A housekeeping post since I haven’t had one of those in a while:
In college, when I started to blog (circa 2001), I eventually discovered that unlike my high school years, I really enjoyed writing–especially about epiphanies that occurred to me during the day, or what I learned during Bible reading. I found that, by writing, like with all church work, I gained a lot more than what I gave–particularly in retention, in reflection, in knowledge, but especially in self-improvement, because I wanted to (and still want to) live out what I wrote about and not be such a hypocrite.
Since I’ve written on many different content management platforms over the years (including blogger.com, MoveableType, xanga, and WordPress), and various domains (including my own: snafu, renewed.nu, etc.; and others: such as blog.tjc.org and tjcbdb.info), my writing has largely been scattered across several databases. However as of last week, I’ve finally had a chance to transfer my more meaningful pieces here, all in one place. This is mostly for my sake, but I think it will also benefit my readers old and new alike.
To mark these older (but maybe new to you) entries, I created a new category called “Favorites” so you can browse by category and read them all, starting from the beginning or starting from the most recent. I chose these pieces because they are the most meaningful to me, the most edifying, or perhaps, what I consider to be my best work. When I was digging through these old posts, it was interesting to see how I’ve matured over the years. I did not select anything from 2001 or early 2002 since, in retrospect, they lacked substance. However, I thank God that–at least I feel that–I began to improve the quality of my writing around late 2002, with a self-proclaimed “breakout year” in 2003.
To highlight a few of these old favorites (chronologically):
- My Valentine (February 2003)
This was one of my first creative pieces of writing, yet packed with meaning and nostalgia. Elizabeth will always have a place in my heart. - I Can’t Wait (August 2003)
Looking back, I’m not sure what happened to me the night I wrote this, but I remember I had just come back home from helping at an E2 SSC and I was filled with this tremendous hope. I don’t think the writing here fully conveys what I actually felt, but I hope it comes through. This one was actually later published in Manna. - “Bring Them Here to Me” (January 2004)
The last few paragraphs of this piece is something I haven’t really been able to replicate since. But it was such a powerful introspection, that it exhorts myself all the more today. - The Big Slopes (February 2005)
In August 2004, I moved to Champaign, IL for grad school. For the first five months, I could not get acclimated with the new environment, so I started to get depressed. But in January of 2005, an ephiphany came to me and I was able to fully embrace the experience at UIUC. Eventually my writing also improved. This one in particular is an Teacher-Student analogy. The only drawback to this one is that people needed to have skiied or snowboarded to fully appreciate it. I really like this one though. - On Faith and Life (April 2005)
This piece is about trials and relying on God to get through them whether it is a goliath or a saul. I’ve actually had people ask me about sending this one to them because it was offline. - The Backseat (September 2005)
The childhood experiences written in this one may only apply to me–some details are very specific and paint a particular feeling. So to me, it is a quaint metaphor, especially because graduate school life in Illinois was all about learning the lesson within: how to trust God and surrender to His will and timing. - Numbers (Jan 2006)
This was humbly written just after my second calling which happened at AMC training in London, UK. - φιλíα – True Friendship and Love (August 2007)
After starting a relationship with Joyce in August 2006, I had less free time :). Meanwhile, I stopped blogging on renewed.us and migrated to blog.tjc.org which I helped get off the ground. So this thesis dates to Aug 2007. Originally posted on blog.tjc.org. - Loving to Hear the Word (Jun 2010)
In 2008, I began blogging again here on renewed.us because I was finishing a Manna article and my writing had atrophied–the words just weren’t flowing. I thought blogging again might help. Therefore nothing from 2008 onward is marked as a old “Favorite” since it has already been on this blog.However, in March 2010, I learned about the TJC Bible Database Project, and started to contribute some posts there. This one was my latest–a summary of a truth I heard from Pr. Fu-An Shih who is currently pastoring the Taipei Church. Since I did not double post them on renewed.us at that point in time, I have now done so and have marked the other five as a “Favorite” since they are new to this site.
Happy reading! I hope you can be edified and renewed.