Live Out Loud

Every time my mom visits, I like to invite some close friends over for a meal. This has become a small tradition of sorts (and I often struggle with how to decide who to invite). 2015 - 2013 - 2011 (top to bottom) This year was the first time that the bulk of my friends who came were not Christian. And yet, my mom shared similar sentiments this time around as she has in years past--how sincere, genuine, and kind-hearted my friends are--and how happy (and approving) she is of the people I choose to surround myself with. While I was thrilled that my mom had a great time, it also made me wonder about what make us distinct as Christ-followers. More specifically, what makes me distinct? Have I lost my saltiness?

What do you look for when you travel? What is particularly intriguing to you across cultures? I discovered over lunch this week that one of my colleagues is fascinated by prisons. Yes, prisons. Her dream job is to become a prison ward some day. I have never ever heard that before from any of my friends, or anyone in my network. The conversation of course involved heavy topics such as how we feel about the death penalty, for which I had never given much thought. I left the lunch wanting to learn more, and was recommended a book - Dead Man Walking - as a starting point. I love my job and the people I work with, but finding my way through controversial conversation topics like this has been one of the most consistent challenges.

"There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man." - Martin Luther King Jr.

What I often say: "I'm not good at this" What I really mean: 'I'm not comfortable doing it, so I won't' How much easier it is to just say "I can't" than to choose to do something that's a bit uncomfortable. Change and breakthrough will come through small decisions to obey. I want to overcome

A typical lunch (Zha jiang mian), costing about $3 Food here in Singapore is very affordable, never mind tasty. For lunch every day, my co-workers and I go to the food court at our school, which has a wide range of food options ranging from $2.50-$4 (USD). When I worked at Deloitte, it would be a treat for me to eat out for lunch. Here, because it is so affordable (and perhaps even cheaper to eat out than to pack lunch), I eat out every day.  My favorite part of my job so far has been going to lunch with my co-workers every day. /// We meet for church here at the mall. That sounds a bit strange, but there are quite a lot of spaces attached to malls here so it's actually quite common. Naturally after church, we go eat together at the food court at the mall. On Sunday after church I unexpectedly ran into my co-worker at the food court. Turns out his church also meets at the same mall on Sundays :)

#1: Being able to bless co-workers through Asian buns:  I woke up late for work, leaving no time to eat breakfast at home like I usually do. I started dreaming of the Asian buns I could eat at the bakery downstairs and simultaneously thinking about how I wanted to respond to co-workers when they would inevitable wish me a happy birthday. The idea of blessing others came to mind and I ended up bringing 15 buns to the office instead of 1. I'm not sure if this was the HS but I could tell this counter-cultural act left an impression on my co-workers. Hoping people come to see over time that it is the grace of God that allows me to be this way.. #2: Discovering a surprising loophole in the airline refund system: Back in April I bought airline tickets in advance to visit my brother in Seattle during Labor Day. Of course back then I thought I would for sure be in PHL and booked tickets that way. When I found out I was leaving the country, I called American Airlines to find a way to at...

Talking to co-workers in-person instead of sending an email or instant message Having lunch together every day instead of eating at my desk Commuting an hour to get to a church gathering