2009 in Rewind

Seriously folks, where does the time go?  Looking back, this year has been an emotional one, filled with milestones along with some twists and turns, but through it all God has been good and gracious and I thank Him for bringing me to where He has at the close of 2009.  I have to say I’m looking forward to 2010 and seeing what the Lord has planned….for me and for those I love.

Year in Review

1)   Ringing in 2009 (Moroccon style) with some of my oldest and closest of friends

2)   Hosting the Leadership Conference in Philly

3)   Having dinner at Morimoto’s

4)   Seeing both my parents retire after 30+ years of working and enjoying the fruits of their labor

5)   The birth of so many new babies, both of friends and family alike
6)   Continuing with a great group of people into our 4th year of the Romans Bible Study  (and yet we’re still only on Romans 8...we may just be the slowest readers ever =P)
7)   May 2009 being 5 years of practicing optometry
8)   Taking my 8th trip to India with both my immediate and extended family and trying out some new adventures like houseboating
9)   Seeing my 2 younger cousins get married and celebrating with them in their joy (engagements, bridal showers, weddings, etc)
10) Taking a trip to Spain with my best friends to celebrate a new decade of life
11) Turning 30 along with the rest of our 6 (wo)man crew, aka “the Boyz”, and being able to celebrate with most of them
12) Starting a blog!!!
13) Finally getting to see The Lion King on Broadway
14) Watching the Phillies get to the World Series
15) Getting a new Bible (ESV) that’s changed the way I learn Scripture and motivating me to really learn on my own
16) Buying my first car =), and saying goodbye to my Forrester of 9 years (you don’t understand, it was emotional, we’d been thru a lot together)
17) Taking part in the Philadelphia Marathon by running and training for my first 8K
18) Cooking and hosting another Thanksgiving meal
19) The always fun and festive "annual" K White Elephant Christmas party
20) Digging out of the 2nd largest snow storm of all-time in Philadelphia (23.2 inches to be exact)
21) My friend S running a third successful Host-A-Christmas Drive
22) And finally….God bringing people to intersect my life and teach me things about the world and myself, people that have stayed awhile, some that haven’t, but both having an impact and challenging me in ways that have brought me closer to the Lord.

Have a Happy New Year everyone and may 2010 be filled with warmth, kindness, and joy for all of you.

Good Eats - Iron Hill Brewery

It's an annual holiday reunion of sorts with "the Boyz" tonight, minus a few key players this year.  It's always great to catch up with my oldest of friends and laugh the night away remembering the ridiculous stories of our youth.

Dinner Tonight:

Iron Hill Brewery

The Shoppes at English Village
1460 Bethlehem Pike

North Wales, PA 19454

P: 267 708.2000

F: 267 708.2050

http://www.ironhillbrewery.com/

"We're passionate about producing distinctive, full-flavored handcrafted beers, accompanied by fresh–from–scratch New American cuisine in a comfortable, casual atmosphere. Our goal has always been to provide food and beer that is inspired, consistently crafted and presented by a knowledgeable and courteous service staff."

Strength in Weakness

When you are in the midst of a trial, there's a power coming into your life that you've never experienced before. When you see a hard thing coming, try saying, "I may not want this, but I know I'm going to see Christ working in my life in an incredible way."

God never allows a thorn but that He provides sufficient grace and strength in our weaknesses. Sufficient grace is not just enough to survive, but enough to have supernatural joy in the midst of anything He allows us to go through.

-Taken from the Weekly Walk by James MacDonald

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me... For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Merry Christmas

As I was sitting in church and looking at some of our parishioners faces, it struck me how painful the holidays can be sometimes. It’s often referred to as the holiday blues, right? I was looking around at the families who currently have very sick children, husbands that have lost wives, children that have lost fathers, and on a day that is described as joyful for most, it can be very painful because we‘re reminded of what we may be missing. Even if we haven’t gone through any earth-shattering life changes, whatever struggles we may have, big or small, they all seem to be under a magnifying glass between Thanksgiving and New Years. Even at work my boss and I were remarking that during this season our patients seem to be a little more stressed, have a little less patience, and can often come in with very foul moods. As much as we describe Christmas as "the season to be jolly", there's very little joy to be found among us despite what the Christmas songs profess.  It sounds depressing doesn't it? I promise this post does get better.

Growing up, I used to think of people as either having a happy or not-so-happy demeanor, nothing in the middle. But as I’ve made my way into adulthood, I realize that life happens, and depending on the circumstances (as mentioned above) we now have to try…we have to try to maintain that joyous outlook despite what may be going on around us and in us. And on this Christmas day, I’m reminded that instead of trying, I can believe that my outlook on life can be eternally fixed. That on this day a baby was born, so that I can have an eternally joyous outlook. That on this day “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory… and from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1: 14-16). That on this day, all those faces I’ve seen that may be struggling because of life’s circumstance, can be as joyous as the person who’s lost nothing, because Christ came to this earth and experienced everything that we could possibly experience and then some. That true joy doesn’t depend on anything that happens on this earth, but comes from delighting in the words and life of our Savior.

So on that note, I wish away any holiday blues you may be feeling, and wish you all a truly joyous Christmas and a contentment that can only come by resting our faith on that humble babe that was born on this glorious day.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Good Eats - Bonefish Grill

A rare dinner out with the family tonight at one of the nicer chain restaurants in the area...and more importantly a restaurant my parents actually like!

Bonefish Grill

1015 Easton Road, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania

(215) 659-5854

http://www.bonefishgrill.com/

Light up the Night

Excerpts from this week's The Weekly Walk by James MacDonald . .
it offers us a new way to look at the Christmas season.

"One of the favorite traditions of the Christmas season is to turn on the Christmas tree lights and light up the night . . . This tradition is well suited to the real celebration of the season. John 3:19 says that when Jesus Christ was born, the light came into the world.  In fact, more than two hundred times in the Bible, God is described as light. Figuratively and literally, whenever God appears, light appears.

Have you ever been in some pitch-black place when you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face? That's what life is like without Jesus. You can't fully appreciate the light until you feel the weight of the darkness.


If you feel lost, alone, and trapped - searching but not finding - Jesus Christ is the light.


If you feel cruelly crushed under the wrongs done to you, Jesus Christ is the light.


If you feel perplexed by an issue or circumstance that you can't figure out, Jesus Christ is the light.


Maybe loneliness, despair, and confusion describe you. If you want to know the way out, you first have to admit that you’re in darkness. You may not be ready to die, but you're also not fully living. You don't see any purpose to life, and you don't see any hope worth trusting. But all that can change right now.


Like any other genuine follower of Christ, nothing made sense to me either before I turned to Jesus. I couldn't sort out anything in this mixed-up world. But since receiving Jesus as my Savior, I understand what's going on. Although life still isn't perfect, and never will be until eternity, I realize what my own sin does to my life. Suddenly Christmas is so much more than a stale exchange of gifts and some silly guy in a red suit. At Christmas those of us who know Him celebrate the forgiveness of sin that can be found only in Jesus, the gift of Christmas."

Good Eats - NYC Edition - Lupa

Today was a day off and I decided to spend it walking the streets of NYC.  I've always found wintertime to be a really enjoyable time in the city amongst all the shoppers, the lights, and the different sights and sounds that come with the season.

After a little window shopping, sipping some hot apple cider in Bryant Park, and a visit to the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza, the night ended with some good food at one of Mario Batali's restaurants in Greenwich Village:

LUPA

170 Thompson Street
between Houston St.

and Bleecker St.

New York, NY 10012

(212) 982-5089

http://www.luparestaurant.com/

Quotable Quotes

This is my wish for you:

Comfort on difficult days,

smiles when sadness intrudes...

rainbows to follow the clouds,

laughter to kiss your lips,

sunsets to warm your heart,

hugs when spirits sag,

beauty for your eyes to see,

friendships to brighten your being,

faith so that you can believe,

confidence for when you are in doubt,

courage to know yourself,

patience to accept the truth,

love to complete your life.

-Anonymous

Happy Birthday Jerry!

27 years ago today, God decided I no longer needed anymore attention from my parents. Therefore he gave me a little brother to upstage me from then on out with his smarts and many accomplishments. =P

In all seriousness, may God continue to use your life and the amazing gifts he’s given you for His glory.

 Happy Birthday Jerry…love ya!      

Good Eats - Gaya

Dinner Tonight:
Office Christmas Party 2009

GAYA KOREAN RESTAURANT

Authentic Korean Cuisines

http://gayarestaurant.com/

1002 Skippack Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422
T. 215.654.8900 // 215.654.8300 // 215.654.8311 

A look at the insane amount of good food we had at dinner tonight

Video from Matt

So I've come to know of this story from a friend's tweets (yes, I just said that...I knew there was a reason why I joined Twitter.)  The message in the video below is so simple and simply so powerful. I've never heard of this pastor (Matt Chandler) until I saw this, but listen to his whole powerful testimony if you can. 

Video from Matt

Things I'm convicted of as I listen to it for the the umpteenth time:

I'm a person who can easily let worry and fear get to the extreme, to the point where it can stop me cold in my tracks and literally incapacitate my life.  I've easily written it off as "I'm just a worrier, it's natural to think and dwell on the worst-case scenario...I'm just wired to get anxious."  When actually, I'm realizing how much of a sin it is on my part, truly a sin, to live a life that puts so little faith in the Lord and doubts His will during hardships.  I keep hearing the Lord say during those times, "Where is your faith?"  It's so freeing to watch this video from a man, who as he says stands to lose everything, and still says "I am not afraid" because nothing is better than HIM.

Ask For Whatever You Wish . . . (Part 1)

A couple weeks ago I was out to dinner with some friends and the question was brought up, “Is it okay to pray for certain things?” When we expanded that question a little further we were essentially asking, is it wrong to pray for the things that you desire?  My immediate gut answer was….of course not!  Immediately I think of things like praying for someone’s health, or praying for a child’s upbringing, or asking God for world peace (I just had to throw in my standard pageant answer).  Prayer is communicating with God and regardless of whether I say it out loud or not, He knows the desires of my heart.  I’m fooling no one if I don’t mention it so why not put it up in prayer? Sounds easy enough.  My friend also added that it’s not only asking God for what you want,  but what you do with the response.  Are you willing to accept God’s answer if the answer is not in line with your own will?

After that conversation, I kept thinking about our answers.  Was it really as easy and simple as I made it out to be?  Even in our conversation we were coming up with gaping holes and couldn’t quite answer the gray areas (i.e. when our intentions may not be as pure, or as black and white as healing the sick).

Since that conversation I’ve been doing some reading and some listening….particularly to Keller, Piper, and MacDonald.  The bulk of the sermons brought it back to the basics, in particular the Lord’s prayer, and in digging a little further, analyzing the verse “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Although on the surface the verse talks about a basic necessity, it’s the basis for a broader request asking God to fulfill the natural/carnal desires of our body and heart.

So after listening and reading, the one glaring conclusion I came to was this: my focus on the question itself was inherently flawed.  If in prayer I’m asking God what He can do for me, without taking a whole host of other things into consideration, I’m not praying as I should be.

As you can see from the title this is a two-part post, all I’ve done here is laid the framework for a question that’s been on my mind.  This would be way too long if I started to delve into the answers I sought out, but I will at a later time.  Certainly to be continued . . .

 In the meantime, what do you think?

Winter Wonderland

It’s that time of the year again, where the days are short, the nights are long, and there’s a crisp cold chill in the air.  I know most don’t enjoy it, but I do love the beginning of the winter season. 

Yesterday, we had our first snowfall and although it can be difficult to drive in,  I’m a sucker for that fairy tale winter wonderland look.

Things I love about this season: turtlenecks, pretty scarves, glistening snow, hot chocolate, fireplaces, Christmas, warm blankets, winter coats, snow days, the new year, holiday parties, ice skating, Christmas music, steaming latte's, and for a homebody like me…..just a plain excuse to stay indoors and curl up with a good book.  The wintry weather has arrived and it’s forecasted to be one heck of a season.

Quotable Quotes

"In the middle of the way I am, come be who You are. Bring your Spirit, bring your healing, come be who You are. Let it flow, let it wash over, let it overwhelm me like the sea."

-Sara Groves, Come be who You are

Smile

I was surfing the web yesterday and I came across an Anne Geddes poster I once had hanging up in my dorm room waaaay back in my college years.

How can you not smile while looking at this precious giddy face? =D

Transcending Human Understanding

Yesterday one of our church members sent a prayer request for a baby who was only a couple days old, and whose health was in critical condition. Today that baby passed away after only being on this earth for a few short days. She forwarded the father’s response to everything going on and I’m still in awe over his strength. 

He humbly requested for all to not be sad or worry about the situation because they had full assurance that she was going to a greater place. He expressed that while they are sad over the temporary situation, "it is with joy they release her soul to the great healer who He himself has resurrected from the dead."

Who else, and I mean who else, could give this family that type of peace that transcends all human understanding. They’re able to use this precious baby’s life and death as an opportunity to proclaim the truth, and be a testament to how great the Lord is in their life. How amazing is it that in her short stay here, this child fulfilled God’s role for her perfectly: bringing glory to God’s name.