grace j lim

i'm trying to live life day by day: grateful, humbled, and well-assured that while i don't know everything, i know that everything has a purpose. Philippians 3:12

[gracejieunlim-blog]

tan tan

Someone told me a while back that they read my blog and liked it--to my face. I couldn't help but sweat like a nervous pig and turn red like some variation of a bright, red fake cherry.

I guess I liked hearing it. But it made me feel the need to post something else--it made me feel, as silly as it sounds, that I had an audience waiting on me.

So today, I'll write about something. I'm not quite sure what. (Stay posted on my WordPress...) But I am reminded of something by Sandra Cisneros' in her November prelude to The House on Mango Street:

Whether the idea came from a sentence I heard buzzing around somewhere and saved in jar, or from a title I picked up and pocketed, the stories always insist on telling me where they want to end. They often surprise me by stopping when I had every intention of galloping along a little further. They're stubborn. They know best when there's no more to be said. The last sentence must ring like the final notes at the end of a mariachi song--tan-tan--to tell you when the song is done.

I only desire to be half as wise as her in my own writing. Girl crush, much?

[gracejieunlim-blog]

I’m latching on, babe. 

[gracejieunlim-blog]

The struggles of finding the most affordable adorable row house in Eastern Market that has a move-in/move-out timeline the same as yours, but not having a roommate to actually move in with. 

Will someone I know move to DC and live with me. 

[gracejieunlim-blog]

Your love is crashing over me Surging like a raging sea Immerse me in the wonder of Your love A downpour of unending grace Consuming all my reckless ways, My sins submerged Your love has saved my soul Your love is like a storm

[gracejieunlim-blog]

/follow me

When people say that they don't "feel close to Jesus," I ask them if they are making disciples. After all, his promise to be with us is directly tied to his command to make disciples. While every Christian wants to experience the power of the Holy Spirit, we often forget that the Spirit's power is given for the purpose of being his witnesses. Experiencing God, which is the longing of every true believer, happens when we are being his witnesses and making disciples.

There's nothing more exciting than experiencing the power of God firsthand. We would all love to stand with Elijah as he called down fire from heaven or to walk with Daniel through a den of lions or to see Peter and John tell a crippled man to stand up and walk. But these miracles happened when God's servants were being his witnesses in dangerous situations. We miss out on seeing the Spirit's power when we refuse to live by faith. We miss out on experiencing Christ when we don't speak up for him.

What's most tragic is that we could be experiencing God but instead we are experiencing guilt! Our fear of following him into a life spent making disciples leaves us feeling disappointed in ourselves. Don't you struggle with this kind of guilt?

You read the Bible and believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. You fear that those who die apart from Christ face a horrifying future. Yet for whatever reason, you've made little effort to warn your family and friends. You have neighbors, coworkers, and others you pass by daily without saying a word to them about Jesus.

You look at your life and think, This doesn't make sense! Either I don't really believe the Bible, or I'm extremely unloving. I'm more concerned about being rejected than I am about someone else's eternal destiny.

Much of my life was plagued with guilt because I knew that my actions did not make sense in light of my beliefs.

God doesn't want us to live this way. He wants us free from guilt and full of life. But the solution is not to ignore our guilt, nor is it to justify our actions, comparing ourselves to others who are just as complacent. The answer is repentance. Change. 

I see a trend in many churches where people are beginning to enjoy convicting sermons. They walk out feeling broken over their sin. The distorted part is that they can begin to feel victorious in their sadness. They boast, "I just heard the most convicting message, and it ruined me!" The focus is on the conviction itself and not the change it is meant to produce--change that doesn't necessarily follow when we stay focused on conviction. Guilt is not always a good thing. It is only good if it leads us past sorrow to the joy of repentance. 

Remember that the rich young ruler walked away sad, while Zacchaeus (who was also rich) leaped out of a tree with excitement. The difference between the two was repentance. The rich ruler was sad because he wasn't ready to let go. Zacchaeus let go of his pride and possessions to joyfully follow Jesus. This is what Christ wants for us.

It's time we trade our guilt and sorrow for the joy of the Lord. No regrets. 

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

[anamorphosis-and-isolate]

― Short Term 12 (2013) Marcus: Look in to my eyes so you know what it’s like…to live a life not knowing what a normal life’s like.

[attndotcom]

If American Jobs Require More Skill, Why Aren’t We Making College Free?

In a study conducted by Georgetown University, it was estimated that by 2020, 65 percent of all jobs will require bachelor, associate, or another advanced education degree that extends beyond the academic reaches of high school and our free education system. That goes especially for science, technology, engineering, mathematics, health care, and community service — thefastest-growing industries in our nation currently. And yet governors are still trying to slash federal funding of universities, despite this steadily increasing demand for post-secondary education. Even more interesting: according to the Center for American Progress, the percentage of people that achieve a postsecondary degree has not really changed at all in the past ten years.

[wnq-writers]

I don’t like small talk. Talk to me about life. Talk to me about your scars and the concealer you call your smile. Talk to me about the story behind your favorite song. Tell me about your dreams that sometimes seem too big for the Earth to contain. Tell me what wakes you up in the morning before your alarm clock does. Tell me about what makes shivers run down your spine. Tell me about what makes your eyes light up like the stars I can’t see in New York City. Tell me your story.

maxwelldpoetry (via aaronnnn)

[gracejieunlim-blog]

Thinking About Your Love - Skipworth And Turner (Original 12'' Version)

Skipworth And Turner

[gracejieunlim-blog]

There are those thoughts

That start leading me into thinking back to one event just earlier today, then another one a week ago, and then another that happened maybe a year ago. 

And then I'm left with one final thought: I wonder if my parents thought this way and these things in their early twenties; and if they did, then I must not be alone.  

[gracejieunlim-blog]

I don't know where to begin so I'm starting here

Probably the last update before 2015

[aaronnnn-blog]

He did not wait till the world was ready, ‘til men and nations were at peace. He came when the Heavens were unsteady, and prisoners cried out for release. He did not wait for the perfect time. He came when the need was deep and great. He dined with sinners in all their grime, turned water into wine. He did not wait 'til hearts were pure. In joy he came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt. To a world like ours, of anguished shame he came, and his Light would not go out. He came to a world which did not mesh, to heal its tangles, shield its scorn. In the mystery of the Word made Flesh the Maker of the stars was born. We cannot wait till the world is sane to raise our songs with joyful voice, for to share our grief, to touch our pain, He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

"First Coming," Madeleine L’Engle (via aaronnnn)

[collywollykinz-deactivated20170]

For this reason [God] wishes you to confess, not in order to punish you, but in order to forgive you: not in order that He may know your sin (how can that be, since He knows already?), but in order that you may learn how great a debt He forgives you.

Saint John Chrysostom   (via theplainjane)

[gracejieunlim-blog]

Mailman

Every so often, David, the mail man at our company takes a day off. When this happens, we usually get a DC-staff-wide email from Leslie who notifies us of the temp that will take over David's role for the day. 

Today is one of those days that David is out. I think a few weeks ago when David was out, there was a teen-aged boy replacing him. He wore a nice Polo and dark black slacks. Most staff must not have had complicated mailings to do or receive that day. So he just kind of sat there, upright, twiddling with his phone--but in an alert way, a humble way. Not an entitled, millenial way. 

Later, when we did that awkward shuffle thing people do in a tight space because they run into each other (because my office is near the mail center), older gentleman temp staff was the first to apologize--in that same sincere, polite, gentle, humble way he did earlier today. 

I don't know older gentleman temp staff's name. But I just looked up the email that Leslie sent out earlier this week and his name is Rudy. 

Rudy has dreadlocks running along his head down to about the very bottom of his ear. Yes, he is black. And so is David. And so is the teen-aged replacement from a few weeks ago. 

Something about all the devastation from Ferguson to Garner (and all the under-covered cases past, present, and future) has made me hyper-aware of Rudy's blackness. Of their position and status in this company. Of the subtle perceptions we must have of people like Rudy and David and teen-aged boy. Of how much more of an effort Rudy and David and teen-aged boy must have to put in to impress the people around him--to be more courteous, to be more polite, to be more kind than others around him. To be more hard-working than others around him. 

Remember how I said Rudy was wearing a striped, button-down collared shirt? How he was wearing black slacks? The ones you put on for work? The ones you put on when you put an effort into going to work? Rudy put that on for his 1-day temporary staffing while David is out. 

The rest of us here, including myself, well, we wear jeans and cotton shirts most (if not all) days. 

[ellewcee]

Eric Garner’s wife is on TV actively rejecting Daniel Pantaleo’s apology, she said she does not want his prayers, and she said that the time for remorse was when he was screaming that he couldn’t breathe, that he still has a job whereas her husband is six feet under and now she is trying to figure out how to feed her kids. 

[pixelatedboobs-blog]

Message.

[bruteforcefatigue]

Get ‘em.

[thisiswhiteculture]

i’ll wait

[crownprince81]

Damn

[huffpost]

Man Used His Olive Garden All-You-Can Eat Pass To Feed People In Need

We really hope this kind of carb loading becomes a fad.

Back in September, Matt Tribe purchased Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Pass, which –- for $100 — invited customers to eat as much pasta as they possibly could over the course of seven weeks. But the Ogden, Utah man soon realized he could nourish himself and use the oodles of noodles to help homeless people, friends and strangers, according to his website, Random Acts of Pasta.

For more on Random Acts of Pasta go here.