Asterix's Expressions

2005 in Review: 10 Blessings

Okay, I've been wanting to post this list for a while now, and here it is!

1. Canaan Church's cell group model took off.
My California church completely reorganized its fellowship structure at the beginning of 2005. Instead of having fellowship groups by age, gender, and marital status, we now have mixed groups by locale. Although the adjustment was a little rough for some, I found it to be a blessing. My group of six to eight people bonded very well, and they have become my closest friends in California. Throughout this year, we learned to share with each other in vulnerable ways, keep each other accountable, and to walk alongside each other. It is truly an experience of grace and love from God.

2. I finished singing in the Stanford Symphonic Chorus for one year.
Two years ago, I would never have dreamed of singing in concerts. Now, I have finished one year of singing pieces by composers from Bach to Verdi. It was such a blessing, as choral music is heavenly. This one year of singing gave me joy and the skills I needed to lead a choir.

3. I had the privilege of leading a choir at church for a whole year.
This experience was definitely humbling, especially when two years ago, I didn't know how to sing. I also had my doubts. Canaan Church was already short in workers for existing ministries, so why start another one? It was a bit confusing that I felt this calling to start a choir at that time. My church friends' commitment and heart for the Lord encouraged and reassured me, and I was humbled. I saw how the music led people to praise the Lord and gave church members an opportunity to serve in a ministry they were good at.

4. Carpool!
Now I have officially carpooled to work for two years now, first with just Byron, but now with Andrew and Sherry, as well. Carpooling saved time and money, and it gave us a chance to get to know each other better, when we were not too grumpy and exhausted from work.

5. Summer Visitors
This summer I had a lot of visitors. My mom came and visited me for a weekend before she continued her traveling to China. Ezekiel and Deb visited me from Southern California. Rob took an internship here in San Francisco, and I was able to hang out with him and play Halo together. Nina returned to California after Yale, and with Rob, we were all about to go to Monterey. Jill came for her sister's graduation, and we had just enough time to catch up over dinner. Yueqian worked in the Bay Area for the summer, and we had a chance to catch up. My summer weekends were all filled with busyness, but it was a delight to see all my friends, some of whom I hadn't seen since I left Yale.

6. Christmas with Parents
This Christmas break was probably one of the best I've had. It was just spending time with my parents, but I felt so blessed to be with them.

7. Pancake Pantry IV
As I already mentioned in my previous post, Michele, Lauren, and I had our fourth Christmas breakfast at Pancake Pantry. Always a joy to catch up with old friends.

8. Short-term Trip
After praying for over a year, I finally had the green light to go on a short-term trip. At the end of the trip, I didn't want to come back. Does the Lord have long-term missions plans for me?

9. New Home, New Friends
I moved into a new apartment in August, along with two friends from church. Since then, our home has become a de facto hang out place for church buddies. We have two living rooms and two TVs and three gaming consoles. Need I say more? Being at home now has been lively and fun, rarely, if ever, boring.

10. Doug and Resident Evil 4
Doug is in Virginia, and I'm in California. We bought the game at the same time and played together while talking on the phone, exchanging our gaming insights, excitement, guesses, and ooo's and aah's about the game. I will never forget this experience.

posted by Asterix @ 11:18 AM