HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINYI!

thank you for always being there for me

for being a true friend who can tell me anything.....

 even if it's something i don't want to hear

hope you have a wonderful day!

i didn't realized how long it's been since i've updated my xanga page.  i don't even know if people will still read it!=)

it's been a crazy past 2 months, but God has remained faithful.  My mom was actually hospitalized for 10 days over Christmas and New Years.  It turned out to be her gallbladder which she had removed.  She's doing great now, no more pain and back at work, still eating what she wants.  Also, kimmy and i finally moved into an apartment closer to princeton, which has been great=)  (christina....can't wait until you join us in May!=)

now that everyone's updated=).......i've actually been mulling over this past sunday sermon by pastor dave on being stewards of time and thought i'd let you all think about it too.

there are 168 hours/week (or 10,080 minutes/week).  minus the time it takes each week to eat, to commute, for personal hygiene, to sleep, to watch TV.  how much time is actually invested in and devoted to the things that really matter - our relationship with God and with other people? 

we don't need MORE time, we just need to be better stewards of time.

i'll leave you with this quote....

 "All we have to do is to decide what to do with the time given to us" 

it's so easy to get caught up in the holiday season,  especially since i work in retail. i'm surrounded by people who are always in a rush and are worried about "not being ready in time".  they have to buy the tree, buy presents, put up decorations, get ready for parties......

then there's the customer who was asked....are you ready for christmas?....and he replied......it's just another day....

i think because of our surroundings and people's view of what the christmas holiday is, it's SO easy to overlook and forget the whole reason why we are celebrating christmas. 

this is the day that we have put aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior!!

here's a short story to remind everyone why we are celebrating this day (with a little help from my mom's kindergarten class=)

                           THE FIRST CHRISTMAS

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ³And everyone went to his own town to register. ⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

 ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn

 ⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

 ¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
 ¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest,
      and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

 ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

 ¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.  (Luke 2:1-20)

 ¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

 ³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ^[c] was to be born. ⁵"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
 ⁶" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
      are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
   for out of you will come a ruler
      who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.

 ⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

 ⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east^[e] went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

paul and i both took the day off yesterday so we could hang out together.  we had planned to meet some church people in the city for dinner (SORRY GUYS!=(...we will definitely reschedule!)

we were in new brunwick looking for a parking spot, so we could catch the train to NYC.  paul was driving my car and he made a right turn onto George street.  there was a lady who stopped her car a little before the atm machine and had turned her hazzard lights on.  (if you didn't go to Rutgers, this is the worst place to stop.  it's a 2 lane street, one lane for each direction and it's always congested)  we stopped, then we started to pass her on the left since she had her hazzards on.  right when we were next to her, she opened the front door to get out without looking and since we were driving forward, the edge of the door went right into my right headlight and front bumper.

we filed a police report and he determined that it was her fault for 2 reasons, that she should not have stopped there and also that if she had to stop, she should've physically turned her head before opening the door.

i was really upset.  i've had my tsx for a year and there's not a single scratch or even ding on it at all.  i was thinking.......this is MY first big purchase, this is MY car that i bought with MY money.

paul and i decided to get some dinner and while he was driving me home, i realized how much i was valuing my material possessions.  who am i to think that this car was mine and that i worked hard to earn the money to pay for it?  why was i getting so upset over a car? a thing?

God definitely humbled me and i realized that i was conforming to our world's desire of material wealth.  i should've been happy that no one was hurt.  that it was just a broken headlight and a few dents and scratches that can be fixed....that she didn't get out of the car and we hit her instead......that her 1 year old daughter in the backseat was not hurt.  i'm very thankful that God took care of us (despite how minor the accident was) and of the lesson that He was reminding me.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.....For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"  Matthew 6:19, 21

i know i'm 2 days late and that everyone already posted about saturday, but i don't care!!

YAY praise church football team!! we finally have the trophy back=) (now all we need is the guy's softball trophy and pastor's dave collection will be complete=)

it was definitely an AWESOME time....especially since God blessed us with such beautiful weather=)

it was awesome to see our WHOLE church come out to have fun together........

from max, justin, and matthew playing with rocks.....

to jess, who's baby was due that day...but she still came out!

to tom, paul and charles (who had MORE fun on the sidelines than me, cynthia and amy=)

to john, john and wanyi (who videotaped and took pictures from the sidelines)

to our AWESOME, defense, who no one could get past=)

to our AWESOME offense =)

to our dedicated coaches=)......

what a great time=) (although, i am SO sore=)....but it was worth it=)