husband and wife

“Let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Ephesians 5:33

God made Adam first and put him in the Garden with a job to do, a mission to fulfill. In the heart of every fallen man is the self-doubt that wonders, “Am I man enough to climb this mountain God has called me to? Can I fulfill my destiny?” A wise wife will understand that question at the center of her husband’s heart. And she will spend her life answering it, communicating to him in various ways, “Honey, I believe in your call. I know you can do this, by God’s power. Go for it.” In this way, she will breathe life into her man.

God made Eve from Adam, for Adam, to help him follow the call. In the heart of every fallen woman is the self-doubt that wonders, “Do I please you? Am I what you wanted?” A wise husband will understand that question at the center of his wife’s heart. And he will spend his life answering it, communicating to her in various ways, “Darling, you are the one I need. I cherish you. Let me hold you close.” In this way, he will breathe life into his wife.

- Ray Ortlund

motivation

watching the olympics always makes me so motivated. these olympic athletes train their whole lives, practicing through numerous injuries and burning through hundreds of thousands of dollars just for those few minutes in the spotlight.

one of the biggest stories of this year's winter olympics is shen and zhao, a pairs figure skating team that came out of retirement to try for a gold medal. what's really great about their story is actually their coach, yao bin, who has basically single handedly built the pairs skating program to the powerhouse it is now. back in the 80s, he and his pairs partner had only pictures to learn their figure skating moves from. during international competitions, they were laughed at for being so bad. out of the five competitions they skated at before retiring, they got last place at four of them...three of them at the world championships, one at the olympics. using these embarrassing experiences, yao bin started coaching and 20 years later, his skaters are all ranked top 10 in the world.

i admit, i'm a very self conscious person. in almost everything i do, i think about how people around me might think of me and how i am being perceived. i can't imagine being in his shoes, to have gone through five competitions being laughed at. i can't imagine even going to ONE competition knowing i would be laughed at. i can't imagine how embarrassed he must have felt knowing he was letting down his country, especially in a culture that stresses saving face and having honor for your country and family. and i can't imagine what it must have been like to sacrifice his personal life (chinese athletes and coaches live in dorms, and he has stated that he's lived away from his family for the past 20 years and wasn't even there for his son's birth and childhood) for a sport that considered him a joke.

i don't know anything about him as a person, nor am i sure i would sacrifice my family to do the same. but i do know that yao bin is one of the most resilient people i've heard of, to have gone through so many years of ridicule and to have accomplished what has has accomplished. so darn motivational...makes you want to go out there and save the world :)

what i waste my time doing

long time no post! i've probably just lost all 3 of my avid readers from lack of posting activity.

i've recently gotten into google reader, which has been such a time saver. i used to have a favorites folder of all the blogs i read, but it took forever to click through them all! it's now a nightly routine for me to spend an hour or so to read through all my 300+ daily posts. and being the OCD person that i am, i get really anxious if i don't read them every night to "keep my google reader clean"...or skipping any posts because there are too many. eh, i'm weird i know.

in honor of my beloved google reader, i've listed my favorite websites to waste my time reading, in no particular order:

this is why you're fat - there is nothing more fun than looking at all the crazy foods people eat. no wonder size 14 is the new 10

tastespotting - once you get tired of looking at foods with a 5,000+ caloric count, you can read this blog for normal, everyday food p*rn

11 points - i actually just found this one today. it's a site of the top 11 things from a variety of topics. the commentary on some of these are hilarious

cake wrecks - i am a sucker for sarcastic, smartass commentary. cake wrecks have not only the funniest looking, "why would anybody create that?" cakes but the commentary is also hilarious

failblog & engrish funny & my mom is a fob & this is photobomb & there i fixed it & awkward family photos - it's hilarious reading the crazy things people say and do

lolcats & loldogs - i wish animals talked like this in real life

cute overload - pictures to make even the manliest man smile

too much free time & bits and pieces - compilation of random funny stuff from all over the internet...just so we don't have to waste our time scouring

happy surfing!

here is new york

There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter--the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Of these trembling cities the greatest is the last--the city of final destination, the city that is a goal. It is this third city that accounts for New York’s high strung disposition, its poetical deportment, its dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements. Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion.

- "Here is New York" E.B. White

the first post!

i should be a pro at this blogging business by now. since junior year of high school, i've had 3 different blogs and have been blogging basically continuously during all those years...until adult life hit and i couldn't find the time to write everyday. but i've recently gotten this urge to blog again. it's been bugging me for a few months, but i kept changing my mind. i mean, unless there's something interesting to write about every few days, then it'd be a waste of time to start a blog. i guess i finally convinced myself, because:

1. it's a way to document life. i still keep my blogs from high school and it's interesting to go back and read about what i did and felt back then.

2. as you may all know, i have a lot to say about everything.

3. it's a good way to keep all my friends updated on what's going with me. how did people stay in touch with friends before blogs, facebook, instant messaging and cell phones were invented? how many hours were spent sitting on a land line, repeating the same stories over and over? luckily, with the help of modern technology, i can just type my thoughts once and share it with everyone. thank God for the internet. or should we thank al gore...?

anyways, i figured that, with the start of the new year, it'd be a good time to start blogging again. we'll see how this goes.