Knowing that I have to attempt writing an "About Me" has the effect of leaving me frustrated. The most important things about me (and about you, I would argue) are impossible to throw in a short little section on a tiny blog in a minuscule corner of the world wide web. But maybe even just these statements tell people more about me than the things I could attempt to throw in a list (for one, the way I process the command "Write an About Me section!"). Due to the impossibility of this task, my only conclusion is that this section is not meant to be a complete picture or a completely true picture of who we are. As eternal souls created by an infinite God, we're not supposed to be able to throw who we are in lists, sentences, and even giant blocks of text. Unless we've met in person, our "About Me" sections are small strategically placed windows into our wild souls – souls that are currently being refined by the Gardener. I'm afraid the truth is that every post I throw on this blog is going to be like this "About Me" section. I'll be somewhere across the world sitting here at my computer with this same frustration, wanting to throw down every moment, thought, and feeling in my encounters with the Holy, but I will fail. I think I'm meant to fail. Everything I create and produce is only going to be a minute, muddy reflection of what is real. Forget everything I create. Everything I am on earth is only going to be a minute, muddy reflection of the image of a real, living, holy God. So cover me in grace. As my heart yearns to be able to reflect Jesus, my writing yearns to reflect my heart. I am incapable, so to the Gospel I cling. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
In honor of 11 countries, in 11 months – 11 facts about me:
- I just graduated from UCLA with a Neuroscience major this spring. Ask me something about the brain, and I'll probably tell you that we actually have no idea why or how that works. Studying the brain has been an incredibly humbling experience for me, since the more I learn, the more I realize that all this knowledge is but a drop in the ocean. "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,'declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" Isaiah 55:8-9
- My parents live overseas in Taiwan, so the only family I have in the US is my younger brother. As a result, my brother and I are pretty independent.
- So far, my travels have only taken me to Asian countries (China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia). I am so excited to finally be able to go to Africa and Europe on this trip!
- I love to read and I love to write. A few of my favorite writers are C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Malcolm Muggeridge, and Flannery O' Connor.
- It's really hard for me to differentiate between left and right. I suck at games like Simon Says (I just end up copying the person in front of me), and I cannot react quickly when someone tells me to turn in a certain direction. I've gotten a lot better over the past few years, but I still have a relatively slow reaction to directions like, "Raise your right hand!" And I guess I'll throw in a bonus here, but I also have really sweaty hands, which I warn everyone about when anyone wants to hold hands during prayer.
- I am an INTJ. Upon reading that, depending on who you are, this fact can either mean a lot or absolutely nothing to you.
- Spiders and cockroaches freak me out. Sometimes I have the courage to kill them depending on their size and location. I just need a nice, firm flip-flop to smack against the wall. Most of the time I get someone else to kill them for me while I stand on a chair somewhere.
- I don't drink anything carbonated, whether that's soda, beer, apple cider, etc. I just don't like the bubbles in my mouth.
- Although I didn't become a Christian until my college years, I attended Christian schools through parts of elementary school, junior high, and all of high school. At times I've considered it a curse, but the God who makes all things new eventually opened my eyes to what a blessing this was.
- I love to preach and teach the Bible, especially to younger girls! There is nothing more amazing than being able to take part in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:11-21) and see people cross over from death to life. I also really love apologetics. Bring on the intellectually stimulating discussions.
- Learning new languages has always been of great interest to me. I can speak, read, and write Mandarin Chinese (by virtue of being born second generation Chinese American). That's as far as my fluency goes. I did take Spanish all through high school, but it's been a few years since I've spoken it regularly, and I can speak and understand a handful of phrases in Korean and Japanese. I'm always down to learn more.
