miracles

155 people on board a U.S. airways flight and no fatalities, all the news stations are calling this a "near-miraculous" if not miraculous instance. It made me think that God has a unique plan for all those on board. I, like many probably, have thought before what it would be like to be in a plane that is crashing. What would my last words be or would I have the courage to help others let alone speak of Christ? This also brings the urgency of the gospel and the main purpose of life. We are here and alive post-resurrection for very important reasons. Beyond what each of our lives are directed to do by the Father in Heaven we all have one main objective... to be prisoners for the gospel. As I was praying recently this thought almost brought me to tears. We are prisoners of the gospel some of us tightly bound others loosely shackled. I found that there is no escaping this powerful thing that has captured my heart. The gospel is so strong that it defies dreams and hopes of some to become business men/women, lawyers and molecular biologists or puts you right in those places for the sake of the gospel itself. The true miracle that I "wrestle" with almost everyday is the fact that Christ would come down and die for a broken world and a sinner like me. He has plans for those 155, who knows maybe it is so that all of them would discover His love. 

Diversity in America/Chinese American

   So I am reading this book at Peet's Coffee in Cupertino about the historical diversity of America for seminary. The book is by Vincent Parrillo. One of the surprising statistics that I did not know about was that during the period of 1820-1853 only 88 Chinese immigrants entered the U.S. and in the 19th century about 1/20 were women! It is so weird reading this statistic because I am in Cupertino! I am surrounded by Asian Americans and across from me as I write this is a Chinese woman teaching her white boyfriend Chinese. The book overall is about the diversity that existed among the Native Americans and immigrants over the historical periods of America's foundation. The class is about leadership and diversity. I am noticing that we as different cultures and backgrounds bring so much to the table of diversity in America both in the past and for the future. 

   My parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1967 and I had heard that they were ridiculed and even abused for being Chinese. I can only imagine what that looked like for the 88 who came to America in search of a brighter future. This is not written to rant about how Asians are mistreated but more along the lines of admiration towards the Asian Americans who came before me. Even though they probably ended up working the railroad or laundry jobs they must have dreamed of days like these where a greater Asian American community existed and thrived in America. We are now living their dreams to some extent and I really thank God for making me Chinese American. Let's not forget that there are still immigrants in our midst that experience injustice, hardship and pain for hopes of a better future. I know that for my parents they came for the dreams of their children growing up without need and poverty. And I believe that God made us all wonderfully in His image and likeness with dreams for His children to know why they were so uniquely made...history and all included.