Can you believe it? So much time has already passed and we’re already into May. It’s crazy that the last blog post I wrote, even before my site went down, was last year. At that time, I’d just left my London home and moved to LA. Now, I’m writing this from my new room in New York City.
A couple of months ago, my company asked me to relocate to NYC. It’s not a place I’ve ever wanted to be and honestly, I fell in love with my home and church in Santa Monica so I didn’t want to move. However, I know it’s where God is calling me through one miracle after another, and that’s enough for me to follow.
As of Monday I now live in NYC. In my mind, I’ll be here for 6 months and then I’ll return to LA, but my plans often aren’t God’s plans for me, so we will see :) Who knows, I might love it here and never want to return (so far, that’s not the case. It’s pouring outside and the city is as smelly and dirty as I imagined it to be) so there’s always an option to stay.
It really was an awesome 9 months in LA though! I realised I stopped blogging after my break up with Jason – 8 months ago now – because life happened. God led me to the church into which I would eventually settle, surrounded me with brothers and sisters and seekers to love and serve, and meet some of the best friends I’ve ever had. It was a wonderful life… it became a comfortable life… I stopped relying on Him, I became complacent. Thankfully He wasn’t finished with me.
That’s why I’m here today. I hope to find what God wants from me in this city. It’s been an amazing journey thus far. Join me for the next leg?
In the mean time, let me share a few more highlights from my time in LA – or more specifically, my church, CBCWLA.
I first found CBC though Google. Stuff happened, and suddenly I felt called to go back to my roots and find a Chinese church, and I settled into the church late September/early October 2015. Then more stuff happened and I somehow found myself more and more called/drawn to serving the English side.
Even more stuff happened, and before I knew it, I’d become such good friends with English congregation members and was suddenly serving in all areas of ministry I’d ever felt called to serve/that mattered dearly to me.
Church became such a big part of my life, like it’d never been before. I was pretty much involved in some sort of church activity 5-6 times/week.
Monday was normally my day off
Tuesday was exercise class & dinner with some of my brothers and sisters
Wednesday was prayer meeting
Thursday was English Fellowship (and later worship practice)
Friday was Chinese Fellowship
Saturday was hanging out with church friends/Women’s Fellowship (and later Marriage Series)
and Sunday, of course, was the Lord’s day – we would attend church in the morning, followed by lunch together, getting boba together, exercising together, hanging out together, getting dinner together, and general chillaxing together before returning home to sleep.
We’d also have socials together during the week on top/instead of some of those activities. I’ve already shared some selfies in a recent post, so won’t re-upload those photos. Here are some fresh ones, from January onwards, very much not in chronological order…
I started attending a Kpop dance class (get fit AND get to show off dance moves AND make Kpop loving friends? Yes please!), which happened Tuesdays & Thursdays, meaning I stopped doing Tuesday exercise with church & ended up missing the food part of Thursday fellowships, so my beloved family always saved me a plate of food.
Little did I know they were all artists as well, hee…
We would eat together…
Drink together…
On more than one occasion!
(Yeah, you would think this would be a little overkill for 5 people…)
Celeb spot together…
^ Apparently she’s quite famous? I actually didn’t know who any of these people were, apart from Jason Segel, sorry :p
Celebrate special occasions together…
…and cry together at my departure.
My birthday was early April and only weeks from me leaving LA, so as part of my gift, my church family prepared a jar of easter eggs, individually wrapped with warm wishes for my special day and farewell greetings.
Isn’t it the sweetest thing? They gave me another leaving card as well, and then for my birthday – wow – I haven’t felt this blessed in a long, long time.
I’ll write another post dedicated to my birthday because it was honestly that special. And now I’m pretty far away from everyone but it’s okay… Once God is finished with me here, I pray He brings me back…
(Ice lollies are our leaving ‘thing’)
Santa Monica, CBCWLA family, I can’t wait to be with you all again.
