class at Willingdon church, last Sunday was the last class, so I thought I write a blog about what I've learned from the class. I've truly learned a lot in this class, not only do I have more clarity with what gifts I've been blessed with, but also understanding a bit more of what God calls us to do with our gifts. The first thing we have to understand that God is the giver of all spiritual gifts.

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone." 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

The next thing we have to understand is that all spiritual gifts are important. We all fall into the trap thinking that same gifts are more important than others. I know for me, I tend to think gifts such as leadership, wisdom, faith, evangelism are very important. Gifts such as administration, hospitality, helps are of less importance. But the truth is, without the less "showing" gifts such as administration and helps, leadership and wisdom can not stand. Although we all desire the gifts that are more ostentatious, but Paul reminded us that all gifts are important in the body of the church. Paul gave a great illustration of this in 1 Corinthians 12:12-20. He compared the church to a body, and he referred each member of the church as each body part. This is an interesting comparison because there are no body parts that's useless. Even the smallest organ in the body, the pineal gland, has a very important function. Although it's only the size of a grain of rice, it modulate our sleep and wake cycle. Even something as seemingly unimportant as the fifth toe, it is the most important toe for balance. In this sense, there is not one person with one gift that is not important in the body of Christ.

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." 1 Corinthians 12:12

Now, since each one of us have been blessed with gifts, what are we called to do with our gifts? Jesus made it very clear what He expect us to do with our gifts, He gave us a parable regarding this (Matthew 25:14-28). The parable was of a rich man leaving on a journey. Before he left, he entrusted his possessions to his three servants. When he returned, he asked his servants what they did with what they've been given. Two of the servants used the money and double it. The master was very happy with these servants. One of the servant hid the money in the ground and didn't gain anything out of it. The master was upset with the third servant and he took away what he had and threw him out. Similarly, God gave each one of us gifts and He expect us to use these gifts. We are called to be light of the world. Jesus reminds us that the light is useless if it's under a cover. Thus, we shouldn't be hiding our gifts, instead, we should utilize them for the work of God.  

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let you light shine before men, that they may see you good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:13-16

Let's not let our gifts go to waste, let us use what we've been given for the glory of God. Remember, each one of us is a crucial part of the body of Christ; if that fifth toe is so important for balance, so are we for the work of God. Now the question is, are you willing?

Nightshift Street Ministries

I heard of Nightshift Street Ministries a while ago from MC, and few nights ago, I finally had a chance to join her in this ministry. It was a great experience and I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a little bit about this ministry. Nightshift Street Ministries is is a front line ministry that serves the people on the street of Surrey. Multiple churches in Surrey come together and they take turns providing drinks, hot food, pastries, clothing, blankets, and etc to homeless people every night. It's similar to the soup kitchen I volunteer at in some ways, but different in other ways. 

What amazed me the most about this ministry is its effort in building relationship with the people they serve. The volunteers often know the clients by name and they have genuine conversation about how they are doing. There is a real sense of community forming and relationship building. The goal of the organization is not just to provide for the physical needs of the people, but to also to provide for the spiritual need and to build relationships. One of the volunteer said to me, "it's not the food that keeps them coming back, it's the friendship". This really got me thinking. In the past, I've always been focused on the physical need of people. It is true the physical need such as hunger is important, without filling it people can't focus on anything else. At the same time, after fulfilling that need, what's next? It's more clear to me now that the next step is to fill that emotional and relational void. In many ways, the emotional and relational need is more important than physical need. I mean how many of us going out for dinner with a friend because of the food? Are we there for the food or are we there because we want to spend time with the person with are eating with? I think the majority of us would agree the time spent with friend is far more important than the food we eat. I think this is the goal of the ministry, to provide for the physical need of people, but also to to form friendships and community.I am so thankful that I had an opportunity to take part in this ministry.

"...I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

Death by chocolate

Address: 1598 W Broadway

FW bought a bunch of groupons for death by chocolate few months ago, so a group of us went together to try their cakes. Now Death by Chocolate started out in Vancouver few years, they opened a bunch of locations all over Vancouver within a short period of time. Then the restaurant gradually closed one by one...now there is only one location left, and that's the one on Broadway.

The restaurant was super quiet when we got there, it was a bit eerie actually, being the only ones in such a big restaurant. The restaurant was nicely decorated, but it was also quite generic. The service wasn't great, the girl behind the counter was a bit cold. There were many options in the display, I had the blueberry cheesecake. It was okay...it tasted like the frozen kind that you get from Costco...

I probably wouldn't go again, not that it's super horrible, but I just rather spend my money at somewhere that's more unique. 

Insadong

Address: 403 North Road #301
Website: http://www.insadong.ca/ 

AO and I finally met up after three years. We decided to stay around the Coquitlam area, so we met up for Korean food at Insadong. Insadong is probably my favorite Korean restaurant in Vancouver. It's located right by the Executive Hotel, and parking is very limited. Like every Korean restaurant, Insadong offers many side dishes, my favorite one always is the potato.

AO had the Bulgogi hotpot. It was so delicious, I probably would order this next time.

I had the beef dumpling soup with Korean rice cake. The soup was delicious, but I wasn't too impressed with the dumplings.

Then we shared the seafood pancake. It was delicious! I enjoyed every bite!

Overall, I highly highly recommend this restaurant.