a small bag of tea each day

Mar 03

PLEASE SUPPORT MY SISTER!!! only 6 days left!!!

Mar 02

PLEASE SUPPORT MY SISTER, TIFFANY!!!! She only has1 week left to fundraise!!! Thank you!

Dec 09

I dunno why, but whenever I have a final/exam coming up, while studying, I always start having this very real hope that there’ll be some “golden ticket” that I could win that will ultimately excuse me from the exam. Something like, “Ah Ha! I scrolled all the way down on the syllabus and was the ONLY one to see some fine print that says ‘bring this to the professor and you’ll get a free A!’ ” Or something like, I keep on checking my e-mail to see if the professor has decided to give all of us full credit for the exam or that he just entirely canceled the exam.
Yea, doesn’t make sense. oh well — back to studying :).

I dunno why, but whenever I have a final/exam coming up, while studying, I always start having this very real hope that there’ll be some “golden ticket” that I could win that will ultimately excuse me from the exam. Something like, “Ah Ha! I scrolled all the way down on the syllabus and was the ONLY one to see some fine print that says ‘bring this to the professor and you’ll get a free A!’ ” Or something like, I keep on checking my e-mail to see if the professor has decided to give all of us full credit for the exam or that he just entirely canceled the exam.

Yea, doesn’t make sense. oh well — back to studying :).

Nov 14

Nov 01

Oct 18

Yes, Rita, I believe it is going to be worth it all :).

I don’t understand Your ways
Oh but I will give You my song
Give You all of my praise
You hold on to all my pain
With it You are pulling me closer
And pulling me into Your ways

Now around every corner
And up every mountain
I’m not looking for crowns
Or the water from fountains
I’m desperate in seeking, frantic believing
That the sight of Your face
Is all that I need
I will say to You

It’s gonna be worth it
It’s gonna be worth it
It’s gonna be worth it all
I believe this

“Worth it all” - Rita Springer

The row of tall windows to the right of the famous asymmetric Royce pillars looks into the room I teach in.

The 4 tall windows (3 shown, one covered by the tree) to the right of the famous asymmetric towers of Royce look into the classroom in which I teach.

Friday was the last discussion before my students’ midterm in Engineering Mathematics. Every week, I like to post an inspirational quote, a name to “google” that weekend, or a movie to watch. For example, week 0, the “movie for the weekend” was Shawshank Redemption. Week 1, the quote was “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything” -Albert Einstein, and the name to google for that weekend was “Lin Xiaobo” - the Nobel laureate who is imprisoned in China for the actions being honored by the Nobel committee. Week 2, the quote was “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” - Albert Einstein, as a counter quote for what the professor posted the day before, “Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.”-Galileo Galilei, in hopes to encourage them to keep their priorities their priorities - family, of course studies, but not to neglect the immeasurable parts in their lives.

This Friday, I decided to write Romans 5:3-4, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” I wanted to encourage them to look at this midterm season as an opportunity to build their character by not giving up, by actively going to office hours if they have questions, by studying NOW/TODAY as if the exam were tomorrow because it’s only when we study really hard that we find the questions that we have.

Fast forward to today - office hours day. It was probably the BEST office hours section I’ve EVER had. Although I hadn’t looked at the homework due tomorrow, we were able to work though the homework problems (of course, with me leaving them to get the final solution ;)) and I was also able to give them pointers on the upcoming exam. At the end of the office hours (that went 30 minutes over our 2-hour chunk!), one student stayed behind to tell me, “I just wanted to let you know that I was really encouraged by the fact that you put up a Bible verse on Friday.”==> at that point, I felt in my spirit, “IT’S ALL WORTH IT.”

wow, LORD, You’ve really shown me again Your sovereign hand in my life. Just yesterday I was feeling overwhelmed by my class that I’m SUPER behind in and I began to feel frustrated at all the things in my life that were taking up a LOT of time - this TA-ship being primary… but today, I’ve come to see that IT’S ALL WORTH IT. Of course, I still need to work super hard to catch up in the class in which I’m a student, but even in that area, You’ve provided me cubicle space on campus where I could be soo close to the brilliant PhD students in my lab who actually TA for this course online and work at a desk uninterrupted by termites, fire alarms, etc. — AND it was this TA-ship that got me the connections to be be inserted higher in the HUGE list of students needing cubes. Thank You for being so good to me. I don’t deserve it AT ALL. My faith is so small and yet You take the time to grow it. Thank You, Jesus. Please continue to grow my faith in You.

In Jesus’ name I post, amen.

Aug 25

the years go by…

08 = Sharon

09 = Grace + Judy

10 = Sherry, Yvonne, Rose, Shiny, Christine, Hannah

i really don’t think i can do this anymore :(.

May 30

[video]

May 06

Mar 21

Amaranthine -

praise the LORD for our WONDERFUL sister Tiffany Chen and her amazing friends. we’re truly sooo blessed - THANK YOU TIFFANY!