+FillUs

I just saw the Help, a movie based on Kathryn Stockett's book of the same title about African American maids who came forward with their stories about working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s. While non-black audiences like myself come out the theater sobbing and weeping in disgust and disbelief of the hostility towards another race, I've heard black audiences walked out tall and proud for what they and their race have lived through with dignity. Injustice disturbs our hearts. I wonder what book and/or movie the future generations will make about us and our injustice towards one another. Perhaps we also are too comfortable in our unjust acts. Courage was mentioned in two significant moments in the movie. Don't we all need some of that to do the right thing? Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we have dreamed too little, When we arrived safely Because we sailed too close to ...

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. -Isaiah 26:3 This week, I had two lunchtime run. I confess that I couldn't concentrate at my desk. Everyday, having been working and sitting down for three to four hours, I start dreaming about trails and mountains and hearing my own running footsteps on soft soil. I often wonder whether my co-workers realize how much I move around in my chair during certain time of the day. There's something else this week. I started to worry about things that I shouldn't have and lost sight of what I should keep focusing on. Running distills my thoughts. Perhaps even my life. Everything becomes simpler while I run because it reminds me once again being human and acquiring joy is simple and innate. God has designed us to be able to experience joy in running, by being in nature, and by acknowledging that He is in control. Although in return, we complicates our lives by finding our security somewhere else...

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LOST Race 2011 Lake Ontario Swim Team hosts an annual race at Lake Ontario, starting in Oakville. It began four years ago with only eight swimmers and grew to 68 last year to become the biggest swimming event in the area. This past weekend, I was in town coincidentally to be one of the 85  participants at the race. The race starts in Oakville, ON, and follows the shoreline for 3.8k / 2.4 miles to finish at the Lighthouse Pier in downtown Oakville. The lighthouse is the perfect landmark for sighting, and finishing means touching the giant Canadian Flag which drapes over the side of the pier. Water temperature was 70F, which was considered warm for Lake Ontario and to the LOSTies who were experienced in swimming much cooler water temperature. For me, it was as cold as I had ever swam. Seeing over half the people with wetsuits ease my mind for having one. Aside from cooler temperature, the water is relatively calm. It became choppier at the end when the w...

"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.  For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Jude 3-4 Suppose I have a friend Jill who told me she has a sister. I believe my friend since she has never lied to me. However, another friend of mine, Erin, insists that Jill does not have a sister. Since I have reason to believe that Jill is telling the truth, I have to disagree with Erin. While I respect that Erin has her own reason(s) to believe otherwise, I cannot - with honesty and integrity - agree with her. The bottom line is, Jill either has a sister or she does not. Whichever it is, my friend Erin and I cannot both be right. There are various ways to find out ...

Little Uno Big Deuce is a one or two mile swim at Jordan Lake, and is part of  the Triangle Open Water Mile Swim Series in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. It is also my first open water event and my first two-miler. Leading up to it, I've been uneasy about my ability to swim two miles continuously in murky water, no black line, and no end in sight. My fear is later confirmed that open water swimming is almost a different animal than pool swim.  But what I didn't account for was the new experience that I was about to engage and the excitement of it. Arriving at Jordan Lake a little after 6 a.m., the sun has just risen above the horizon. An hour later, I found myself lining up at knee-high water with the rest of the big deuce (two mile) group, waiting for the big moment to come. My race strategy is to copy the people in front of me. They run, I run. They start to drop into the water and swim. I do the same. And the rest of my plan is summed up in two words: keep swimming. ...

Being on the mountain is always refreshing. God has made everything good but I think He is especially  pleased with the mountain work. Personally, the mountain has always carried an image of God's sovereignty and associated with it a sense of freedom.  The invitation to be part of the Ethiopia project team came in today. It's a step into the unknown for me. Like repelling down the rock today, I have to let go of some of my own sense of security and trust the equipment and my partner to do their job - and therein lies my freedom.  From Heidelberg Catechism, Question 28:  What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by his providence does still uphold all things? Answer: That we may be patient in adversity; (a) thankful in prosperity; (b) and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, (c) that nothing shall separate us from his love; (d) since all creatures are so in his hand, that withou...