My Body does not Belong to Me

Whenever I would eat infront of the television, I would be so absorbed with the Food World especially when I'm watching Travel and Living that it literally causes me to increase my appetite. What a good and warm feeling food gives us especially when elegance and style are added to its presentation! It transforms the plain ingredients to a beautiful work of art and makes one so proud and wishful of the "finer things in life." And then my tummy starts to feel heavy, then I'm back to reality that I cannot have all the things I want including good health with voracious appetite for rich elegant food without exercise.


You see, my body does not belong to me. It solely belongs to God. I was bought with a price, therefore, I should honor God with my body. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I should obey His Word. I need to be holy and not commit any form of immorality. This is what it says in the Bible, the Word of God. ( Please See I Corinthians 6:18-20) I need to take care of my body by eating good natural food like vegetables and fruits and have plenty of exercise and appropriate rest and relaxation. But the most important thing is to be holy for God is holy (I Peter 1:16)

So tomorrow, I would eat less, drink more water, have some workout, do my best for the Lord, go to bed early, and then sleep well.

Wait, why wait tomorrow? I can start tonight. I can sleep early. Oops... I need to visit someone at the hospital. He is one of our church members who has some kidney problems. Oh well, I can start tomorrow. So help me, God.

These Little Things

As soon as I opened my eyes this morning, I was ready to attempt something -- I was ready to conquer the world. That is, my world. In my mind, I have the formidable energy of a lion freshly released to the wild. I had the youthful excitement of a fresh graduate waiting for her first job, (although I graduated many years ago and have had a few jobs already.) I had the audacity of a great warrior with the voracious appetite to annihilate my "foes." I had the measureless strenght of a tsunami wave breaking the walls of a timeless resort. Then "these little things" came.

After I responded to the call of nature, the forever familiar hole would not work. "Ah, This little hole with this disgusting little water again." I complained. Then the telephone downstairs rang when I was about to lift the pump. "Ah, This little noisy phone again!" I said. I tried to ignore the little ringing as I started pumping. The little water would not go down. The little seconds turned to minutes. The little minutes turned into multiples of deci minutes. Then "these little things" started to control me.


My focus started to turn blury. The formidable strenght of the lion in me faded. The youthful excitement in me became frustration. The audacity of a great warrior turned to sluggish hesitation. The measureless strenght of the tsunami wave in me turned to a weakened muscle pain.

Then I realized that "these little things" are hindering me from fulfilling my attempt to conquer. I started praying. At first it felt ironic that I should disturb my great awesome God with infinite power about "these little things." Then I realize that my infinite God cares about the infinitely small things which are "these little things." He is the infinitely big God who cares about the infinitely small things also in our lives. He even knows the number of strands in our hair. (Matthew 10:30) What an awesome God!

TGIF

"Thank God, It's Friday!" I've outgrown this expression years ago. I was a young ambitious, goal-oriented, freedom lover, and adventurous college graduate some years ago in L.A. To top it all, I was a determined hardworker trying to finish grad school. I experienced working in offices at downtown L.A., Wilshire Blvd. Century City, Westwood area as well as the Beverly Hills area. It was like I'm dreaming when I sat on one of those soft-cushioned leather arm chairs on the 27th red-carpeted floor over-looking the blue swimming pools and artistic bungallows in Beverly Hills. No, I am not materialistic. Although when I walked out during lunch time and passed by the fast low black bench cars, I had wished that I had one of those shiny cars rather than ride the bus. Deep inside, all I wanted was to overcome whatever hurdle I have to take. And every Friday night when work was over, I literally jumped out of the workplace. You see, I work really hard. I give it my best whether the boss is over my shoulders or when he is on vacation. Every moment is a test of honesty and integrity when I do my best according to excellence which is required of me. I hold my breath everytime the work gets so demanding. I try to focus when it gets tedious and boring. And then when the time has come, I shout in relief, "Thank God, It's Friday!" and off to my friends I go.

Gone are the days when I get super excited on Fridays. I've outgrown that TGIF expression. Whether Mondays or Fridays, I try to focus on achieving my goals towards eternity. The weekends for me are busier. I have a husband and a daughter whom I adore greatly. You see, my real boss is the one I could not see but someone who definitely exists and see whatever I do and knows whatever I think about -- God.

Today is Friday. I get a little excited too not because of the relief but because we are doing something different on weekends with my family. No, I never was able to have one of those shiny black cars but had a white mazda as my first car, and no, I never got to live in Beverly Hills, and no, I never was able to finish grad school. But I was able to see London and the English countryside, Paris, Netherlands, and Israel, by God's graciousness. But more importantly, I was able to overcome some personal weaknesses -- like impulsiveness, boredom, lack of direction, etc. and I got closer to my Lord. Now that I'm not getting younger and youthful strenght is vanishing, I try to focus on reading more of the Bible-- that I may know Him.

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:14

Well, I will say it again but not too exuberantly -- "TGIF."