Posts filed under 'Thoughts'
November 6th, 2008
So this semester around, our Pastor Shawn wanted to do group study on the book The Shaping of Things to Come by Michael Frost. In it, he talks about what it means to being missional church and how we must adapt to reach out to the communities surrounding us.
It’s funny we should start that book. You see, back in July or so, out of the blue appeared these two Korean guys. Dae Hyun and Jung Seop, the two unlikely guy and brother-in-law came to our church after watching a movie nearby. You see, they came to US from Korea to learn English on an accelerated program. None of us really thought much of it. However, with Dae Hyun being such a social person reaching out and befriending others, the number quickly doubled and is now almost tripled!
For us, a rather small church of 60 or so, having 12 international students is pretty significant. Soon enough, we invited them over to the book study on the very book mentioned above. The book talks about being flexible and adapting to mold the church around the people in need. Again, funny that came up in the first few weeks as we started on it. The book, as great as it is, is by no means meant for those that are learning the English language, let alone surrounded by lots of non-believers.
So needless to say, our Pastor Shawn suggested that we change the book to something more tangible and meaningful, as well as easier to understand, for the international students. So he suggested we do Purpose Driven Life for the group, especially filled with quite a few seekers. I am so glad that he was so flexible and trying to be a missional church in existence!
On top of that, Joanna also jumped and caught onto the missional concept, and she’s been very engaged in reaching out to these international students. It’s amazing to see how God can make wonders happen out of nowhere! Being a second-generation Asian-American church, we didn’t expect anything like this to happen, but now that God has given the opportunity to us, we are taking it thankfully! 
October 30th, 2008
So with Anna’s diminishing interest in ballet/dancing, she drew interest in piano.
This past Wednesday marked her first tutoring lesson. She was very excited to learn. And the teacher was very good and got along great with Anna. Our take on Anna’s learning to play piano isn’t so much that she would become a professional at it. Far from it. Actually, I hope she doesn’t.
We wanted her to learn music so that it would help her in getting through life. I believe that music, among many other things, can give the person the ability to pull through tough times. I wanted Anna to have that when things got tough and she needed a way to release her emotions and frustrations.
This also meant that I have to oversee her practicing it 15 minutes a day! Yikes! :O But in the end, I hope she will be able to use it to help herself and others get through tough times of life. Is that weird of me?
September 9th, 2008
NPR News Article
What the fudge?! Two of the biggest mortgage financing firms are on the brink of disappearance, so much that the government is taking them over, and their CEOs still get to leave with millions of dollars?! I know our country is based on capitalism, but come on!! It’s bad enough that we as tax payers will be paying for the salvage of these two financial nightmares, but letting the CEO’s go with millions?!!
I say enough is enough! Let them all rot! :mad: Government needs to freeze those CEOs’ fat pockets when it’s their fault as well!! What happened to good ol’ fashioned “go down with the ship” mentality?! It’s gone, I tell ya. I hope the two CEOs have miserable lives! Erg…
September 6th, 2008
I just watched the ending to a movie called “Bella“. It’s a rather offbeat story that throws you off at first but as the story progresses, you figure it out. But especially so, I didn’t fully appreciate it till the very end of the movie.
*SPOILER ALERT*!!
If you haven’t watched the movie yet and don’t want me to spoil it, skip the post till you watched it! So as the story progresses, the lead female character finds out she’s pregnant out of wedlock and goes through crisis. The male character who used to work with her shares his life story and eventually ask her about putting the baby up for adoption. But you don’t find out till later that he himself was adopted. And towards the end, you find out that he adopts the baby of his co-worker. As the ending approaches and the mother is re-united with the daughter, I couldn’t help but sense how beautiful the adoption is.
See, in spiritual side of things, we also are adopted. We all are lost but through Christ, God adopts us as His own. I have always been fascinated by that… Why would anyone just take us in? Why would anyone take me in?! It indeed is beautiful, like the movie title suggests, to see life and that life adopting another life.
I am still semi-serious about adopting a child later on our lives. It would be a privilege and honor to be given an opportunity to adopt a lost person and tell him/her that he/she is part of us now. We all are orphans wandering around until we realize that God has received us.
I don’t know… that concept and fact of adoption just blows my mind away every time I think about it.
July 30th, 2008
I love any food, especially meat, smoked. And like many, there’s a good reason as to why.
We all grew up being a bit pyromanic… right? Didn’t we? Well, I know I did. 
I remember memories of making my own fire crackers… putting two matches head to head and wrapping the heads in aluminum foil and heating up the foil, you had instant crackers.
However, what was even more memorable was my visits to my grandparents’ place in Namwon. It is (at least it was when I was a kid) a small town about an hour away from Chonju, Soojin’s hometown, and 5 hours south of Seoul. Back when I used to visit, they still cooked food using wood. Rice was cooked in this big black pot that sat on top of fire. My (beloved) grandma used to let us feed wood to that thirsty fire, and my brother and I didn’t care how hot it was, we just kept feeding the fire to it.
Soon enough, I developed a strong liking to the smell of burning wood. When crop was good, there’d be days when my uncle would bring in peas and after they are dried in sunlight, we’d set the whole thing on fire and eat the cooked peas inside the pods. Boy were they good!
So every time I eat or smell either smoked food or burning wood, I always reminisce about the old days. Things were much simpler then… Cooking in fire was even cooler at night. Shucks… I wish I could relive that moment.
July 14th, 2008
I came across this neat online magazine called “The Brew” thanks to Deborah. Well, I found out that it’s written by viewers a lot of times… and for the month of July, I found out that the theme was “Western” and since it has impacted me a great deal, I decided to submit an article! 
Here it is!! I’m honestly just giggly thinking that there’s some kind of article online with my name on it!
Please give it a read and the magazine as well! Here’s my article!
June 12th, 2008
As many have been asking, Soojin is slowly getting better. She’s been able to attend Sunday services. (yeah!) She takes the kids to the local playground and some days to the local library. But she says that even these outings will tire her out.
Kids are finally missing home… and their daddy! Call me mean but I was glad to hear that. They miss their lives here in the States… and Anna is counting down the days till she returns! However, on the plus side, she has been taking “piano lessons”, which is primarily learning how to read music notes. And she’s loving it! So I am very glad to hear that she is learning something new and enjoying herself in the process… They are watching lots of Korean children’s cartoons… I don’t know how they will adapt once they return to the States… JJ didn’t want to try taekwondo. Oh well…
Speaking of JJ, he’s been showing more and more of OCD (obssessive compulsive disorder) symptoms. Even earlier on, he had to get things done just the way he liked it. He couldn’t leave windows and doors open, and would go and close them. I sure hope it’s a phase… My theory/take is that smart and intelligent people tend to be OCD as well. I know quite a lot of intelligent people and they are mostly like that. I would trade intelligence for social aptitude ANY day! Being able to work with others, and accepting others who are different, and ability to work with different people is what I consider more valuable in society. Of course, it’s not like I want my son to be deliberately failing and/or stupid. By no means! I’m just saying that between intelligence and social aptitude, I’d pick the latter… hands down. Well behaved is included in that as well!
On a more personal note, I was planning on biking to work 4 times this week. However, I didn’t get up till too late on Tuesday and ended up driving to work. I biked in yesterday. But that meant that I’d have to bike in both today and Friday! 
I was hoping to do two days at a time … but realized how weak my will power is. So after asking my Bible study group to pray for some will power, I just moved my lazy ass out of the bed, and dragged my butt out of home and biked in! 
Changing habits is hard. We, humans, are creatures of habits. Breaking free from bad ones is tough enough… but incorporating good habits is not any easier… one day at a time… to God be the glory… and here’s biking in tomorrow (and not giving in!!)!