WHEN JOY OVERCOME SADNESS

Yayyy, it's finally Friday. Next Monday is Memorial Day. So it's not an ordinary weekend for everybody. It's a long weekend. But it's an even longer weekend for me because I'm taking a 4-day vacation next week to chill out with my mom, dad, sister, aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins in FL. Wahooo.

Today is quite a day for me. I had an accident on my way back home. I couldn't make it to a complete stop when I changed lane; and the car in front of me stopped. The gentleman and I weren't physically hurt by the accident. His back bumper was peeling and got some minor scratches. However, Skippy wasn't in her best condition. Her right headlight, radiator, bumper, grille, and the hood need to be replaced. Having settled the accident, the gentleman left cause his car was still mobile. Unfortunately, Skippy couldn't go too far cause she's overheated (Oh come on .. it's summer. Everybody would be overheated ;-) ). So, I claimed the accident to my insurance company. The representative was very helpful. He's very subtle and able to cheer me up with his jokes. I guess it has been his nature after all huh. Part of the job indeed!

Long story short. My insurance company paid for the towing to the Honda Collision Center and repairmen costs. My beloved brother and sister, Dani and Yvonne, were there to help me get things settled before the long weekend starts. By the end of the day, I got all paperworks done for my claim and leave a burden behind before the trip to FL tomorrow.

It came to my mind at some points of why this thing happened to me today. I came home and had my quiet time. And God answered my prayer through some reflection thoughts of what happened today. It's true that the accident wasn't a pleasant thing to happen to anybody. But then God revealed to me all the beauties of today:

- Today, I realized that God had really given me the amazing brother and sister here in Dallas. Dani is rarely be home by 6PM. But today is one of the summer Fridays where he is only required to work for 5 hours. So, he's home by 3PM. When I called him after the accident, Dani and Yvonne came to pick me up from the place of the accident, accompanied me to wait for the Tow Jam to come, brought me some refreshments, drove me to the Honda Collision Center to have my paperworks processed, cheered me up, took me out to a nice dinner at Chilli's, comforted me, and drove me back home.

- Today, I checked with the immigration lawyer that my H-1B application was filed on May 12th. So, the next thing is to wait for the INS' confirmation (hopefully by the end of this month or next week).

- Today, my mom, dad, and sister made it safe to Florida. They flew out from Vancouver. Regardless of the long flights, they're all healthy and ready for the U.S. trip which starts tomorrow.

- Today, Marcel as usual supported me no matter what my condition was. One of the encouraging messages from him was: "It's alright, honey. People do make mistakes. Take this as your opportunity to learn. Things happen, expected and none. Pray to God and calm down! At least no one got hurt and things were taken care of. Enjoy your trip and continue to be a blessing to your family."

- Today, I had met and been helped by friendly and helpful people. The insurance company's representative was very helpful in getting my claim processed and my car towed to the Honda Collision Center. The Tow Jam's driver helped me get my Skippy to the Collision Center and said, "Good luck with the car!" before he left. You know how it meant a lot to hear that from him at that moment? Then, Joe, one of David McDavid's collision representatives, worked extra hours to get my paperworks done and processed. I greatly appreciated his effort cause I had kept him from enjoying his long weekend.

- Today, the gentleman that I hit wasn't injured; neither was I. And he's being nice throughout the settlement process too. He didn't scold nor being rude. That really helped the situation

Anyway, what I can take on from today is that: "There was ONE unpleasant thing happened to me today. But there were too MANY pleasant things for me to be thankful for." In the end I just thank God for letting me experience today :-D

God bless you all and have a great long weekend!

MY HERITAGE

Last week my friend Heather sent me the link to MyHeritage. I didn't check that out till I got home from Tucson. It's a fun website you guys.


I was just playing around with some pictures. So first I uploaded marcel's picture and mine. Hahaha, it's so funny. From all female options for me, I picked Serena Williams, although according to the database I look more like Bonnie Pink (63%). Who knows, maybe in the next 5 years I will become a tennis player. HAHAHA, I wish. And as for Marcel, wow, his options are pretty wide. He's got Barry Levinson, Larry King (haha), Matthew Perry, Gary Oldman, Aki Hakala, Matthew Lillard, Elton John (big ha ha), Elvis Costello, and Nigel Short. Since I don't feel like dating some old guys :-), I decided to pick Matthew Perry instead. Well, I like Chandler anyway. So, why not pretend like I'm dating him. *so pathetic huh?*


My excitement didn't stop there. I tried Evelyn's picture. Out of all the matching faces, I fell in love with Hillary Clinton. And I think she suits Evelyn's character too (not that I know Hillary very well though). To me, Evelyn is a very strong woman. She does not look masculine or anything like that. But she is a very strong woman inside and intellectual. Just like Hillary. Alright don't get too political now, I must stop. Anyway, Evelyn can choose to look like Marilyn Monroe; but she doesn't have the mole. Beyonce is also on the list. But Evelyn's hair is short. Or Annette Bening could also be an option. Too bad, I don't think Evelyn looks like Annette though.


O.K. It's Carol's time. Victoria Adams and Caroline Sim. They both definitely have british accent when they speak. And Carol has as flat a stomach as Victoria. And then me me me. I think because of my bangs in this picture the database match me up with Jessica Alba. But in reality, that is far from being true hahaha. Oh by the way, I miss Carol so much. I went to Tucson last weekend. And Carol's supposed to be there too. Since we were attending different people's graduation, it was such a hurdle to meet her. So in the end, I left Tucson without meeting Carol at all. How sad!!!


OK. It's a big question mark now. Are Brook and Ellie really twins? Cause according to the database Ellie is Korean and Brook is Chinese. Hahaha. But it's O.K. They are both equally famous in their country.

Last weekend I was officially adopted as the youngest daughter in the Changs family. Brook's mom has renamed me too. I'm now Ani Chang. Hahaha. That name is too odd for me. I like Yanny Lim better though. And plus I don't speak Chinese. So no matter how hard I tried to speak with my newlyadopting parents, I just couldn't get my message straighten out. Haiyah.


Like I always said. Tracy does look like Kristin Kreuk. Well, Tracy doesn't believe me. But I was skipping once I found out that Kristin Kreuk's on the list for Tracy. Wahoo... Oh oh, Katie Leung is also on the list. But no, my Tracy doesn't play in Harry Potter. She's in Superman :-)

Ohh, I love spending time at Tracy's Inn. It's not like an inn at all. It's more of like bed and breakfast kind of thing. I got Vietnamese dumplings for my breakfast on Sunday before I left for Dallas. Isn't that great?

Ohh, I miss my crying little sister, Tracy, already.


You have reached the voice message system of {long wait} "Anh Le." Please record your message after the tone!!! Ay-yay-yay. I miss Anh and her voice mail a lot. Now her Salma Hayek's smile is added into my Anh-to-be-missed list too. Ohh, Anh Anh.

Oh by the way, Anh will be the first one among the sisters to go to the graduate school. What a dedicative student she is!









They both have beautiful voice. And I just discovered that Valerie does have a similar type of smile as Kelly's. Wahoo. That's awesome.

WHAT IS TOO BIG FOR GOD TO SOLVE?

In my Female Transit Bible Study last week (Monday, April 24th), Lyndsay asked every one of us this very challenging question:

"What thing is too big in your life that you think God cannot solve?"

And it's been over a week now since the last time I heard or thought of a new answer to that question. But today, that question has become so handy for my spiritual encouragement.

This morning I called my company's immigration lawyer in Richardson, TX to check the status of my H-1B application. It's already May 2nd; and I still haven't heard anything about it. Marcel has gotten his confirmation from last Thursday (April 27th). So, I called the lawyer right. Alan Chen, the lawyer, informed me that he couldn't find my file on his database. As a human being, I freaked out, started to worry, and hung up the phone. Like any other days in my life, my regular anger release was the super instant crying but yet not much tears dropping. The reason I worried that much was because I submitted my documents to my company's HR in mid-March. And when I checked back with her by the end of March, she told me that the lawyer has not yet complained about my documents. That means good. That means my documents are complete. Having found out that the lawyer still hasn't received my documents from Cyndi, Allegro's HR, I became speechless. It's been over a month now. So, I double-checked again with Cyndi today. She told me that she signed the paperworks and sent them out to the lawyer already.

Alright. Long story short. I am still uncertain about my application. I am worried. I am confused. Can I get the 2006 quota? In the midst of all my confusion, God brought up that question in my mind: "Yanny, what is TOO big for Me to do for you? I created the earth in 6 days. I healed the sicks. I calmed the storm. I made Sarah conceived in her old age. I made everything possible with My power and grace. What is too big for Me?"

At that moment I realized that nothing is too big for Him, for my Heavenly Father. Really. And maybe this time is another time that God wants to work His power and grace on me, on my life. It's maybe another time that He wants to show me His love for me. Regardless of this uncertain situation that I am facing, God is so faithful and never leaves me alone. He always provides the grace for me to bear my situation by keep sending me deliverances.

Let me share with you 3 different yet amazing and unpredictable deliverances from God to me today:

1) "God Will Make a Way" song by Don Moen

This song has been an encouraging song for me when I was going through a tough time applying for a full-time job AND working in my first full-time job. Evelyn Gloria, my roomate at that time of applying for the job, reminded me of this song. She actually sent me the beautiful lyrics of the song. Additionally, Susan Mukunda, my co-worker in my first job, played this song in her car for me when I was having that hard time. And today, this song just stood out in my heart after all the hardtimes. God will definitely make a way for me and for my H-1B application. No matter how tough and uncertain the situation is, my God is bigger than that situation.

2) 1 Peter 5:7

This verse says, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." What a great promise God has given me. This verse worked out very well for me during the full-time job hunting. And guess what? It does still work now. And it will always be. My Heavenly Father is my amazing God. In this situation, all I have to do as a child of God is place my anxiety on His feet because I am sure He will do the rest.

3) Ken Vormwald -- a utility Subject Matter Expert (SME) at Allegro

Ken was talking on the phone around my cubicle area. And once he's done, he came by my desk and shared with me that his moving to his new house in Frisco, TX isn't the smoothest experience ever. But he told me that he's not worried about that at all. Ken knows that I am a believer. Guess what!!! Before he left to go back to the training class, he said this one simple sentence that I've always heard over and over again, "Everything will fall in place if it is meant to be. You know that, Yanny!" He might have no clue how big that sentence impacted me today cause he said it at the right moment and time. I thanked him for that and told him that he was God's deliverance for me. So, if I am meant to work for Allegro in particular or the U.S. in general, I'm sure things will fall in place for me. And I don't have to worry about getting the quota or not. Once again, it WILL fall in place.


Today is a brand new day for me. Today, God is working in my life. And today I am glad that God has given me another chance to share this blessing with those of you who might be reading this newly-created blog. Lastly, today, I am thankful that God is always faithful to me even though I doubt Him a lot of time. God bless you!