korean deuh rah ma.

once in a while, i get sucked into some drama, put off all my school work, and get really giddy about korean things. this is one of those times.

darn you, dramas. darn you..

genoise anyone?

hm

Woah.

It's already past the mid-semester point.

Blessings blessings blessings.
I've been showered with them today.

Meeting up with one of our volunteers, Carrie Hartman, has been amazing. She's really a beautiful woman that chases after the heart of God. I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to meet up with her and learn about so many things. It's been so comforting and challenging.
Carrie and her husband, Dave, have a heart for world missions. Right now, she's looking to head over to the Middle East with her husband within the next few years.
She also has two younger sisters that are adapted from China. It's so cute the way she talks about them. She has the desire to adapt a child in the future as well. Now she's looking to start up a new program with the Binghamton community, trying to educate people about missions.
Oh, and she's a nurse both at a hospital and in home care. I don't know how she juggles it all!
I feel incredibly blessed to be nurtured and taught by such a great woman of God.

God has also been planting in me a greater desire for world missions. I never really thought that the mission field would be somewhere that God would call me. But lately, I get so excited and antsy to get out of school and actually go out in the world to spread name of Christ.
It's crazy...the U.S. is such a reached country that you can actually hear people throw the name, Jesus, around all the time. You can hear it through media, cusses, and Christians--it's totally a common thing.
I always thought that my role would be to stay within the U.S. and focus on church planting/building, but I'm totally wrong. I'm not sure that this is life-long commitment that God is calling me to, but all I know is that there is such a huge need out there in the world. Jesus will not come again to this earth until every nation is reached! So what am I doing sitting on my butt when people out there need to hear that name proclaimed??

I've also been so so so wrong about living in Mountainview.
It always made me cringe to think about evangelizing in this community because it's so darn hard when people just stay in their suites with their doors closed all the time. I even confess that I'm just as guilty of it. But today when Winnie and Sara were cooking in the downstairs kitchen, some random guy just stood there and was making the longest small talk that he ever could. To be quite honest, I was actually annoyed because he kept asking me so many questions when I had to read my play for acting class. Then we started talking about Christianity and the idea of sin and holiness. It was crazy how his annoying questions actually turned into a topic that I was captivated by. He totally got my attention.
It was amazing how easily the conversation flowed.
He wasn't angry or totally rejecting what we were saying, but was actually really receptive and conversational. After talking to him for about 30 mins, I think he realized that everything that we were saying was a lot to take in at once so he kind of left in a hurry.
It was an amazing feeling though. The way that God totally opened a door for us to share the gospel. Mountainview is actually a place where outreach can be done.
We're praying that by the works of the spirit, that young man's heart will be changed.
Please pray for us too.

"I caught a glimpse of Your splendor
In the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen
And it was like a flash of lightning
Reflected off the sky
And I know I'll never be the same"
- Third Day

Aloha

Monsoon - Jack Johnson
I absolutely love it here.
I haven't visited the beach yet or done any of the real touristy things, but I enjoy the atmosphere and the people. Above all, I really like spending time with my grandma. It's a different kind of experience spending time with her here. Whenever she comes to NY, she doesn't seem that happy most of the time because she feels trapped in a home where she can't really go out on her own or do all the things she wants to. But she's in her own element here, free and independent--it gives me peace to see her living happily.

My grandma also lives in a retired home complex. It's cute because all the senior citizens leave their doors open and circle each floor to get exercise. The style of architecture is really pretty here. Everything has open ceilings. That sounds funny, let me explain. Imagine looking down on a rectangular-shaped building from the sky and having only the borders of that building being fully roof-topped. There's also palm trees in the middle of the building so it's nice to see that kind of scenery when you walk out and leave your home.

One of the most beautiful things that I've been privileged to experience so far is to be awake enough to watch the sunrise every morning at 7am. Don't worry, I don't get up that early every morning, but my body is still running on NY time so it's actually around 12pm there when I actually wake up. I also knock out at 10pm here..haha I feel so old.

The bus is actually really cool too. You can go practically anywhere on the island and it's not like the MTA where the buses only come like every 40 mins. It actually comes like every 5 mins and the fares are super cheap. My grandma only pays $30 a year for unlimited, yearly use. I, on the other hand, have to pay a womping dollar everytime I get on. Haha just kidding. It's an awesome fare compared to the MTA.

I'm actually sitting outside my grandma's apartment door outside right now. It's the only place where the internet signal strength is strong enough. Yesterday, when I was doing video chat with my family and recording video messages on facebook, the granny's were staring at me like I was crazy because I looked like I was talking to my laptop. But some of them are really friendly as well. I guess it's rare to see young adults in this building.

Witnessing this all makes me want to come here after retirement. I know it's a long time from now, but who's with me?!

I can't fall asleep..

Simply Nothing - Shawn McDonald
Blagh...it's 7AM and I still haven't been able to fall asleep.
I hate the feeling of tossing and turning. It's like one of the most stressful situations that a person can be in while being half conscious and half unconscious. Hahah that sounds funny.

Being at home this break has been good. It's been a blessing to have so many things readily available at hand. I thought that it would be really boring due to Binghamton's long winter breaks, but it's been joyously eventful.

However, it's hard to think that I've been fed spiritually while attending my dad's church. Understanding sermons in Korean is not my forte. I never realized how much of a privilege it was to hear God's word preached in English or at least in a way that I understood. Also, how much of a privilege it is to worship with a community of believers.

From attending the revival on Friday, I think learned that I simply don't try hard enough in seeking every possible opportunity of being fed. There's so many resources out there that I put to waste. If only I keep thirsting after him while embracing every resource that is out there, my spiritual hunger is bound to be satisfied in some way or the other. And if that doesn't work, it's my shortcomings of understanding His amazing grace.
I continually fall in love with the fact that God always breaks us to a point where we need to fall on our knees and cry out to him for help. There really is no better way to put it--there's beauty in the broken.

Okay, I have a plane to catch in a couple of hours to visit my granny in Hawaii. Maybe I'm too excited to fall asleep.