Story of A Legless Bird

Final Chapter 

God answered my prayers and sent me a sweet angel this time.
He told me to trust him. 

But what should I do next? Every time I disobey His command,
I end up hurt and alone. 

When I listen to him and follow his orders I end up nowhere either.

Am I not good enough for Him? 

Did something went wrong somewhere? 

What did I not do right this time? 

How can I trust Him completely? 

All these question clouded my mind almost at every possible place on any inconvenient time 

(luckily except at work or gym) 

Therefore I notice I stayed back later in the office and even come in on weekends, 

push myself harder in gym almost to the point that my body is failing me.

I have heard people warning me to be careful (and why won't they tell me the reason?) *frustrated 

I have seen things happened before my own eyes, but it did not effect my heart 

(have I turned into a cold hearted person?) *hopeless

I know the fact I can't please everyone and important people in my life is starting to get upset/ losing hope.

Yet He wants me to stay, be patient and faithful with no further instruction for a very long time ... silence 

(hello the clock is ticking here) 

Frankly speaking I am not a very patient person, if it were up to me I would have ignore Him and left. 

But I had enough of flying away, I have to accept the fact that He controls my life, I can fly but I can't hide. 

Over past few years I can truly see myself spending my entire life in the air ... 

hence the nickname Legless Bird. 

Well of course, there are no such birds but do you know that some really spend their life up in the sky and even, sometimes, will sleep while flying! Amazing ... flight mode invention.

Now no matter how hard I flap my wings, I notice I will always return to the same tree/ situation. 

(this wonderful dream / fairy tale is starting to turn into a nightmare) 

I need to free myself from troubles and listen closely to His words.

I guess that is the only way I can grow stronger physically and emotionally, healthy mentally and spiritually. 

I have decided how I am going to do it now, focus on loving myself more, 

healing my body and it's finally time for me to settle down. 

No more flying away when I fear, I need to find the key to unlock my sealed fragile heart. 

No more being a nice person, I need to challenge Him once again.

Can I trust He has everything in control and will only give me what is best for me?

Only time can tell, my little legless bird 

LINsanity All-Star Week

I just recently came back from an adventure in China and I met a few new Taiwanese friends.

A close friend came to China too, but little did everyone expect ... when two creative individual joined forces, an interesting video is produced for fun ... then it became viral. The concept was very simple yet amazing.

Red combined her basketball skills with her artistic talent and drew a portrait of Yao Ming. It was all over the internet (Facebook, Twitter, Weibo) even the news (international TV and local newspaper). Last weekend, she did it again, this time she was inspired by Jay Chou's song, (coffee, autumn leaves + fragmentation) she came up with an idea using coffee cup stains to make individual rings, the painting looks like an old sepia portrait of the singer. Now who said caffeine over-dose is a bad thing?

See how a simple concept became so powerful or created remarkable results (ripple effect).

Same goes for Jeremy Lin, I was fascinated by his passion for basketball and his love for God.

Besides Whiney RIP news, this week my Facebook feed and YouTube digest is constantly about him.

So much so that people start playing with words such as ThrilLIN, LINsanity and LINsational.

I should probably give a brief summary of the man (or MVP 2012) for those who do not follow much sports.

Currently the world is wild for 23 year old Jeremy, notably, the first Taiwanese-American D-League player turned NBA star. The undrafted Christian Harvard grad survived sleeping on his brother’s couch in New York. And all the attention he, his team and his sport have been getting has made a big impact to the crowd if not the ticket prices.

Meanwhile, the man himself is being called “the Taiwanese Tebow” (Tebowmania took hold last fall, when devout Tim Tebow quarterback led the Broncos to six straight wins as the starting quarterback) So can Jeremy lead Knicks to six straight wins this season if not more?

Others say he’s LINspiring, a LINcredible LINspiration for us all. 

He’s a LINderella story. 

He’s LINvincible. 

He’s like a LINja assassin. 

He’s Super LINtendo. 

With a name like that, the sky’s really the LINmit. haha

So I have to agree, Jeremy is a good player (he works hard and he deserves it at the end of the day) but all the hype is actually due to he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise. But you do have to give him credit, it is not everyday you see an Asian nailing it in the NBA (besides Yao Ming of course). 

What caught my attention? 

He has taken the sports world by storm. 

He spoke all the right things about religion. 

I am sure it isn't simply the winning (or should that be LINning?) that has captivated all those audience, but his shared Christian belief and faith-based comments on air.

This story is a fine example of preparation, perseverance & rising to the occasion. Something that God wants all of us to learn everyday.

To me this is where the value of preparation and patience comes in. Your number one job as a professional regardless if you’re a basketball player, waitress or architect is to always be ready when you get called upon.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. -Psalm 91:15

While in the eyes of many, Jeremy may be seen as an overnight sensation, but players playing that well don’t usually come out of nowhere. It does seems like they do, but if you can go back and take a look, his skill level was probably there from the beginning. It probably just went unnoticed. But God had already planned his path for him from the day he was born. Go view his testimony, you will learn the true value of being prepared and ready for when your number gets called because if you stay ready, you never have to worry about getting ready when your times comes.

The story of LINmania above should serve as an excellent reminder for anyone aspiring to do or be something great, both adversity and perseverance lie at the heart of true success and you’ll unfortunately never reach any level of greatness by giving up on your dreams too early just because things look grim.

Jiayou 加油!!! Gambatte がんばって !!! 

Te deseo todo lo mejor !!! 

This Is Probably Why You Should Never, Ever Give Up and Remember Every Now and Then Give Yourself a Second Chance to Shine.

Lin's story is truly inspiring, hope you can help spread his message on Lin's Long Journey & The Rise of Jeremy Lin

心美看什么都美

Sharing My Heart on Valentine's Day
Just remember that You can give without Loving, but You can never love without Giving

So don't worry because if You trust your heart everything else will just fall into place
Life is A Beautiful Struggle
Hope that the kids in Jasper know that they are beautiful

Here is a sweet story of a young boy's effort to woo a jump-roping little girl.

He tries flowers, chocolates and other gifts - 

only to discover that all she really wants is a jump-roping partner on Valentine's Day. 

Source: Google

Design: Michael Lipman

Music : Cold, Cold Heart" performed by Tony Bennett

Courtesy of Columbia Records and Sony/ATV 

Mission Prayer: I'll Keep on Dreaming

Dreams are important part of living. The society needs more of it, more dreamers and more visionaries, more pioneers bold enough to imagine and create another world. I remind myself that it’s time to stop procrastinating; there must be something good in this world worth fighting for, one that will stimulate me towards something greater than myself.

Looking back over the past few years, I wanted to drive a certain type of car or lives in a house with a huge backyard. I even wanted a better job or to lose that last few pounds or more vacation time from work. I imagine myself getting rich and solving the word’s problems, falling in love and living in a tropical paradise. I long for something insignificant that seems so important at the time.

Today as I physically stand in centre looking at the children asking me to hand them their favourite toys, it made feel like we are the same ... wanting the next best, shiniest toy on the top shelf.

It is God's privilege to conceal things and the king's privilege to discover them. - Proverbs 25:2

You can know more about yourself and God by paying attention to your dreams.

In the Bible, God is a dreamer. 

He imagined all creation before it existed. 

He spoke it into being. 

His plan for redemption is beautiful. 

I just have to be daring enough to move forward and believe reality is possible.

To imagine.

To ask for it.

To have vision and a will.

To bring hope to others.

To begin living it out here and now. 

Someone in the team shared on perseverance the other morning, it got me thinking of a book I read recently called “Discovering your Passion” by Seth Barnes.

I enjoy reading this verse in his book,

“We engage our faith practically when we start ushering these dreams into existence. When we begin to take real steps toward healing the world, we are awakened to new levels of dependence, intimacy and nearness to God. But we cannot do any of this if we have not given ourselves permission to start dreaming.”

Everyone dreams differently. Daydreams, sleeping dreams, and God-breathed dreams. He gave me heart pounding dreams that keep me awaked at night. It seems like a burden that I carry for the last couple of months and I don’t understand why. The dream was intimidating and seemed impossible. I knew it requires risks, sacrifice and I was afraid. It’s not going to be easy and it cost me more than what I am willing to give. I wanted to quit but I trust God’s dream was bigger than my own.

In the dream, He told me that it’s not about me, it’s not for my own personal comfort or success. It’s given to me to be given away. There will be hardship, heartache and trouble. Am I ready?

I guess this is the reason why I am created, to look for my true purpose and passion in life.

NOW it’s time for me to step outside my comfort and begin making a difference, I need to look beyond my own and discover His dreams. I woke up with a plan and I knew my life would never be the same after returning from Sanmenxia.

For the dream comes through much effort, and the voice of a fool through many words. -Ecclesiastes 5:3 

When we slow down and give value to our dreams, we can begin to understand what God is saying to us.

Will I sacrifice everything for the sake of following His given dream? Back then I have no answer.

But today I understand that the dream brought life and light to the children. He gave me that dream because the children at the center needed the dream most. I cannot do it by myself, but it can be done and it’s worth it. I saw people from all over the world coming together to release their own dreams of His Kingdom.

In short “We must be willing to give away our lives for the sake of His dream, but we must first lose our lives in order to find it.”

Lord, so often the business of everyday life saps the energy and passion that you have given to us. Help us live the vitality and enthusiasm for all you have in store for us. 

Heal those children with broken dreams so they can move from being a burden to live a better life and having a society to make the world a better place. 

Bless those staff with courage, patience and great faith.