and the soul felt its worth

Happy Christmas! Since the CAKES Christmas blog-post is quite a responsibility, I am going to make this short. I hope you all are having lovely Christmas seasons and enjoying time with family and friends. I pray that the joy of this season is drawing your hearts closer to Jesus and stirring up awe at His grace. Last night at the Christmas eve service, my pastor opened the closing prayer with this:

"Heavenly Father, what a privilege it is to be Yours."

This is so simple, but such a beautiful truth to remember. My prayer for you is that during this season you are remembering that you belong to Him who sent us the greatest gift that could ever be given. How sweet it is that "the most wonderful time of the year" can last all year because of its true and marvelous meaning.

<On a more shallow note: roommates, I got a Kitchenaid mixer (not the stand kind though)! Yay! Now we have a mixer!>

-S

fall semester 2011 - check!

finals are over and half the CAKES have gone home.  the rest of us will be out of berkeley by the end of the weekend.  it's supposed to be a good feeling, right?  the end of finals? 

for some reason, as i walked out of my last final this evening, i felt no sense of joy. in fact, i was feeling quite the opposite. perhaps the best way i can describe it is as an absolutely overpowering sense of weighty relief (is that an oxymoron?  too bad, because that's how i felt). this semester was hard. and draining. in so many unanticipated ways. and i think the weight of all the would-should-could have beens came crashing down on me in that moment with the realization that it is finally over.

but God always knows what He's doing. soon after getting back to cakes-ville, my mommy called and then a little later emailed me this video (hence the Chinese subtitles).  it is kind of long, but i am sure you are all either done with finals or need a reason to procrastinate, so watch it. to the end.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feVmD4dlW28&feature=player_embedded

i am not particularly inclined toward liking biology right now (checked my bio 1a grade on bearfacts already and it wasn't great), but this is undeniable. it cannot be coincidence. for those who trust in the Lord, He will literally hold you in His hand and carry you all of the days of your life.  Psalm 33:18 says that "the the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love".  the God who created the universe knows intimately your every action, word, thought, and feeling.  so i better believe that God has wonderful things in store for me - this semester was meant to cultivate my trust in this truth. 

i'm sorry if this was a little heavier than anticipated for a post-finals post =P  have a wonderful Christmas break!

~A

happy finals week.

we are ice cream eating fiends!

this was bought last thursday. today is tuesday. better stock up with finals coming up, which means ice cream will be a necessity to soothe the stressed soul (well, that and the bread of life)!

-- C

tis the season...

...of finals. and although i would love to fast forward past these next two weeks til the beloved day of december 16th (sooner for many of you lucky ducks), i must continue to remind myself of certain truths as things begin/continue to get crazy and hectic. the one that seems most encouraging is that finals are temporary, and will end. however, maybe this is not the most important thing to remember about finals.
in this season of my life, i am a student. and being a student, if done for the right reasons, is glorifying to the Lord. i do not wish simply to get through these exams; my earnest prayer is that these next two weeks would be a joyful offering to the Lord and an act of worship that brings a smile to His beautiful face. and the wonderful thing is that i can still honor the Lord and steward well what He has given me even if i don't get an A in a class. and so this is my prayer for CAKES in this finals season:

that this apartment would be a place of rest when needed and of productivity when needed, a place of encouragement and peace, and a place that would undoubtedly foster an eternal perspective for my roommates and i. i pray that we would have patience with one another and give and receive grace freely. i pray that it would be a place where we can rejoice with one another and celebrate this wonderful season of hope, grace, and boundless love.

-S