| | when God is trying to tell you something? Are we so blind and deaf that we're not able to connect with our Creator? I was praying this weekend, and the 2 words that God gave me were 'Engage' and 'Refrain'. They seem contradictory, but after thinking about it some more, it made total sense. 'Engage' because we are in a war, for hearts, minds and souls, literally. 'Refrain' because we need to learn how to listen and be relevant to a dying world. Refrain from stuffing knowledge and the good news down people's throats. Refrain from speaking as probably more than 80% of the speech that comes out of my tongue is worthless anyways. Perhaps I've heard the word 'Listen' too much, so God gave me the word 'Refrain' instead. How wise is He! He knows I am inept at listening. =)
This past week was interesting in many ways, work wise, personally, spiritually, and just plain lots of fun things going on. I took Christopher ice skating for the very first time last weekend, and that was such a treat! We fell plenty of times on the hard, cold, unforgiving ice and laughed many more times. There is something about ice skating that just brings you back to your childhood, makes you feel like you're 8 again. That we were at an 8 year old birthday party probably helped there. My hockey skates broke! I felt so helpless trying to skate on one blade. We had a fabulous fun time.
Saturday we went to Anza Borrego to go hiking. The day was delectable--blue skies, clean air and delightful as John and I had the 5 kids with us (C, E, J, A, and J). I was seriously humbled on this trip as we got LOST not only once but twice. I am so prideful in this area of knowing where I'm going. I am a self-professed expert in directions, maps, and on top of that, a GPS-hater. What a terrible combination of pride and ignorance. It was all good, though, because we weren't in a hurry and we had the whole day to spend. We *did* have to get back for a dinner engagement however. The moment I wanted to write about was when we were hiking back from the shady, wet oasis and back to the cars. I saw a man with a 'Berkeley' shirt on hiking towards me, and I reflexively said 'Go Bears!' He says, 'Kuangkai? What are you doing out here?'. It was my old friend from med school, AB! It was crazy meeting out there because the last time we had met was probably more than 10 years ago. We chatted it up talking about family and the weirdness of meeting out there in the middle of nowhere. Some background--2 years ago, we had an official 10 year med school reunion where noone attended. About 15 of us showed up out of a class of 120. Last year, we had all the 'unofficial' reunions, and we gathered with about 10 friends at Del Mar Powerhouse Park. The stars lined up because there was another 'unofficial' reunion on the same day at the same place about 10 yards away from our picnic at the park. Another 20 of our med school friends, including AB. My MIL overheard them talking about how they didn't want to talk to me because I always share about God --they just didn't want to hear it. The thing is, I never remembered sharing anything about God to them during med school or any other time. The strange thing was, I had the impression that God was hitting me in the face with this--I have to drive 2 hours and hike another couple hours into the desert to meet one of His beloved. How do you know? *After the hike, a park ranger said to me, 'Are you a doctor?' I was cornered, what do I do, lie? I mumble, 'Uh, yeah.' 'Are you Dr. T? It's me KH!' Small world.
After our dinner engagement with B&K, I knew I had another baby to see--I had seen 3 already before taking off to go hiking--it was our neighbor, the H's! I was so happy for them! The funny thing was, my whole family was in the car waiting, and they could've came in to greet baby N into the world with me. E was asking me if she could come see the baby too--I really should've let her. She has such a kind, compassionate heart. I learn alot from her.
Sunday was a great day of work, church, and play. I had another 3 babies to see in the morning, another friend to see in the office, and church to attend. After church, we went out to do community surveys--and I got some pretty interesting answers from the people at Mira Mesa Starbucks. A summary to my first question, 'What are the greatest needs of the community?'--1. Too lenient on criminals. 2. More jobs needed 3. Less taxes 4. Less traffic cameras. 5. More outreach activities. 6. More youth activities 7. Safer neighborhoods. 8. Better education and schools. 9. Less tagging. Went off to play ultimate frisbee for the 50th time in a year (I'm so happy), and the fields were wet! YES! I don't know why there is a fear of getting wet while playing sport--to me, it is a part of the natural terrain. The more obstacles and challenges, the better. After frisbee, we had a going away dinner for MS--he's a great guy that will be missed. We wish and bless him the best for the future.
Monday is my new day off. I should either call it Ministry Monday or Marketing Monday. The reason why I say that is because I must've seen at least about 6 patients/families just going around town running errands. I went to Walmart and I saw the Ng's (toy aisle) and Tinkess' (gardening section). After that, I went to AAA to transfer the title on our new used car, and I saw another family that we take care of. Went to gas up at Arco and saw Ephraim, our neighbor, chatted a bit with him. Dido and I went to pick up Mei mei by bike trailer, and on the way, we ran into KM and SM at North City Preschool. We had lunch at Robek's/Little Cesar's, and a hair stylist came out of Fantastic Sam's and said 'Dr. Tai! How are you?!' It was K&S's mom! I asked how S' nose was doing. At Mei mei's gym class we saw of course L&E and EC and another one of my patient's families. So out of all these places--Walmart, Smog Check, Kragen/Dixieline/Fantastic Sam's Robek's/Little Cesar's/North City Preschool/Creekside Elementary/Poway Gym, AAA, Arco Gas, we saw many families that we take care of. Ministry or marketing?
How do you know when God is trying to tell you something?
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| | Posted 3/31/2009 5:36 PM - 50 Views - 4 eProps - 2 comments
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