When my parents immigrated to the USA from South Korea in 1991, I remember the tears of goodbye at the airport between my parents and their friends and family. They weren’t sure when they would see each other again, but they knew it would be a long time.
Sometimes, we don’t have the words…. in those moments, reading the prayers of others (like the prayers of David in the Book of Psalms, or the prayers of other Christians) can help us voice what we are feeling.
This week, I have been feeling a bit down and found this prayer by Henri Nouwen helpful:
Now that the number of new COVID cases are down to single digits, the clear and present danger Victorians everywhere now face are: magpies.
Whether it’s waving a stick above your head or installing cable ties on your helmet, every Australian needs a coping mechanism for these territorial treetop terrors.
For the past 14 weeks, I’ve uploaded weekly videos sharing insights from the Book of Philippians, passage by passage (watch here).
Now that I’ve finished, here’s a summary of what I call “reasons to rejoice,” the main points & reflection questions from each lesson.
Last Tuesday the tragic explosion of ammonium nitrate in Beirut killed 135 people, injured over 5,000. and left more than a quarter of a million people without homes.
Amidst such devastating circumstances, the kindness of locals helping each other brings hope and healing for victims and their families.
Tom Bob is a street artist who transforms ordinary or even unsightly public spaces into whimsical and delightful canvases.
A pipe becomes a scuba gear. A parking block becomes a hot chip.
Wherever he goes, he sees potential beauty, creativity, and fun.
This week for my personal devotions I’ve been reading about Abraham (born Abram). Throughout his life, Abraham was constantly torn between following and trusting in God vs. following the ways of the world. It’s a struggle we can really identify with!
There are a lot of us a little anxious/angry/apprehensive right now because our city has gone back into a 6 week lockdown due to the rapid increase of COVID-19 community transmissions ☹️ Super inconvenient, yes. We’re living in a time where the only thing certain is uncertainty. Here are 7 suggestions to help you through this uncertain season:
I don’t like the word, resilience. It means, the capacity to recover quickly from unexpected difficulties.
It’s not that I don’t like the idea of adapting to new challenges. I just don’t like the connotations associated with the word these days.
Children run.
Last Sunday our family was able to go to Werribee Zoo and finally see the robotic dinosaurs Joshua had waited over 3 months to see.
He was so excited that as soon as we entered the zoo gates, he ran towards the exhibit, not stopping to see the impressive gorillas or cuddly koalas along the way. When he entered the exhibit, he squealed with delight and ran from one dinosaur to another, barely pausing until he got to his favourite – the large, roaring tyrannosaurus rex.
I had to run to keep up with him, amazed at how joy lit up his whole body.
