Do you wonder why you have to feel the things that hurt you?
If there's a God who loves you, where is He now?
Or maybe there are things you can't see.
And all those things are happening to bring a better ending.
Someday, somehow you'll see, you'll see.
Would you dare, would you dare to believe
that you still have a reason to sing?
'Cause the pain that you've been feeling,
it can't compare to the joy that's coming.
So hold on, you gotta wait for the light.
Press on and just fight the good fight.
'Cause the pain that you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning.
My friend, you know how it all ends and you know where you're going.
You just don't know how you'll get there, so say a prayer!
And hold on, 'cause there's a God who loves you.
But life is not a snapshot.
It might take a little time, but you'll see the bigger picture.
Once you feel the weight of glory, all your pain will fade to memory.
Come on, you gotta wait for the light.
Press on and just fight the good fight.
'Cause the joy that you've been feeling,
it's just the hurt before the healing.
Oh the pain that you've feel feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning.
-Josh Wilson-
I adore this song. I don't think I've changed my radio from Praise 106.5 for the last two years, because the songs are so uplifting and constantly surrounds me with God's love. Josh Wilson's song "Before the Morning" really helps remind me that the pain we experience is always there for a reason, and it paves a path for a better ending. Just have faith in God with whatever happens in life. Without suffering, we will not understand compassion. Without the poor, we will not appreciate our riches. When we focus on the negative, things only seem to get worse and often times we make crazy decisions during our depressed times which just leads to more pain. But it's undeniable that worst of times brings out the best in some people and God's grace is manifested. That Light is what makes life worth living.
It's been awhile since the last update. A lot has happened since then with the building up of Envy Me being the biggest one. I've decided to leave my beauty blogging on my new website (elenatsang.wordpress.com) which is also the website you can refer friends to if they want to see my make-up work =)
This blog is now dedicated to my encounters, musings, and walk with God - the basis of my life. This Easter, I've felt less emotional than other years. But in quiet realization, I've decided to revive my bible study life. My faith is always and has always been there, and it does not sway (at least not dramatically). However, I've always neglected picking up the bible and really getting to know God's word. After watching the Discovery Channel show "Who Framed Jesus?" I felt like there is a need to know the Scriptures well to be able to not be swayed by documentaries who use Scriptures to deduce their conclusions my faith.
God has really blessed me over the past year. I have no complaints, other than my own behaviour being less than pleasing to God (forgive me please!). Everything has been smooth sailing. With the cutting back of teachers, I've yet to feel the sting of the axe (though I can't say for sure since 100 teachers are supposedly going to be laid off this year in Richmond). Envy Me has been provided with multiple blessings in its growth - God sending the right people to help develop us and give us a brighter future. My career, despite the hard work I need to put into it, feels like it's riding on the will of God. Even if this all changes tomorrow, I'm not worried because who's to say that God doesn't have a bigger and better plan for me? Life is good.
Above you see the "Thomas Paul Cotton Gauze Scarf in Swoop Aqua! This scarf is 100% cotton, and has been beautifully hand-screened by the fabulous designer Thomas Paul."
How would I wear this scarf? Since the scarf is light coloured and very intricate in design, I wouldn't want my outfit to take away from it at all. And to be true to my own style, denim is a must. So my outfit would compose of:
A simple, black, v-neck cotton shirt or sweater
A pair of plain gray or dark blue straight-leg jeans
Black (or aqua since I love colourful shoes and it matches with the scarf!) pumps
And perhaps a set of small silver dangly earrings
This contest is open to Canada/U.S. To visit Tessa's blog, click on this post title :)
For women, at least for me, finding a great bargain makes a shopping trip just so worth it! Don't need to buy a lot. Just a few lovely items will make my day.
Saturday, Jay and I drove down to the states just to chill, and since people were coming up for the Olympics rather than going down, there were no line-ups at the border (yay!) . After watching the vlog of MissChievous (youtube her! She's fab!) I went to the Cosmetic Company Store in Seattle Premium Outlets and picked up these:
The Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Platinum Pink. This is great to giving you that healthy glow, especially nice on people with fair skin. Normally $40, I picked it up for $25. I wanted the Shimmer Brick in Copper Diamond as well but it was $3 more so I cheaped out. The colours are beautiful and can be worn over your favourite blush because it's so sheer.
MAC pigments. I was jumping-out-of-my-jacket excited when I saw this at the store! I really wanted to get this set during the holidays (it's one of three of the holiday gift collections of 2009) but it was around $38, which was a bit pricey for me. I wanted it so badly, particularly because of the glitter that I placed right in front. It's so amazingly shimmery, it looks like the night sky. My friend bought it at The Bay MAC counters because they were sold out in the MAC stores. Unfortunately, make-up artist discounts don't work at The Bay locations, so I couldn't make myself pull out the bills. I am on a budget after all. I had to step back and have a wee bit of will power. Well, that sure paid off! I found this gem for $22.75! It was such a great deal, I purchased the pink/purple set as well for Paula's birthday since they're her favourite colours. So excited I practically skipped out of the store back to my car.
The Forever21 store in Metro is great but they should have a For Love 21 here as well. It's a great accessory store, branched from Forever 21. It's way cheaper and the stuff is much nicer than Claire's/Icing/Ardene. I bought these lace stockings for $5.80 each. Love them! I actually love stockings or leggings in general because I don't like showing bare legs unless I'm dying of heat, and they really dress up a mundane outfit. I already have multi-coloured ones and polka-dots!
On top of these, I purchased a couple of shirts, but not really worth showing.
Dinner was at Outback Steakhouse. I gotta say this is my favourite place for steak - EVER! I'm definitely a steak person. The sheer pleasure of eating a perfectly cooked filet tenderloin is indescribable. It's probably the second time in my life that I've ever had steak that melts in your mouth (first time was in Las Vegas - Paris Hotel - Le Cafe). It's so delicious! And they sure know how to cook their steaks. Usually when I order medium-rare, it comes out as medium. Never as juicy as I'd like it to be. We ordered a 20 oz Porterhouse steak with two sides (garlic mashed potatoes and sweet potato), which was plenty for the both of us to share. Here's the kicker - $26.95! You can probably get a 6oz steak at Milestones for that price. We ordered the same steak at Shore Club for $50 and I think this one tastes even better. Not to mention the service is great, and I don't have to dress up and yet still feel inferior while I make a mess cutting and eating my free loaf of bread =D Ah, my tongue is still dancing.
With the Olympics going on, you see all these athletes who have trained so hard to get to where they are. Part intense training, part natural talent, and part being able to be in the right place at the right time and meeting the right people. Certainly blessed.
A major hindrance in attaining such dreams in Canada? The typical Asian life: you work hard in school to get good grades so you can get into a good university where you can either study to be a lawyer, doctor, accountant, or a teacher. I know I fall under that category. And even now, I see parents pushing their kids to take physics and biology and chemistry and anything that doesn't fall under those academic courses are considered useless for their future. Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. Oftentimes, Asian parents pigeon-hole their kids into very specific careers that are limited to only a small population. The moment they don't do well in these subjects, tutors are hired, pressuring these kids to cram into their minds what is naturally difficult for them, while the skills they may have remain hidden and unseen. Kids start to think "I'm stupid." Well, do these kids have any dreams of their own? Do they know what their passion is? When they're in class, are they motivated to learn or just motivated by marks? Are their careers and futures their own decisions or their parents? Would they ever learn to make their own life decisions? Hmmm...that's a thinker.
On a different note, I was also thinking, wouldn't it be great if we can take a baby and through analysis of their brains and body, we can determine what their are naturally built for? Such as a body that is ideal to learn dance, or a mind that is ideal to learn math. Wouldn't it be great if everyone was able to start from what their good at rather than so much trial and error? Some people may never realize their skills because they've just never been given the opportunity to use them and hone them. Isn't it a waste? Jay brought up a good point - it wouldn't be much fun if everyone was good at everything. There would be to proteges because everyone would be one. I do agree with that on many levels. I suppose that just came from my own regrets on not being able to follow my own dreams.
I wanted to learn wushu, my parents put me in piano because it was more feminine. When given the opportunity to learn wushu in a secondary school extracurricular club, I took it. But eventually the class size dropped and I was the few people left, then class disappeared all together. Oh well, kicking-butt-super-woman dream was gone.
I wanted to be a fashion designer, my parents wanted me to go into university because fashion design was not 'practical' and there would be 'no jobs' for me. So, I go through my relatively mundane university life while watching others around me living the dreams that I originally wanted. I remembered ever since I was in elementary school, I created my own fashion booklets and designed dresses. I adored beautiful clothing and I would copy what I saw. Come to think of it, how many kids already knew what they wanted to be at that age? Even with my small amount of training, I was told by my textiles sponsor teacher that I had the best skills of any other student teacher she's had, and that I would go far if my skills were more developed. This coming from an extremely skilled lady with extremely high expectations, who have seen and brought up many talented designers. Receiving a compliment from someone I admired so much, I was happy at that moment but my heart also dropped. I had that passion and the skill and I let it slip away because of my pigeon-holed lifestyle. Unfortunately, I would not be able to drop all my responsibilities right now to pursue that dream.
Am I totally hating my life right now? No. Am I blessed? Yes. Would I be who I am right now without having lived through my 'mundane' life? Nope. Do I dislike my parents for not supporting my dreams? Definitely not. I understand that they come from a much more underprivileged background and came here so that I could live a better life. And in their eyes, it means getting a university education and a safe, steady job.
In general, each person has a path and I don't know how things would have turned out if I had followed my dreams, but that's not important anymore. I am happy with the many blessings that I have been given. The take-home message that I learned from these experiences is what I can do with it. To all the students I'm teaching and eventually when I have a children, I want to be a person who is supportive of their dreams. I want to be able to pick up on what they love and point that out to them. I want to be the one to open their eyes to the hundreds of careers out there that would utilize what they CAN do and not force them to fit a mold of what others feel is acceptable. Parents should hire tutors to help kids get further ahead on what they love, rather than hiring a tutor to push them into studying more of what they hate. God has given each person talents/gifts, so use them for His glory! The kids will be happier and the world would benefit from their skills.
Today, I finally learned the origin of Valentine's Day. Apparently, there was a priest named Valentine who was martyred for his beliefs. However, he was filled with so much love that he continued to love those who persecuted and eventually killed him.
Most people relate this holiday to chocolates and roses and romantic feelings between couples. Who really knew that the origin was rooted in something not so romantic, but courageous and admirable? So...shall we say 'happy holidays' to be politically correct? ;)
Here are some photos of delicious Valentine's Day treats I taught my classes. You can make them, too!
Quick Chocolate Cake that I made with the Grade 9/10s. Not the best quality as I stole it from my student who took a picture of my demo cake with his camera phone.
Valentine Napoleons that I made with the Grade 11/12s. The puff pastries were a pain to work with but the product is beautiful.
So to all people who love someone, anyone, or everyone - Happy Valentine's Day!
