Simply Katherine, a Christian blog

Following a request from a reader to continue on  Conversations with Mrs. L , I want to share with you my old plain question that I had asked Mrs. L about a year ago. You have to understand the context of this question though. So here we go. Mrs. L is a ninety-some year old experienced Christian. Her husband passed away about 14 years ago, but everyone knew that Mrs. L was a devoted wife. She had faithfully rendered the utmost aid to her husband and to her husband's ministry (in his lifetime, Mrs. L's husband was truly a minister of Christ). Long story short, I was curious to know how Mrs. L had lived her life thus far. The question was, "Mrs. L, how do you live? How do you think I should endeavor to live?"  People in this generation pride themselves in their lifestyles, don't you think? Now consider, Mrs. L is a person who has passed through all these different tides of lifestyle trends throughout the years. When you meet Mrs. L, she's like this immo...

Dear all, Sorry for the long delay for my next post. It'll be coming soon, meanwhile please explore my archives. You can also request topics, just drop me a comment on this post. Please suggest what would you like to read about on my next post: Christians on Campus , Conversations on Mrs. L , a scientific blog post , etc. Let me know, everyone! Ready to write, Simply Katherine

Continuing from my post  Christians on Campus - Transitioning into College ,  I applied to UT McCombs School of Business since I was headed toward the business field, but guess what, my application got denied. I knew it was a tough business school to get into but getting denied from the only school I wanted to enroll in was a total blow. My parents, siblings, and all of my relatives began to worry about me, about my college career, about my future. My dad couldn't stop thinking how behind I was compared to my high school friends, who were already in freshmen in college. My grandma was worried if I would ever go to college. My siblings were wondering what I would do everyday with no school, no work, nothing. Usually other people's opinions would have so much weight on my decision-making, but I was clear within my being that I needed to do everything I could to get to Austin, Texas.  My last option was to apply to a community college in Austin. Everyone was...

Dear new readers, I have posted many solid contents in the past few months. I think it's a good time to pause so that I can help you get oriented with my blog. To those who would like to follow, I'm trying to make it easier for you to choose with what platform you'd like to follow my posts. On the top right corner, you have the options to subscribe via email or feeds. Then you'd have to confirm who you are with your email address, Facebook, or Twitter account. I usually blog about thoughts and ruminations on life. I'm a Christian, so many times my perspectives on life reflect what I believe and whom I have believed into. But sometimes I marvel on the facts of life that keep pointing to the same direction, the ultimate purpose of human existence itself. And it has something to do with God. I have two popular mini-series on my blog: Christians on Campus and Conversations with Mrs. L . Both revolve around my life as a young Christian. They are factual ...

I've been a Christian all my life (click here for the previous post on Christians on Campus ). That year I was an eighteen year old Christian, stuck in a transition period between high school and college. I tried to keep myself busy, I even went to follow my dad on his business trip to China and Europe. I was walking down the street in Florence, I saw Michelangelo's David and people walking in and out Louis Vuitton stores. Yet within I sensed a deep vanity. This kind of beauty did not satisfy my need. Since my being was not occupied with school, I began to take time to consider life - my life. Then I went to a college conference (although I wasn't a college student yet) hosted by a Christian club back home. Actually that Christian club is associated with Christians on Campus as well. I forget the name of the one back home. Sitting in that room with hundreds of college students, I was truly searching for the meaning of my human life. What would be worth my life? Grow...

I feared living in a foreign environment, knowing no one whom I could trust. So this is how I heard about Christians on Campus . In her teens, my mom had a Christian mentor. She and this mentor became close friends throughout the years. Apparently this mentor's daughter had just entered senior year at UT .  She told my mom how great it was to send her daughter to Austin, to be with these pursuing Christians. She specifically referred my mom to Christians on Campus. My mom went home and told me to consider Austin, Texas, as a possible destination for my college career. I looked it up, asked around about it, checked out the UT website online, and researched what Christians on Campus was all about.  It was not like suddenly I knew everything about UT, Christians on Campus, or Austin but something within me caused me to drop everything else and focus to get into UT the next year (I already missed the deadline to apply for that fall semester). This was the beginning of ...

John 8:32 on the UT Tower in Austin, Texas About Christians on Campus For decades, members of Christians on Campus have endeavored to focus on Christ and Christ alone. In-depth Bible study, building up spiritual companions, and mutual fellowship in the homes are some among many highlights that characterize the club activities with Christians on Campus.  My Experience with the Club I'm not a paid marketer. I'm just a living testimony of how Christians on Campus has changed my human and spiritual life. I don't even know how to begin thanking the Lord for His mercy and sovereignty in placing me where I need to be, so that I can grow. This series of blog posts on Christians on Campus is just my personal testimony and experience as a young Christian in college, nothing more, nothing less. So let me begin here.  Christians on Campus was the reason I went to UT Austin. After I graduated from high school, I had to go abroad for college (I'm from ...

Dear all, Just got back helping out with some freshman summer orientations at UT Austin, it's so hot out there! Need to keep myself well-hydrated. So this post is my selah , meaning I'm not going to write much of solid content. I think I want to blog a series on my experience as a college student at UT Austin: how I got there, survived, strengthened, and went on. I also was involved with a well-known Christian organization, called Christians on Campus .  What do you all think?

Continuing from Can We Change? (Part 1) , Apple and I looked at each other, surprised that Mrs. L didn't directly answer but she asked me instead. Apple's question was "Can we change?" (please see the previous two posts for context). I turned back to Mrs. L and answered her, "Yes, we change."  Mrs. L laughed again and she said, "That's right. That's right. We change." It's a metabolic change. For those who are seeking the Lord, we get disappointed because we keep failing at being better Christians. On one hand, yes, it's true our fallen nature doesn't really change. Those who love to talk would still love to talk, those who love to be silent would still love to be silent. I'll give you an illustration. A toddler would throw herself on the floor and cry and scream to get someone's attention whenever she's having a bad day, hungry, unhappy, etc. Well, an adult could be having a bad day, hungry, unhappy, etc. but...

You might say, "Of course, people change all the time. Why can't human being change?" ( click here to see the question ) So let me give you a background for this question. We all know that it doesn't matter how hard we try self-improvement, we would fail miserably. By default, we live according to our make-up, which is a combination of both nature and nurture. If you're a quick-tempered person, no matter how hard you try, you're not going to turn into someone different. This is most accurate when I check with my own experience. So it is rather a depressing situation for a human being to get stuck in his/her own weaknesses. Yeah, this was the realm that Apple was getting into. Mrs. L laughed when she heard the question, and then she turned to me and asked me, "What do you think, Katherine? Do you think human being changes?" (to be continued, click here for Part 2  )

Finally, I successfully convinced my friend, Apple, to visit Mrs. L. Apple mentioned once that her dad used to be Mrs. L's gardener. So I told Apple that she should introduce herself to Mrs. L. Mrs. L would love to see her. You see, there was this misconception in the neighborhood concerning Mrs. L. Because Mrs. L was way older than most of us living in that neighborhood, people thought she was a harsh, strict, spiritual lady. Or, many assumed Mrs. L would be too busy to get to know them. This was not my experience at all. When it was time for me to leave her house, Mrs. L would always walk with me to the door and she would always say:  Come anytime. Whenever I'm here, my front door is always open. So I went with Apple to Mrs. L. I was right, Mrs. L sure remembered Apple's dad. He used to help taking care of her garden before he  got married to Apple's mom and moved to the Northwest area. The question of the day was from Apple. She asked, "Mrs. L, is it possi...