My parents were born in China and enroute to America, lived in Hong Kong for two years where I was born. We moved to San Francisco after that and for the first two years our family of 4 lived in a van and worked at my aunt’s restaurant. We are to this day grateful for the ways these experiences shaped us.
My family has two boys and I’m in the middle, the only girl. We were taught to be independent and resourceful at a young age. My brother who was 5 years older took me to elementary school the first two years on the bus. By the time I was 7, I did the trip on my own. My parents eventually moved on to becoming contractors, doing primarily residential home repairs and remodels. We moved into a studio, and then when I was 5 bought a house so we could store all of the supplies and tools. We still all lived in one room, while turning the rest of the house into a boarding house for other renters to pay for the mortgage. I grew up sharing the bathrooms and kitchen with my family as well as other renters.
There were no Christians in either side of my family, so when I became Christian at age 12, I was the first. My parents knew that I was a churchgoer, but I don’t think it dawned on them the level of commitment I had until I was about 15 because my level of involvement kept increasing. They were not pleased and it became the source of much arguing for many years.
Since then Jesus has made himself known to several aunts and cousins and most recently (5 years ago) my older brother. (Praise God! I was so happy I cried for 45 minutes and the rest of the day felt completely surreal)
I did reasonably well in school. My parents rewarded us for good grades by giving us money. Under the guidance of my older brother, took the right classes and studied hard for tests and went to UC Berkeley. I graduated froom there with a Major in Sociology and a Minors in Business and Education. Life became much more circuitous after that.
After a botched attempt at teaching elementary school in the inner city, I went to seminary and pursued a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Western Seminary. These were some of the most healing and transformative years of my life. In the 3rd year right when I was expecting to graduate, an unexpected illness caused me to drop out of school. I spent the next year and half recovering and even moved to China for 6 months because we thought that Eastern Medicine with it’s holistic approach would be healthier. After I returned, I was much better but not well enough to handle the stresses of other peoples’ deep pains and issues. It was important for me to work somewhere that wasn’t so demanding and stressful. So I found a job as a Commercial Property Manager (It was such a God thing). It was a secure, comfortable job, and God used the season to give me stability and a rhythm that kept my heart whole. Yet I sensed He had more for me so year after year I would check in on whether this was where He wanted me. I always was assured that it was His job to initiate the seasons of my life.
And after 5 years He finally did. That time has come. I’m transitioning into the next season, and believing the World Race is the next step and the beginning of new things. I’m still not sure how it will all unfold. In the meantime I continue to say Yes to the reality that: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” – 1Corinthians 2:9.
A few other factoids about me:
- On the Myers-Briggs, I’m an EXFJ. And I love to talk about what your Myers-Briggs is.
- I’ve studied abroad a few times. Once at a language school in Beijing and another summer at Semester at Sea where we lived on a ship and went to school and traveled.
- Every year since 2007, I’ve done what a I call a Year in Review, where I read my journal and remember the experiences and lessons of the year.
- My favorite trip of all time was the year I went on a Study Tour to Israel with That the World May Know Ministries.
- I have a brown-black belt in Hapkido.
- The World Race is not something I would normally do, as I love stability and autonomy.
- I prefer hanging out with people one-on-one, or in small groups.
- I love hearing peoples stories and learning about how they live, love and experience life.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the story of Jesus in my life, I wrote out a testimony a few years ago here.
