new years resolutions~

Well, a new year is almost upon us. 2013. Please give me a moment to freak out.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ok, I'm done.

Last year to the day, on December 31st, 2011, I made new year's resolutions like I do every year. The only thing is, every year. . . well, ya know, I don't...keep them. :P This year, I was determined. And guess what?? With God's help, I've kept almost all of them! :-o I am shocked myself. Here they are:

1) To become more like God, and to draw closer to Himself, no matter what. He has definitely drawn me closer to Himself, but that's all Him! He has been so good this year, making me alive in His glorious self! One of my spiritual highlights of this year was a Life Action crusade that came to our area in the summer. It was a week-long revival that changed my life completely; it made me view life in a whole new way. Thank You, Lord, for that week, and for moving in my heart. Please continue to bless Life Action Ministries. I can already tell that Your hand is upon them and all that they do.

2) To become more attached to God and less attached to tangible things, especially the computer. Sadly, I haven't stayed true to this one. Lord, forgive me.

3) To gain some purpose and diligence in life. Though this comes and goes as waves sometimes, I have found a lot more purpose this year; being in the Jr. Phil has definitely contributed a lot to that. And also now, my new mission to learn Chinese.

4) To lose weight, and to run 2 miles straight. Hehehe! Well, thank the Lord, I've lost 23 pounds so far. Yes!!! *power fist* And, ONCE this summer, I jogged 2 miles straight. But you must notice that word, "once". :P Well, I did it, so it counts!

5) To finish all the Suzuki violin books. Though I don't do the Suzuki method, I play the songs from the books. And I'm currently working on the last song in the 10th (last) book - the Mozart Concerto in D Major. YAY!!!!

So, thank you God, for helping me to achieve these this year.

Now, for 2013 resolutions. Hmm....if I let you all know, then I'm going to be accountable. So I probably should. :P Alright, here we go.

1) Well, first and foremost, like last year's, to draw nearer to Christ. That He would become, more and more, my EVERYTHING. My purpose in life.

2) To learn lots and lots of Chinese. This includes meeting new people who will help me in my new journey, making connections, and being diligent. I guess that some of these resolutions are prayer requests. Or, both...

3) To get a job. Hehe. :P

4) To get my drivers' permit and maybe license.

5) To once again jog 2 miles.

6) To graduate highschool. ;)

7) To apply to some colleges and maybe even start taking general ed.

We'll see what happens. I'm excited about this new year - a new page in life, full of new adventures and people and dreams. Where will God take me this year? Well, let's find out soon, shall we?? :)

Lord, this year, may You help me to live a life worthy of the walk you have called me to.

To infinity and beyond!
~Bethany
 贝塔尼

faith and wisdom~

Isaiah 7:9b

"If you are not firm in faith,
You will not be firm at all."

James 1:5-6

Faith

Wisdom

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind."

Faith and wisdom are inseparable. True wisdom comes from God, and only if you ask for it; thus, you must have faith to do so.

~Bethany

贝塔尼

Look What I Got??

     Well, we didn't celebrate Christmas yesterday because my sisters couldn't make it, so we celebrated today instead. And guess what I got?? Yes, a Chinese/English bible!!! :D YAY!!!!!! I'm excited. ^_^ I also got a Vincent Van Gogh art calendar (I'm a huge fan), $25 Kohls card (yay for clearance stuff ;)), "You Can't Take the Sky From Me" t-shirt (from the show "Firefly"! ;D) and some earrings. In addition to the things I got today, I already got a huge Christmas present this year, and that was being able to go to Disneyland in CA for my cousin's wedding this month!! I am so happy. Thank You Lord for all Your blessings.



To infinity and beyond!
~bethany :)
( 贝萨妮 ) 

of china~

        As a teenager in her last year of highschool, that one question is always being asked of me. "What are you going to do after highschool?" It gets to the point where I feel like yelling out my window to the whole world, " I HAVE NO IDEA SO PLEASE JUST STOP ASKING THAT!!!!!!" But I won't, so I can still be called a nice person. ;D

       But, no matter how much I hate that question, I do realize that I need to start thinking about my plans after school. I need to get a job, start earning money, and figuring out if I should go to college, and if so, what should I go for. I have been asking God soooo many times for the past year, "What do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go?" I mentioned my many interests in the last post...yes. I have MANY. Or, should I say, *had*. A few weeks ago, I asked the Lord to narrow down my interests for me. I have gotten so frustrated trying to figure out what to do on my own. I wanted to just put it in the Lord's hands and have Him work. Well, the other day, I suddenly realized that yes, He had answered my prayer! All of those frivolous things have faded, except one which has been with me for many many years - sometimes in the back of my mind in a drawer, but I always pull it back out. China. I have been interested in this amazing country ever since I read the book "Heavenly Man", a wonderful true story about a Chinese preacher who sacrificed everything for the Gospel, and was greatly persecuted for it. (This book always makes my heart burn - it is DEFINITELY worth a read. Actually, like 10 reads. That's how many times I've read it. ;)) Nothing has ever seemed so right to me before. I have never before had a desire feel so real - to go to China as God's messenger. Could it possibly be that this is what God wants me to do with my life? I'm not completely sure, but it almost seems like my "destiny". Like everything in my life has led up to it. Nontheless, I am preparing now. I am starting to read books about it's history, its government, and it's religions. Oh, and I'm starting to learn the language. Not formally (like, a class and textbooks), but little by little, with the help of a friend and a great website called chinese-tools.com. :) It starts with the basics! You may say, "Chinese is one of the hardest languages in the world; are you sure it's worth it?" For Christ, anything is worth it. Nothing has ever driven me so hard before. I am determined. I will learn at least one symbol a day; it's a start! (I already know the symbols for "Ni hao!", "Zai jian!", "ma", "da", and "ba". ;) It's EXCITING! Really!!!) >insert yay here>

And for those of you who know me and my interests. There may very well be that thought in your head: "Uh oh, here she goes on another one of her kicks. How long will this one last?" Well, this one has lasted for at least 6 years, it's just that God has narrowed my mind down to it recently and is telling me to take action. Just know, I won't give up easily. I really believe that this just might be my destiny. I'm not trying to sound serious. I am serious.

to infinity and beyond!:)
~bethany :)

introducing the "yay person"...

Hello. My name is Bethany. TADA!

It would appear that I have made myself a new blog. I have a photography blog that I occasionally post on (---> www.atbabphotography.blogspot.com ;) ), but I have yet to try a blog like this one. One for me to post updates on what I'm doing, what I'm interested in, what God has been teaching me. Just to let you all know - I AM NOT A WRITER. I stink at it. Really bad. But sometimes there are things that I'm just bursting to share with people, and somehow, I try to convey the thought, even if it might be in shambles and make completely no sense. So, if you decide to follow this blog, be prepared for a lot of random thoughts. My brain runs a lot faster than my fingers on the keyboard, so usually I find myself writing something completely different than what I first planned. ;D

Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading this blog. I will post a lot about my interests (probably...most likely....actually, definitely). Mind you, I am known by my circle of friends to have a million gazillion interests; I often go on "kicks", where I'll be planning my whole life around one thing, and then after a month, it's something completely different. But one thing remains. I'm a Christian, and Jesus is my Savior. That never fails. So no matter how many interests I have had and will have, Jesus remains, and He is the reason I exist and is who I want to live for. Whatever interests I have, I want them to be surrounded by Christ.

So anyways. Prepare yourself for the biggest adventure of a blog in the history of blogs. Yay! (I also like to insert random "yays" here and there because it is fun.) yay. ;)

to infinity and beyond!
~bethany :)