Live Out Loud - Adventures of a mom

As a third world kid, I always struggled to find a niche.  My dream was always to blend in.  But before you say anything, let me speak up.  This went deeper than a teenager's desire to fit in and find her place in her world.  When I say I wanted to blend in, I mean exactly that...I didn't want to stand out. No matter how much I tried, no matter how fluent my Spanish was, no matter how culturally relevant I had learned to become....I would always be Chinese first to my friends. You might smirk at what I'm about to say, because I know it doesn't jive well in our North American psyche.  But I still remember...I must have been in my tween years.  Our home's dining room had wall to wall mirrors.  And though I don't remember the context of the meeting, I remember my mom holding the two palms of her hand to the two sides of my face.  She forced me to look at myself in the mirror and asked me: "What do you see?" I got angry at mom and tried to bru...

This is a piece a student of mine wrote.  The student wants to share it with you all.  I pray this encourages you if you have been sharing your live with others, and if you haven't, that it causes you to stand up and engage in mission.  God has humbled me much in the last 2 years through many of them. May their voice bless you, challenge you and lift you up too! ************* Sandy has been  my ESL class teacher and also has taught me about the Bible for one and half years already.  I always think I am a lucky woman, because I met  her only after landing in Canada three months. I still remember it was winter of 2018, just  before Christmas. When I entered the ESL class, many students were discussing Christmas parties with Sandy. They had learned a unit on Using Western cutlery. I was attracted immediately and joined the party the next class. Sandy made a lot of different types of cookies for her students. During the celebration, Sandy gave us a speech....

 Yes, this is not a normal year.  Because of the pandemic, we cancelled our yearly camping trip to Sandbanks.  Watching the news and Twitter feeds, I just didn't feel we could truly relax and enjoy it even though the park opened in June. But as the months lingered on, we knew we needed to get out - or try to be creative.  In early July we tried.  We took a Monday off work and ventured to Sibbald Point PP for a day trip.  Not having been out for almost 5 months, we weren't sure what to expect from the park, the public and especially from ourselves. I knew they were restricting entry, encouraging social distancing and adjusted amenities and facilities.  What I didn't know was whether there would be crowds, whether they would adhere to the rules and more importantly, if I would feel comfortable. The test run was eye opening -- as soon as we turned into the park, we were met by a row of cars.  First shocker.  It wasn't crowded, don't get me wrong...