Transform the Impossible into the Possible

One of the most well-known verses in the Bible is that "nothing is impossible with God." This verse is not just some words to me- they are reality.

In my sophomore year of college, I told a professor of mine about my goal to receive straight A's in all of my courses. When I told him that I was taking 22 credits (an overload of courses), he said to me there was no way I would get straight A's in all my courses, especially his... Well I ended up getting straight A's that semester.

Sometimes, it's not even what others tell us what we can't do... it may even come from within ourselves and our own beliefs.

After falling off of a four story building in college, I thought my dream of running again was out of the question. That is because I had sustained five burst fractures in my spine. For the past few years since that incident, I was too scared to even try to run. I had an extreme fear that my back would break if I tried to run. This past summer, I started exercising and since then, I began running and am currently training for a half marathon. In the past few weeks, I have gone from running 10 minute miles to 6 minute miles. I am looking into running a full marathon next year, which has always been a dream of mine.

I recently asked somebody who had no idea about my spinal fractures about what burst fractures can do. They told me that even one burst fracture can affect body functions or cause a spinal cord injury.

The fact that I can run, or even walk in that matter, is a complete miracle and truly should not be possible.

With God, there truly is nothing that is impossible for us to do, if it is in His will. I pray that no matter what circumstance or situations you are in right now that you realize the power we can find in God. He can help you through anything; He can change any situation around and turn it into something that will change your life.

Out of the deepest pits...

I have yet to meet someone who has never been in the pit of despair- that point (or points) in your life when you do not know how you can keep moving forward. There seems like there absolutely is no hope anywhere in your life anymore. If there is hope, you definitely cannot see it or feel it.

There have been various points in my life when I felt this despair. The day my mother and I were evicted from our home, the night I found out my oldest brother died…Those days and nights seem to be numerous throughout my life.

While many people may not see being homeless or the loss of a sibling as a blessing, and even I didn’t at first, those moments in my life allowed me to grow as a person. When I was homeless, I helped build and fix homes. I also volunteered as a camp counselor at a camp for children and adults with special needs. I was overwhelmed with the hope and joy expressed in all of the people I helped that summer.

When my mother and I finally moved into an apartment, a friend of mine and I gathered donated blankets to hand out to homeless people in New York City. On Christmas morning, before we opened presents, we drove to NYC to hand them out.

We saw a man lying on a bunch of newspapers. As we approached him, we were unsure of what to say to him. We handed him two blankets and his eyes lit up. I could see his despair turn into hope. That moment was and still is such a meaningful moment in my life.

Someone close to me once said that everybody has things in their life that are beyond their control, but what we can control is how we react to those situations. There is a choice to be made…

What will your choice be?

Destressing Your Distress

We all have stressful moments. We all have moments in our lives when everything seems to be falling apart. We all have times in life when we wonder how we will ever move forward, why these things are happening to us, and how we will ever get through when all we see is darkness.

My mother often told me growing up that when there is a storm in your life, you can try to go around it, you can try to go under it, you can try to go over it, but the only real way is to go THROUGH it. When there is a storm in your life, you need to go through it.

We all have things in our lives which we cannot control. It may be you, a family member or a close friend receiving news that they have a life-threatening illness. Recently, many of my family members and friends were greatly affected by the superstorm Sandy. Though we cannot control life events like these, we CAN ultimately control our responses to them and I am here to tell you that our response makes all the difference.

When you feel like there is nothing going right, concentrate on what you have- no matter how small or big. I had many times in my life when I did not know how I would get through, but being thankful for the little moments helped me tremendously.

I can honestly say that some of the worst moments in my life have actually been some of the most blessed moments in my life as well. A few months ago, I had a dangerous reaction to medications to the point that I became severely disabled. I could not talk easily, walk well or really do anything I am so used to doing. I had to deal with this condition for a little over a week and at one point, I realized that it was very possible that I would have to deal with this severe physical disability for the rest of my life. I wrote this prayer to God during that time. Since that hospitalization, my life has transformed in unimaginable ways, because I realized how truly fortunate I am.

Dear God, thank you for the fact that I can see even if my eyes don't stay in one spot, that I can walk even with a limp, that I can speak even slowly with a stutter, that I can laugh even with all of this, that I can pray to you quietly and you hear me, that I can sing to my favorite Christian music silently and in my head, that I can hear the music and the bible verses read to me. I know in my heart you will use me as a testimony and witness of your goodness and grace, no matter what lies in the future. I am not afraid, for I know you are with me and always have been. I love you so much. Amen

Struggling to Emerge

I enjoy cooking since I started learning to cook this past summer. A few days ago, I went to the grocery and I decided to attempt to make meringue cookies. The recipe I found only called for a few ingredients so I thought to myself “Well this should be easy…”

Think again.

The first time I attempted to make the meringue cookies, I beat the eggs and cream of tartar. The next step said to add sugar. I did not read thoroughly enough, because I added the sugar all at once. The meringue consequently came out runny. The sugar was supposed to be repeatedly added in very small amounts and then mixed in.

After I made this mistake, I realized that transformations in our life are analogous. Sometimes we ask God to change our financial situation, our emotional situation, our mental situation, our physical condition, etc. We get frustrated when He does not always answer our prayers immediately and sometimes we attribute it to God not listening or not caring about us.

The truth is that transformations in our lives need to be gradual, just as I needed to add very small amounts of sugar in at a time. Sometimes if our lives change too much too quickly, it is more challenging to us. Ultimately, God has the perfect timing and He DOES care for you and He DOES listen to you. He is with you every step of the way, even when you may not feel Him.

Sometimes the struggles and obstacles in our lives are exactly what we need to grow and to move forward. I read a story about a man who saw a butterfly struggling to emerge from a coccoon. He wanted to help it, so he cut the coccoon. However, the butterfly was not able to fly because without the struggle to emerge, it did not have the strength it would have had if the man had not cut the coccoon. The man thought of the immediate solution to the problem he saw in front of him, but God sees the entire picture of our lives. He has a plan for us and He will never leave us nor forsake us.

The Meaning Amidst the Noise

As an engineer, I have learned about noise in signals. If there is too much noise, the signal is lost. The aim of signal processing is to make the signal more clear.

In our society, there is a lot of noise and this noise makes it very difficult to hear the voice of God. If you turn on your TV, you are bombarded by commercials that tell you that you are not beautiful enough, not smart enough, not skinny enough, not popular enough, not rich enough... The list goes on.

I am without a TV, a laptop, a car, an iPod and now a Facebook. To me, this is not deprivation. I feel that true deprivation in life is not knowing God's love and not being able to hear His voice.

God created you and because you are His child, you are:

beautiful enough

smart enough

skinny enough

popular enough

rich enough

_____________ (fill in the blank)

Whatever you are struggling with, know that you are always good enough. Whatever mistakes you have made in the past, you are forgiven and you can move forward.

By listening to and deciphering God's voice amidst all the noise of this world, you can find the meaning in your life.

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." -Psalm 139:14 (KJV)

Broken into Beautiful

As many people did yesterday across America, I cooked a lot of food, including cranberry sauce. It was my first time making cranberry sauce and as I watched the cranberries transform, I thought about life.

Sometimes in life, we are forced to go through some storms and we become broken. Similarly, as the cranberries heat up, they become cracked. This is the first sign of transformation from a cranberry into something beautiful. Through this transformation, the cranberries start melting together. God continually molds us and shapes us into His likeness through these storms in life.

Being broken and going through this transformation is not an easy task, but with our faith in God, we are able to do the impossible and to overcome any storm that comes our way. Life is full of constant transformations; there usually are more than one. Sometimes we feel so overwhelmed, but we do not have to worry about our future. God is with us through it all; He is fighting there right beside us. We are never alone.

The Start of a New Journey

I really feel called to create this blog because I want somewhere where I can keep track of all that God is teaching me, while also providing people with a place to see my art, photography, etc. Over the first 23 years of my life, I have been constantly amazed by the beauty of this world, even amidst the storms (both literal and figuratively).

My hope is that this blog can reach at least one person, because, to me, success can't be measured by the amount of money in your bank account, but the amount of love in your heart and how much you help those around you. To help others in this life is of much greater worth than any material possession. The material possessions can be broken or destroyed but our relationships and how we transform the world lasts forever.

Thank you for visiting my page!