Tim Chan's Blog, page 6

The Tension of Feeling Disappointed and Grateful on my 35th Birthday

Today I turn 35 years old. It’s a milestone birthday of officially being in my mid-thirties. Or as our friends pointed out to this morning, it’s halfway to “three score years and ten” (which is mentioned by the psalmist in Psalm 90:10 as the length of a normal lifespan).As I reflect on how I feel at 35 years old, I notice the tension I feel between disappointment and gratitude.

I feel disappointed at my life not being as successful as I had hoped or wished for. I wish I had more career succ...

4 Practical Steps to Develop a Personal Growth Plan for 2016

I’m looking forwardtogrowing older. One of the reasons is the potential for personal growth. When I reflect on the past year, I’m surprised by how much I learned. The idea of being able to continue or even accelerate that growth for the next 5, 10, or 25 years is very exciting. On the other hand, I know people who are older who seem to have stayed stagnant for many years – every time I see them they seem to be the same. The idea of not growing or changing over time is depressing to me.

The ne...

7 Things We Learned in 7 Years of Marriage

It’s our anniversary today. Seven years ago we celebrated the beginning of our marriage with friends and family. In the weeks leading to this anniversary we have been reflecting on some of the things we’ve learned about marriage since our wedding day. Here are 7 things we’ve learned in the last 7 years of marriage – most of them in this seventh year.

Appreciation Adds Strength to a Marriage

It was a particularly hard week.I (Tim) was behind on work. The van had broken down and needed to be...

The Hardest Part About The Transition to Two Kids

There were many difficult things about the first year with two children. There was the adjustment of trying to split our attention to meet the needs of both kids. There was the challenge of trying to get sufficient rest when they’d take turns being awake during the day and then take turns waking us up at night. There was the strain on our marriage and trying to stay connected when each of us barely coped with our own responsibilities. There was the seemingly futile fight against germs as cold...

Rest Mama, There’s Enough Time [excerpt]

If there’s one lesson I am constantly learning and re-learning in my life with God, it’s how to rest. Every time I think I’ve got it, I am confronted with another application, another dimension, another depth or angle to which I need to learn to apply the lesson.

When I was in my late twenties, my busy life was interrupted by burnout and I had to learn to stop striving and stop trying to please people. Now that I have two children and life travels at the pace of cheerios and potty breaks, d...

What Makes a Good Gift for a Father? (plus 7 Stellar Gift Ideas)

Father’s Day is officially two weeks away and many people are thinking of gifts to get their fathers (or husbands, if their kids are too young to get gifts). What makes a good gift for a father? As I was thinking about what I’d like, I came up with three factors that make a gift superb.

1) Cool

Fathers are suckers for cool things. They like to own stuff that they can show off and wow other people. I think owning cool stuff makes us feel cool. It doesn’t really make sense, but that’s the trut...

Daring to be Dangerous

“Are you a dangerous woman? PROVE IT.” Such were the opening words for the invitation to the SheLoves Magazine event I received. My first thoughts: “I’m NOTa dangerous woman. Andwho are you to ask meto prove it?!”

And yet, I RSVP’d “Yes,” bought my ticket and marked it in my calendar.

I went because I wanted to meet these women in person. I’d wanted to meet them for the last year and a half. These were the women who had agreed to publish my amateur writing on their incredible online magazine....

Learning to Grow Through Subtraction (and a FREE Book)

[This guest post is by Cindy Brandt, who is generously offering her new book “Outside In” for FREE. Details at the bottom of this post.]

“If the Christian is too busy to stop, take spiritual inventory, and receive his assignments from God, he becomes a slave to the tyranny of the urgent.”
~ Charles Hummel

The city we served in as missionaries had a population of 13 million people. We joke that it’s the biggest city no one’s ever heard of. Let’s assume Jesus had a good model of leading 12 disc...

How I Practice Resurrection [An Easter Gift]

No, I’m not Jesus. But I am practicing resurrection. Before I explain, let me give you a bit of backstory.

About a month ago, I had the fortune of attending a one-day retreat facilitated by a former professor of mine. It was the first time I was away from Kayla (who was almost 8 months old) and I was nervous about how she would do. I knew, however, that I needed to go to this retreat because my soul was in desperate need of care. Kayla did great. And I was refreshed and inspired.

The retrea...

Why I Chose a Home Birth

Choosing a home birth was not an easy decision, but I’m glad we gave it a try.

“Redemption” is probably not the first word that comes to mind when you think about childbirth. But for me, it was. The moment I realized I was pregnant with our second child, I wanted redemption. My experience of birthing my first baby was pretty tame as far as birth stories go, but there were elements that made it a traumatic experience for me.

I gave birth to my first baby in a hospital and I came out of that expe...