Happy Retro Day! This is for anyone who has moved away from friends or watched their friends leave them behind. (I’ve been there, too.) I hope you find this helpful and encouraging. Enjoy! ~Halee
by RTF Staff Writer Catey Yuen
I’m a social person. I’ve always had a lot of friends since I was really young. But when I moved from California to Colorado two summers ago, all of that changed.
When you’ve lived in the same state your whole life, it’s easy to stay in contact with people. After all, most of the people you know, you’ve known for a while. Almost all of my friends came from the church I’d been going to for years. It required very little for me to meet new people and still hang out with the old ones.
Then we moved and it all changed. (more…)
by RTF Staff Writer Catey Yuen
Once you called me friend
Somehow, I wanted to give you my faith
I failed, so sorry
How inadequate are my feelings!
I wish I could have been better
Can I make it up to you, somehow?
I will find a way to love you, somehow
I will find a way to be a friend
My heart will break, but for the better
- It makes me remember my faith -
And shows me how love is more than feelings
But that is just a sorry, sorry (more…)
By RTF Staff Writer Catey Yuen
Every time I go to a store, I can count on having a bad experience with the clerks. From the time my sister had to slap the arcade employee, to the time I found out the mailing store clerk was stalking me, I can trust that I’ll come out with a new and not necessarily happy memory.
Out of all the grocery store clerk dramas I’ve been in, the worst was the time the grocery store clerk was a little too zealous in his job. (more…)
by Catey Yuen
I got back from a speech and leadership camp in Tennessee just a few short weeks ago. I was exhilarated – and at the same time, discouraged. Looking ahead to the humdrum ways of real, regular high school living sounded remarkably unappealing. After a time of really focusing on God, it didn’t seem fitting that I should shove myself back into the routine of my regular year.
I’ve probably already made it very clear that I’m not all that into change. I’ve had the same haircut for five years, keep a calendar to help me manage my routine, and don’t like to mix up my daily schedule much. So I came up with a brilliant solution to my dilemma: I’d simply replicate my summer and try to stay in the same mental state as during my break. (more…)
by Catey Yuen
Drip. Drip.
I do not understand the water
That falls like a birdsong on my face
You say it cleanses
Then why is the dirt pouring on
Me?
You chose me. You chose this
Dark creaking beast to be my Shelter
In a long storm. I didn’t
Choose it for myself.
Why me? I am not
Good or Beautiful and I did not
Know you then. I hardly know you now.
Unworthy is a good word.
It’s who I am right now in the face of
This Great Flood that threatens me
But somehow, you protect.
How is it you could love a fool like me?
Is this who I am? More than just the
Earth on my face or the water in my hands,
I am made in your image
These eyes are to see destruction and live
These hands to cradle in love like you do
This heart to beat like yours
Is this who I am?
Unworthy is a good word.
But that is not who I am.
by Catey Yuen, RTF staff writer
School is coming to a close. You may be looking forward to a summer break to relax, going to summer camp or on a missions trip, or just hanging out.
I always feel most involved with God during the summer. There are fewer distractions – fewer deadlines to meet, less work to do.
Paul likens our Christian life like a runner’s training. We can’t always be racing. We have to have breaks between runs, times to cool down. We also need times to prepare, to get fit, to stretch and warm up. That helps us get ready when the big race comes and we’re running.
I consider summer break our training period. I use it to catch up on spiritual and material things. (more…)
By Catey Yuen, RTF Staff Writer
Abram had a promise from God. He knew that the Lord would give him a son, despite his old age. He was familiar with the promises of God. He was only a few generations from the time of Noah and the flood, where God had showed just how fully he kept his promises to his people.
But Abram didn’t wait on the Lord. Though the child of promise was to come through his wife, Sarai, he chose instead to have a child through his concubine, Hagar.
Disaster ensued. Sarai banished Hagar and her son Ishmael to the desert twice, and once the child of promise, Isaac, was born, the clash only intensified. The nation descended from Isaac, the Jews, and the nation descended from Ishmael, the Arabs, are in conflict to this day.
What made Abram waver? Why did he settle for less than perfection, when he had the promise of goodness before him?
Abram had the same problem that people are still struggling with to this day. He was impatient for God’s blessing, and so he diminished the blessing coming to him by disobeying God and not waiting on His perfect timing.
A study was conducted among a group of preschoolers. Adults would put a child in a room with one cookie and tell the child that if they could wait a certain amount of time without eating the cookie, they could have two later. Then they went out of the room and watched the children. Almost every child ate the one cookie then, instead of waiting for the two.
They wanted immediate gratification. They wanted to have the good thing then, even though if they just waited a little longer, they would get more.
Everyone longs to feel God’s blessing in their lives. They cry out for him to relieve their suffering and bless them in a certain area of their life. This may be finance, time, housing, friends, school.
I wanted so badly to be involved in a program that my friends were involved in, I pushed God. I told him the area I wanted to be involved in was a good program, that it was a safe environment, that it was a place where I could further his kingdom. I said that I would enjoy it, be good at it, help people through it. Then I asked God why he wasn’t letting me be a part of it. (more…)
By Catey Yuen, RTF Staff Writer
Actions speak louder than words.
How many times have you heard that before? I’ve heard it, at a rough estimate, more than a million times in my still-brief life. But I never really thought about it until just recently.
I’m part of a Christian young speakers’ group. I’m used to representing Christ and my group on the platform. I can look really good if I try hard enough and I’m thinking about it.
But get me off the platform and how well do I represent Christ? Am I consistent in my witness, or am I causing people to think badly about God’s people sometimes? (more…)