Commit to the Lord in whatever that you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3

I'm sitting at my bistro right now. and i just feel it in my bones and in my heart. everything is going to be awesome. If God is for me than who can be against me. 2012 wow ... if u asked me at this time last year.. what i would be doing in a years time... i would of never been able of told u. i am doing what im doing right now. I sitting in a restaurant that i call my own.... hmmm not bad fio... 24 and starting up my own business..not everyone can say they have this opportunity of a life time..My hope is coming to pass.. What God has planned me for is coming to pass! It is His will.. no matter what happens in the next 5 years.. i can tell myself i tried .. i did what i always wanted to do...yet the awesome thing is new dreams are still to come...greater things are yet to come.. i wonder what lies ahead.. haha like pocahontas.. just around the river bend.


of course i couldn't have done this with out the unconditional love and support of my family. my parents believing in me and always encouraging me even at the time i truely wanted to give up. at times where i have been so unlovable to my closest people.. they still love me.. they still believe in me and gave me the best... i really miss all the ppl back home who have been there for me. i can be there for u in time of your need...

This whole year has been a testimony. A testimony of a step of faith, change, the calm before the storm, a storm, growth, perserverance, and ...

basically ..confident hope

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:3-5

count down to 2013!

2012 Drawing to an End

So much has happened in 2012 i would of never have of imagined the outcome of this year... it wasnt just one of those years that take a long time.. this year was a whirl wind.. a whirl wind of change, fun, laughter, family reunions, saddness, tears, struggles, success, growth, and courage. i have to continue to ask myself is this real life... am i doing what i am doing right now... am i seriously living in brunei, opening a bistro, and adapting to life here.. im still terrified of settling in brunei tho... coming close to my mid twenties i cant help to think about where i would want to have a family, raise kids, and livelife... i guess i really have to think about what is seriously important for me...so many things about vancouver i miss yet at the same time im ok that i miss it you know... its a weird feeling..its like emotions that have no definition hahaha =]

the last few days Robert Frost's poem has been constantly in my head... i feel like my life im taking the road not taken...im so grateful that all my circumstances have gave me experiences that trained me to be more that capable in dealing with employees, suppliers, random things... grateful that i studied in FNH now at UBC and lol and all about AGSC and food security... i want to teach ppl about food security in brunei that would be interesting...

life is so confusing right now i wish i wish i knew what is yet to come like Robert Frost said "Sorry I could not travel both." i wonder what would of happened if i never decided to come to brunei (yet that is history) ... funny i may not know what is going to happen in the future.. but i know who holds the future.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This is My life

I was reminded of this song today after having a conversation about life and life decisions...

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken
Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you've got now
Yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes

This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over

This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes

This is your life are you who you want to be?
This is your life are you who you want to be?

This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

And you had everything to lose

Electrical Circuit

Today when i was watching the electricians work on the bistro i was just blown away at the skill, complexity, and organisation needed to run a circuit board. Now i imagine every single house, every office, every place with electricity has a network of cables running through. Not just electrical cables, how about phone lines, Internet cables, tv cables, ect. WOW I've never really stopped to think about how each cable had to be installed, pulled through, and connected. Electricity is something taken so for granted until it is not available. I think our developed society has just become so used to having electricity that it has become like a right. We need it to function. We need it to survive. We need it to charge our phones, use our hair dryers, and heat up our water. However, do we think about it and really appreciate the complexity of it all.

One of the things that just struck me was that sure there can be the cables and the nice light fixtures hanging, however, really if the wires are not connected to the source, if the wires do not make a complete circuit there would be no light. A bulb without a circuit is just a bulb..
BUT a  good bulb connected shines.

When bulbs shine they complete their purpose. 

A bulb that is blown gets thrown out.

Life is like a light bulb, one has got to be connected to the source of power to shine.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

The connections we make in life is like the complex workings of the circuit wiring. It all fits together tho pre planned and organised by the electrician. Cuz they know what they are doing. From the outside point of view it just looks confusing but once the whole thing is done. It just comes together like a master piece, when the light switch is turned on. There is just an awe. and ooo.

just some random truths i thought about when i saw the electricians working just now..

The preciousness of life

within a day.
a heard about a death
i could not imagine the pain
of things that will not be experienced
loved ones who have to deal with something missing
yet there is assurance
in eternal life
goodbye
until
i see
you
again

for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3:16 NKJV

within a day
i heard about a new birth
i cannot imagine the now sleepless nights
of a baby's cry
loved ones who get to share
in the new experiences
new hopes
new dreams
a journey
to make
memories

a life ended on earth
a new life born to this world
both reasons to say life is precious
both reasons to celebrate

Music to my soul

Music has always been such a big part of my life... since a young age with typical Chinese parents i was put into piano lessons without consent LOL. i remember always crying cuz i hated practicing and i cried during my lessons cuz the teacher was mean or i didnt get it... i was too young.. it felt too hard..my hands were too small..lol... but you know through it all im so so thankful my parents put me through that... it has been the foundation to other things like playing the guitar, flute, tuba (!) lol... but really im just mediocre at the intrument playing... my real love is just listening and watching people who are amazing performers.. cheering ppl on as they perform.. esp back in the jazz band and choir days... I love how music can make you dance, cry, reminisce, relate, hope, wonder, smile, laugh.. music is used to praise. Music can stop you in your tracks and make u think.

The other day was walking out of store and i caught the song "I won't give up" by Jason Mraz playing.. and i just stopped and listen and i thought yes jason mraz totally got the lyrics right!.. its nice to hear music that has meaning these days.. it is really music to my soul...

"I Won't Give Up"

When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No: I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got, yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend
For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up, still looking up.

Happy December

Driving out of my house this morning seeing the amazing blue sky and white fluffy clouds and just feeling the warm sun, i just felt like ahh life is good. =].. no matter what the circumstances are I can praise and thank God that I'm alive.  Today really feels like a summer day back in Richmond when there are no worries in the world ahh... I thought about Steveston. and I always remember Sam getting raspberry frozen yogurt. it's his fav. I'd love to walk around the warf, check out what they were selling, all the salmon usually and prawns. When I was young my dad would let us feed the ducks and swans with bread we would bring. Hahaha i dont think there were signs that said dont feed the birds back then.... Snip Bits of good memories of the past.

I'm now looking forward to the memories I have yet to make. I can't believe it is December. I should start saying i believe instead of i cant believe LOL! It is December First. This year will be such an interesting Christmas Season. I haven't spent a whole month of December here since i was probably 9 or 10 years old. I do miss the Christmas atmosphere back home but hey who says i can't have it here right.. most of the world doesn't get cold during Christmas anyways.

By the end of this month I believe Bistro Chez Fio will be ready to open. I just know though I want to have the best start, with the best service, and the best casual comfort food Brunei has yet to see!  ahh this journey is all unfolding and wow if you told me a year or two ago that I'm going open a Bistro in Brunei I would of said really?! how?... truly God has equipped, provided, and lead. All little decisions and big decisions in life coming to this point. Even if i have thought maybe i've made the wrong decisions i know those decisions where already written in God's plan for my life.. so in the large scheme of things they weren't wrong. just a big picture thought. You know what ever happens I can say I have tried.

The old school sunday school that has been in my head these days is Christmas Is A Time to Love!
We often start to worry
And people get upset
If things don't go alright on Christmas day.
What we should remember
In all the push and shove

Is Christmas is a time to love.

Christmas is a time
Christmas is a time
Christmas is a time to love.
Christmas is a time
Christmas is a time
Christmas is a time to love.

Maybe things don't sound right
Or look the way they should
And maybe they're not perfectly in tune.
It really doesn't matter
Lets keep our eyes above
Cos' Christmas is a time to love.

"Love is more than attraction and more than arousal. It’s also more than sentimentality, like so many of today’s songs suggest. By this standard, is love dead when the emotion is gone? No, not at all. Because love is an action; love is a behavior." Rick Warren