Lost

It seems I'm back to where I started - walking in circles, without a map, trying to find my way on this road. Although, I'm told that I can find my way, I'm hitting the same dead end over and over each day. And even with the occassional guide and a torn map, hope lies ahead, but hope is gone when I find... another dead end.

Someone get me out of here... PLEASE.

Blue

BLUES are motivated by INTIMACY, seek opportunities

to genuinely connect with others, and need to

be appreciated. They do everything with

quality and are devoted and loyal friends and

employers/employees. Whatever or whomever

they commit to are their sole (and soul)

focus. They love to serve and will give

freely of themselves in order to nurture

others lives.

BLUES, however, do need to be understood. They have

distinct preferences and occasionally the

somewhat controlling (but always fair)

personality of a confident leader. Their code

of ethics is remarkably strong and they

expect others to live honest, committed lives

as well. They enjoy sharing meaningful

moments in conversation as well as

remembering special life events (i.e.,

birthdays and anniversaries). BLUES are

dependable, thoughtful, nurturing, and can

also be self-righteous, a bit worry-prone,

and emotionally intense. They are like

sainted pit-bulls who never let go of

something once they are committed. When you

deal with a BLUE, be sincere, make an effort

to truly understand them, and truly

appreciate them.


What Color Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Tagged

5 Random Facts.

1. I also wash my hands when I get home. It makes me feel more clean.
2. I make it a habit to take a nap on a weekend afternoon. It's refreshing.
3. Even though I'm at home, I use my cell phone to call other people more than my landline.
4. I can sleep on cars, buses and trains - but not planes.
5. I found another white hair last time I went to cut my hair.

Surveys

Your Personality Is

Guardian (SJ) You are sensible, down to earth, and goal oriented. Bottom line, you are good at playing by the rules. You tend to be dominant - and you are a natural leader. You are interested in rules and order. Morals are important to you. A hard worker, you give your all at whatever you do. You're very serious, and people often tell you to lighten up. In love, you tend to take things carefully and slowly. At work, you are suited to almost any career - but you excel in leadership positions. With others, you tend to be polite and formal. As far as looks go, you are traditionally attractive. You take good care of yourself. On weekends, you tend to like to do organized activities. In fact, you often organize them!

The Three Question Personality Test

You Are 25 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

You Should Learn Spanish

For you, learning a language is about career advancement and communication. Knowing Spanish will bring you tons of possiblities for jobs and travel. Bárbaro!

What Language Should You Learn?

Collecitng thoughts after a hectic week

So much has happened in the past week ... it was about this time last week that I found out that my uncle was admitted to the hospital for some serious problems. Yet, what really caught me by surprise was that there was a chance the he wouldn't make it through that first night. In that instant, that fear and thought cast a big cloud on our family's spirits. The seriousness hit our family hard, as I watched each member getting scared one by one. The harder I tried to pull myself together, the more the situation consumed the inside of me, and I felt the "collected" me falling apart too. Flashbacks of my grandfather's incident last year began to seep into my mind; having to visit him in the ICU after a huge surgery, all dependent on machines to help him press on, to see dried blood on his face, the gowns and the sheets, and worst of all to see the pain in the expressions of his face.

But in the end, my grandfather got through, as did my uncle. Despite being in the coronary ICU for about a week, my uncle is on his way to a recovery conditioned upon lifestyle change (a turn to a relaxed and less stressful life) . It's great to see that he has his humour and appetiteback. But above all, it was great to realize that our family and a number of friends turned to God and prayed together for God to give him strength to pull through the physical obstacles that he faced. A big thank you to all who prayed for my uncle and our family over the past week.

Where exactly am I going with this post ...? I'm not exactly sure myself. Admist this turbulent time .. I've realized (w/the help of God) that...

1) Work was considered low on my priority list. As much as I'd like I complain about work all the time; in the grand scheme of things; my eyes have opened to realize that work really doesn't compare to family ... This isn't to say that I'm not going to be aggressive in my career - but it shouldn't be a higher priority than family.

2) No matter how "chaotic" things can be; God is faithful and will listen and answer our prayers ... How I seem to forget that God is so much bigger than all of us; and bigger than all our problems ...

3) Single parents are truly incredible. With my parents on vacation, and my aunt and cousins attending to my uncle, I'm trying to hold up the fort at home, and attend to the needs of my grandparents. After a long day of work, I don't know how these single parents have time to slave over a meal and provide an environment of love for their children, who may not always appreciate it. Taking on all this extra responsibility and trying to keep my emotions in check, to pull myself together, while working full-time isn't an easy task. I give my thumbs up to single parents as they have more than double the responsibility of regular parents.

Entry 1

So as part of the adult cell group at church, we agreed to attempt to journal more often; at least once a week. Seeing as I haven't posted anything since September 19 (our last meeting), I haven't been doing a very good job of journaling :/ As a first post, I've decided to post some of my rough notes from a conference I attended at the beginning of the month, Contempo, which had a theme of finding joy at work - something that I'm finding hard to find. So here it goes. Hopefully things make sense, because after a while of not having to take notes in lecture, it seems like I can't write as fast.

Finding Joy @ Work - Plenary Session #1
Oct. 1, 2005; Speaker: Ken Fong

Some introductory statements taken from the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30)

• Did you know that God designed us so that going to work is an important and tangible way to experience God's joy?
• Do you know how to make the master’s joy more a part of everyone’s experience where you work?

* Key verses: v.21-23: How do we have the right understanding an attitude so that we can bring God’s joy not only to ourselves, but to others around us as well? (Sharing your master’s happiness)

Getting down to the main point ...

• According to Dennis Makke’s book entitled Joy @ Work, God worked as He created. As His job was creating the universe, followed by mankind, our job is to manage the Earth (the living things and resources in it) as God has given us the authority and capability to work – (“To manage earth and all that comes from God’s creation” Gen. 1:28)
• Clearly, as work isn’t the goal of life; we are created to have a relationship with God, to honour/glorify Him; we honour God by furthering God’s kingdom/creation; when we approach work as worship, God is glorified and pleased with us
• What is work pleasing to God?
• All kinds of production or management positions are God honour (incl. through the relationships that we build in the process
• Seize the opportunity to build relationships with co-workers – take pride in your results; and be enthusiastic
• Work that results in things that are worthy for society can be acts of worship to God
• “So whether you eat or drink or what you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31)
• Half-hearted efforts do not please God – work as if Christ is your boss! – not just when your manager is watching …

• Is ministry the highest calling? There isn’t any evidence that it is…
• What is work pleasing to God? Interesting fact: Bezalel (not Moses or Joshua) was the first person in the bible who was said to be filled with the Spirit of God (Exo. 31:2-5)
• Bezalel was an artist/designer to make designs for work in gold silver, etc. – not a religious leader
• Most of the biblical leaders were working in the secular world …
• 2 Calling as Christians
• Use talents and energy to steward Earth’s resources to meet physical needs and the needs of others (being stewards of the Earth) – Parable of the Talents
• Present good news of Christ’s redemption and all its implications to people everywhere (Great Commission)
• Called to both these jobs though time and effort invest may not be equal
• Both these jobs are part of our requirement to seek His holiness; Both require prayer, study, reflection and humility
• God is not limited by what we think is ministry
• Use Christian values and morals to influence those around us

Closing Thoughts

• To what degree, do you appreciate your high and noble calling from the Lord?
• How does this change your understanding and appreciation of your wok? How might you become a more God glorifying steward of Earth’s resources and a more obvious follower of Jesus at work?
• Are we all climbing up the right ladder in life?
• Are we doing something significant in life?
• Are we cherishing the opportunities that God has given us to do something significant at work?

Finding Joy @ Work - Plenary Session #2
Oct. 1, 2005; Speaker: Ken Fong

• Connecting with joy at work (Ecc. 5:18-20)
• Genesis account: God found joy in both the process and the result of creation (His work)
• Parable of the Talents
• Reinforces the importance of work to God (inc. work as an occupation) – after all, God gives us opportunities at work
• 2 servants knew the heart of the master to use and put the talents to work
• Steward resources with goal of creating products/services to bless others; we are given the authority to decide what to do
• Being able to decide – important! Christians should want to be held accountable to how well they steward their work
• Nordstrom (US dep’t store) – each clerk is like they are in charge of their own department; and then held responsibility when sales figures come out
• We are given the authority and responsibility to get things done: we need authority – not just responsibility; but we must be held accountable for the things we are asked to do
• Redeeming Our Work
• Pre-fall working environment was paradise
• Work > central element of paradise (not reverse)
• Act of Worship
• Fulfilling and rewarding
• Post-fall: all of life, including work, became troublesome (and obligatory)
• Biblical Leadership: those in authority must serve those they lead
• Good leaders delegate decisions and create an environment in which others can manage

Application

• Joy @ Work
• Find the value of every person
• Foster greater fellowship and friendship
• Fine-tune everyone’s job, starting with yours
• Accurate position descriptions
• Insight into each person’s work temperament: resolve differences
• Expectation of the job-holder and the supervisor (Conflicts arise due to undiscussed/unresolved expectations – ensure expectations are clear)
• Personal Preference Inventory (PPI)
• Job Preference Inventory (JPI)
• Provide accountability at church for how everyone is using the authority from God to manage God’s resources, find meaning and have more fun!
• Understand how you work, and hw you work best
• No one is well-rounded; don’t waste time in your areas of weakness

Relieved

I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt the same way yesterday... *PHEW* ...