Road Trip!

Oh dear, my family and I have been on the road for almost a week already.

So far, our family has traveled to...
_Goodyear, Arizona
_Grand Canyon
_Las Vegas
_Monterey Park

And I think we'll be going to Universal Studios tomorrow.
But so far, this trip has been a lot of fun.
My uncle, aunt & cousin from Japan came here,
and we've been showing them around Arizona, Nevada & California.

At Goodyear, we visited my cousin Nguyen and his family,
I'm so surprised that he already has two children! haha!
Very cute little ones.

Grand Canyon was really pretty,
and REALLY cold.
The view was so breathtaking.
I loved seeing snow blanketed on top of the higher canyons,
and how the sun brought out the beauty of lower portions.
Everything definitely was a reminder of God's creation.
It was new because I've always went to the Grand Canyon in the summer or spring time.
But it was so cool to finally see snow capped on top of the red painted canyon.
I finally made my first snow angel!
and and, i now know what soft snow is.
Before, I've always played with the painful snowballs.
But the snowballs I made were super soft!
hehe, I liked those! :p

Las Vegas was nice as well.
My cousin, brother & I were able to watch Steve Wyrick (the Magician),
and got to take a picture with him & got his autograph!
His most amazing trick was going into a death spiral chain thing,
and then SUPPOSEDLY, he got chopped off into 6 pieces,
BUT he somehow magically appeared into the audience, one row ahead of me!
AHH, how did he do it?? ...I'm still trying to figure that out.
And I'm wondering how he made his motorcycle disappear from the stage,
and reappear in the audience!!
And and, how did he make a giant airplane appear on stage out of nowhere!??
Is it all an illusion...? Probably. haha! But still, it was pretty cool.

On a different note, I think after being on the road for so long,
it was easy for our family to get irritated at little things.
During this time, I could definitely see how God has been testing my patience.
It has and still is a challenge.
He has continued to show me more of my sins and flaws each day,
and I constantly see so much more room for improvement.
There are so many things I want to work on this coming year.
I found that having patience is not enough,
but having a loving and respectful attitude towards them would seal the deal.
Unfortunately, I still have to work on that,
& I'm thankful for having something to work on --
and for coming to realization of this. We are sinners,
and it's great to be acknowledged of our sins.

I was able to get a lot of reading done in the car.
I finished The Pursuit of Holiness,
and I'm going through The Practice of Godliness right now.
Both of which are by Jerry Bridges.

I'm starting to understand what it means to find joy in holiness.
Each day, I see how God has continued to reveal more of who He is,
and less of me. How everything should not be about myself,
but more of what could I do to honor & glorify God.
I've also learned just the responsibility I hold as a Christian.
And how holiness is definitely a privilege we have because of Christ.

"The privilege of being holy is yours,
and the decision and responsibility to be holy is yours.
If you make that decision,
you will experience the fullness of joy
which Christ has promised to those who walk in obedience to Him." (Jerry Bridges)

It's so simple how Christ has already granted us His great promise.
All we have to do is obey and take responsibility with pursuit in holiness.
For this, I am so thankful. :]

I've also been spending my time listening to sermons by John MacArthur!
Woo hoo! I'm so thankful my mp3 player can hold so much! haha!
I finally got Titus Chapters 1 & 2 memorized as well!
Uno mas chapter. :]

And there was so much time for prayer.
Praying is so essential for a Christian,
and it is true how we should be praying constantly.
I found how praying through times of stress,
and just meditating on God's word makes a big difference in our attitude.
In the Practice of Godliness, Bridges talks about "Fearing God".

"I will make an everlasting covenant with them:
I will never stop doing good to them,
and I will inspire them to fear me,
so that they will never turn away from me." (Jeremiah 32:40)

I used to be SO afraid of praying before my meal in front of my family.
They found out that I had first become Christian when I prayed before my first meal at home.
And I think ever since then, I've always prayed in my head, or real quickly before my meal.
But I realized finally...what shame do I have?
Why do I fear my family first for this?
I should not have any shame or fear at all.
Praying & being thankful to the Lord is something between directly between God & I.

There was just so much that happened this past break.
Maybe I'll recap all of it later.

Thankful for:
_Seeing a lot of my mom's side of the family.
_Spending time with my relatives from Japan.
_Going to AZ, NV & relatives' houses.
_For much time in prayer.
_For much rest and sleep in the car.
_Finishing The Pursuit of Holiness.
_Reading The Practice of Godliness.
_Being amazed by God's wonderful creation. :]
_Living by His grace each day.
_The birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.