It didn’t take long till the old routine came back into play. Those short visits home during the year were like little vacations, you know where everything is great and you’re just enjoying it, but of course paradise doesn’t last forever. The things I left behind for a year is now right back in my face, all the responsibilities, the fights, and the never ending list of errands to do. I’m either taking one of my grandpas or my grandmas to the doctor, solving issues for the house, making phone calls, settling problems, or baby sitting my parents. Today, I am sitting in my room with the familiar sound of those precious fights that I became so accustom to over the years. During its climax, when the violence kicks in that’s my cue to jump up and return to my position as referee. However, this time around I’m looking at everything from a different perspective. The same pattern of things are happening, but rather through my eyes I’m doing my best to see things from His viewpoint. Before leaving Austin, I received a letter from a very close brother of mine. I want to share a little bit of that here today, because those words have really helped me these past couple of weeks I have been home.
“…if you truly believe that God is sovereign and that He has a plan for you and your parents, and that your parents are in fact in His ‘book of life’, then the real battle is not between your testimony and their doubts and insults. The real battle is between God and Satan. Step back a little form your ‘mission’ (which is to be a witness to your parents/family) and see that every time you go home, it’s not against your parents that you are fighting against, but against the devil. And ultimately, if you have faith and believe that God truly does want your parents to be saved, it’s a guarantee victory…. God always wins every battle with Satan. And yours, and ours, strength comes from the fact that God is sovereign and that we have won the ultimate battle with Him”
Amen. Yes, it may be a little tiring each day and I may lose hope on other days but no matter what is happening I am comforted by the fact that He already won. It may be hard to see Him working when the efforts seem fruitless, but He is indeed here and doing more than I can imagine myself. But, I do ask for prayers. My parents are in desperate need of the Lord. May their hearts be soften and their eyes be open to be able to see and experience that love He has for them. And yes, we’re getting back to the swing of things as He continues to do what He does best which is love, support, and protect us.
Unfortunate events like this happens all the time. One of the trees in the alleyway snapped a few days ago and fell onto both ours and the neighbor’s fence. It wasn’t any small tree, it was at least a forty year old tree. Well, my father had quite a temper when the city came to give us a notice to remove the tree. He didn’t think it was fair to make us responsible when the tree wasn’t on our property. After a lot of ruckus, my father couldn’t deny taking responsibility anymore. It was part of city code, our house deed and the law. However, he continued to be irritated saying “it’s the law, but it isn’t fair”. He kept forcing my brother and I to do things to try to make it “fair” or to get it the way he wants. But our efforts failed. As we were doing the last few things we could to try to get the city to help us out, most definitely He was watching over us. We were trying to clean up the few pieces of wood we can with our small chainsaw then two men appeared. They were actually our neighbors on the other side of the alley. Rather than charging us or asking us for anything, they volunteered to come over to help us. A job that would have cost us at least $1,000, they offered to do it for free. All day we joined hands to get te job done. While they were sawing off the branches and parts of the tree, we carried everything to place against our fence line until the city comes for brush removal in a couple of months. While life may not always be fair, I believe and trust that God is there helping us. I hope my dad sees it too. It wasn’t a coincidence that our neighbors are skilled in landscaping and trees. A team of a total of six people, we removed the tree that snapped and the tree next to it in order to prevent future damages. God’s grace was most definitely here today. Praise the Lord!
Sidenote: Today, I had plans to go to Austin to play some flag football with Texas Epic. But as you can see that did not happen. Instead, I woke up at 7AM to take my grandma to a doctor appointment that took over three hours and right afterwards came home to do a ton of manual labor. I must say I got in my arm workout for the day alright. Point is, sometimes you’re going to have to make sacrifices and your plans may not always go as you wish. I thank God for my growth this past year allowing me to be able to see life through more of His eyes than my own.
He is always working through every aspect of our lives. Don’t ever doubt it. God is truly good.
Cancer. A six letter word that has stoled so many precious people out of our lives. I came upon this song a few days ago when I heard it on The Voice. While listening to the lyrics, the sole thing I thought about was my aunt. She passed away in 2005 from Breast cancer when I was about ten years old. I don’t have many regrets, but most definitely one of my greatest regrets is not being there for her to get her through it. Before her diagnosis, I was very mean to her. I mean as a child I didn’t know any better. My aunt didn’t know much English and after a prior incident in her life she has always been quiet. I used to make fun of her and tricked her into doing things. After her diagnosis, I knew better to not be mean to her but my priorities were all out of order. At the time, I was currently in a “Star Wars” remake youth film with some students from my elementary. Instead of visiting my aunt over the weekends, I spent consecutive weekends filming. The weekend I finally decided to go visit her, we received the phone call that morning. That June, she was gone. My memories of her has slowly faded away through the years and now I can only remember the bad things I did to her and her cooking. I wish I could have sang her that song and told her “I’m gonna love you through it”. This upcoming February, I am hoping to be able to run in the Livestrong Half-Marathon. I’ll be running for my aunt. One of the things I can do for her here on earth, before I reunite with her up in heaven <3
It’s been a while since I have actually wrote on here rather than posting a video of some sort. It’s the middle of the last week of classes and suddenly I have all of this ambition. This year has truly been a year of challenges and new experiences. My faith has taken me to so many places I haven’t thought I’ll ever go. Here I am, a few months after the day I moved into my dorm room, and it seems as if I’m living in someone else’s life. I can’t even imagine how I lived a year ago. Surprisingly, a lot has changed but at the same time not much changed. He was truly evident in my life these past few months and I just can’t resist but smile has I reflect on everything that happened. I thank Him for the ups and downs, because that is how I got to where I am right now. Finals just a few days away, but I have so much peace in my heart that I’m not afraid or stressed. Of course, I’m worried whether I’ll do well but all I can do is do my best, right? He will take care of everything and I’ll trust Him with whatever the outcome may be. It is barely the end of my freshman year in college but there is so much I want do before I walk across that stage. I want to write enough poems to have my own chapbook, I want to get into a Poetry Slam team, I want to win a Poetry Slam, I want to write a novel, I want to jump out of a plane, I want to get into med school regardless of whoever questions my abilities to do so and I’m not going to lie but I want to meet the person God has planned for me, to experience a Christ centered relationship. So much excitement for what He has in stored for me, and recently I discovered something I hadn’t notice before and that was passion. I’m starting to feel passionate in pursuing my dreams, my goals. The few randoms thoughts floating through my head right now.
Hi, my name is Kim Vu And I’m going to tell you a little story That maybe you could relate to
I was born and raised in Texas Where we have tacos for breakfast We go grocery shopping at H.E.B. And we drink ice cold sweet tea Of course I can’t forget that sometimes we like to believe we’re our own country While the rest of the world thinks that’s pretty funny
Well I have a mom, a dad and a brother But the thought of us being a family sometimes makes me shudder Let me backtrack a few years So the story can be a bit more clear My mom is the middle child in a Chinese family with ten kids Lets just say she kinda felt like just a number And with this thought she started to develop this constant hunger My father, a rebellious boy he was Traveled the deep seas So he could finally be free But unknowingly he became a slave to Satan’s army My parents got married in 91 Then a year later they got their first son I came along in 94 And that was the start of my war
For as long as I can remember I kept searching for an answer As a ten year old, life was suppose to be easy I mean how hard could elementary be Honestly you could be quite carefree But that just wasn’t the life chosen for me Not even to the slightest degree Each day at home felt like I was in the center of a battlefield And through all the wounds, I never fully healed Words of anger would fire across the room A hatred that fully consume Arms and legs attacking one another As all sense became smothered Without a thought in mind My mother truly became blind She couldn’t see the purpose of life And kept trying to end it with a knife Being led by the works of evil My dad’s spoken words became lethal An overwhelming force started to compel me To take on the responsibility of being the referee I’m not sure at what point I decided to take on this greater role To think that I alone could keep my family whole The numerous attempts I took to stand in between That slowly it just became a routine Then one day the anger I had inside Greatly intensified Until I decided that He was disqualified And didn’t deserve to be glorified I wanted someone to take the blame For all the pain that’s attached to my name I became filled with disgust To think He could possibly be just All I was able to do was constantly wonder why Why me? Why this? Why now? I looked up to the heavens asking if you’re such a mighty God why is there so much suffering?
And in that moment of frustration I heard His voice roar through the nations “I’m here dear I have been standing right by side every day of the year “ But I questioned if that was true Seeing that I have been doing all of this alone without you Yet he responds,” Sweetie, you’re simply human Do you really believe these are all your doings? “ Realizing here is the king Who is in charge of everything Yet I tried to take control To be the owner of my soul But it wasn’t me who paid the price It was Him who made the sacrifice To save me from being lost He suffered a personal cost For His love has no ends Even if I try to pretend That my strength carried me through It was truly Him who came to my rescue
The veil was lifted from my eyes Revealing all of Satan’s lies All the times I felt abandoned The ache in His heart deepened For it was me who built up the walls And couldn’t hear his calls But He never chose to forget or became upset He waited patiently Until I returned faithfully I gave Him back His throne Knowing that He will take care of me to my every bone This life I once knew Was about to be renew I will cease to exist in my old nature For He has arranged something greater Taking my final breath As I accept my death Without any hesitation He made me into a new creation Understanding that this is the ultimate key
Thank you, For your support spiritually and financially. It truly blessed me with an amazing learning opportunity in the city of Chicago. God revealed to me His heart for the world, for the city of Chicago, for Austin and UT campus, and lastly for me.
So like many other teenage girls, I fell in love The butterflies, the gushy mushies, the late night phone calls What can I say he was my knight and shining armor A sweet talker and a charmer How thrilled I was to be embraced in his secured arms As he protected me from all harms Well or so I thought I was walking down a road of endless deceptions Where I was only blinded by my lack of perception And my desire for constant perfection I thought I saw a path to achieve forever happiness But I was only fooling myself down a track of eternal emptiness I fought and sought to find a solution But in fact I was just drowning in a pool of confusion Deceiving myself thinking he could satisfy my needs However it was just a scheme of manipulation and greed
What did I say I fell into, love? A love so shallow that no matter how much I put in, it continued to be hallow Giving my mind, body, and soul to this boy Hoping that I’ll be more than just a toy Disrespecting myself, losing my way For what, to be a piece of meat one day
A shattered heart combined with an absent of self worth Impelled me to question if I was even meant for this birth And in that moment of desperation I received words of affirmation From a man whose love is boundless His love so strong leaving me speechless For years I chased after an imitation Only to realize it was merely the acts of temptation Being fooled to believe His love could be replaced But frankly I was avoiding His grace Unaware of His efforts to bring me back I carelessly left room for evil attacks
Yet He continued to persist Until resistance wasn’t an option And I accepted His adoption It was His goal to make it known That He was my cornerstone And that I have never been left alone Aimlessly looking for a Disney like love story That I became oblivious to His profound glory
Here was the creator And I the traitor Disobeying His every request Yet he continue to believe I am the best No matter how much I sin He reminded me that I was His kin I pursued a love that had an expiration date When His love perpetuates till I reach His heaven gates Tainted and ashamed, I felt so unworthy But he never stopped showing me His mercy Without any prior condition, submission or recognition He sacrificed his life For my redemption, salvation and abolition He freed me from any bondage, breaking all the chains For me to be alive, to witness his reign His love so immense, It just doesn’t make sense So indescribable yet so desirable I find it so hard to believe that he chose me before I was even conceived Contemplating my insecurities Yet he constantly reminds me of my abilities Questioning my identity When He already knows my destiny He prepared a life of greatness For me to go out to reach the nations And in these acts of declaration
I can proclaim that I am the daughter of a loving Father
