time flies

July 2, 2010

I went to help out at church today (another blog to come on that soon), and a few adults and seniors came to church to wait for the bus that would take them to the missions retreat we have going on this weekend. These two elderly ladies came in: Grandma Qi and Grandma Fang. Both have basically seen me grown up in the church; Grandma Qi watched even my dad grow up back in Taiwan, haha. Anyway, Grandma Qi recognized me and exclaimed wide-eyed "Wow! You've grown up so much. You look like a lady now, not the little girl I remember you as" and then went on to tell Grandma Fang who's daughter I was, to which she exclaimed "Oh! I didn't even recognize you!" A few minutes later, this missionary couple comes in. I do the usual smile & greet since I'm sitting in the front office. They go into the office behind me where the secretary is and the secretary tells them who I am, probably because they were puzzled as to who the familiar yet not so familiar girl was sitting in the front office. The couple is also surprised, and exclaims how they don't recognize me anymore, and how I look more and more like my mother.

At night, I took my mom to church for fellowship. As I'm walking by the Chinese sanctuary, I see my friend's parents standing there talking to another uncle, I smiled at them and tried to slip away, but when they saw my mom walking behind me and walking towards them, they exclaimed in surprise "Oh, is that Christine?! I didn't even recognize her! She looks so much like you now" to my mom.

I went to the English sanctuary to meet up with friends. I happened to see Aaron walking by. I helped out with Aaron's VBS class when he was in 2nd grade, and was his sunday school teacher when he was in 3rd grade. When I saw him, I was surprised at how tall he had gotten. I asked him what grade he was going to be in. "9th. high school" "9th grade?!?! HIGH SCHOOL?!" I can't believe it's been 6 years since I taught him sunday school; I'm amazed he still remembers me. I remember the summer before going off to college, he asked me if I would come back to visit often, and how far Berkeley was. I still remember when he was the little mischievous boy who ran around church, the little boy that I had easily picked up and carried off into the classroom when he playfully refused to go in. And now, he's all ready to go into high school.

These two little girls come running up to my friend, trying to scare her. I recognize the two girls' faces, but I've forgotten their names. They tell us that they're going to be in the 4th and 5th grade in the fall. I'm seriously surprised. 5th grade?! I still remember watching them run and play around the church as mere 4 or 5 year olds.

It's always interesting coming back to RHCCC, and hearing about who is graduating, who is going into what grade. It always surprises me. While I know I've grown older, and the years have gone by, I have a hard time grasping that the little kids I've seen at church are also growing up, and that they are also moving into the next stages of their lives. It's weird that while my life moves on, I do not seem to always grasp that theirs also move on.

I guess today I'm just struck by how quickly time goes by. I'm turning 22 this year; the friends I've grown up with are turning 23, even 24. It's amazing to think back to how we use to be 5, running up and down church stairs, driving Sunday school teachers insane, and just being typical children. With so many adults and seniors in general exclaiming how they do not recognize me anymore, I realize that I've also changed and grown a great deal in these past 4 years. As a child, everyone said I looked a lot like my dad, nowadays, everyone says I resemble my mom more. I remember the summer before going to Berkeley, having a bunch of people ask me where I was going for college, what I was planning to study, and what I was planning to do with it. Four years have already passed, and now the answer to everyone's question of what I'm going to do now as a college graduate is that I will be going to grad school for another two years. Who would have thought I'd be at Berkeley for a total of 6 years. o_o Time flies, and it amazes and scares me that one day I'll be like those adults and seniors, exclaiming to my friends' children or to even the children I taught or babysat how much they've grown and how I do not recognize them anymore and what beautiful/handsome, mature people they've become.

Time passes by quickly, and each time I'm struck by that fact, I'm more determined to live and appreciate the present for what it is. To serve God and others in whatever capacity I can now; to take full advantage of the opportunities God has given me and to be a blessing towards others while allowing God to bless me. I don't want to ever regret or feel like I have not taken the initiative in serving God and others in whatever capacity I am called to. When I am 70 or 80, I want to take joy in knowing that I have faithfully served and obeyed God, and have not put off doing so for my own selfish ambitions or wants, but that I have truly lived for God, and then I shall die happy.

I'm the type of person who lives in the past and future, and rarely in the present. The present always seems to be but a transition phase for me, from the past with which I am constantly learning from, to the future with which I seem to always be needing to plan for. But realizing how quickly time goes, and how the future will come, at its own rightful pace and time, and how the past is over and done with already, I'm striving to live and appreciate the present right now. To enjoy 'today' and to thank God for placing me exactly where I am now. I hope to appreciate and fully enjoy the 'today's' while they are still 'today' and not have to wait until they are gone into the 'past' for me to reminisce and treasure them. Yesterday is already gone, tomorrow will come, and so I'm reminding myself to live in the 'today' and to make the most of it and be grateful that God has even given me a 'today' to enjoy.