Today marks the day that I bought my first non-KJV Bible.
I purchased an English Standard Version online with Christian Book Distributors after much thought, prayer and consultation with others.
It may not seem so much of a big step, but as someone who has ONLY read the King James Version all the years of my walk with Christ... it feels monumental! I am foolishly/embarrassingly reminded of the famous statement made by Neil Armstrong on the moon, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." Except... the opposite applies in my case.
Ok.. maybe my last thought doesn't make sense to the general public, but in my own delirious mindset (set with perhaps an even 4-5 hours of sleep in the past two days), it made plenty of sense.
That is all. :)
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
History in the making...
So.. Today, Barack Obama was elected as the United States' 44th president.
I found out while reading the NY Times with Sandy, at home, eating my "Big Sexy Burger" leftovers from Ale House. I just wanted to keep record of what I was doing the very moment American History was in the making.
As I told Sandy, "We'll be talking about this to our kids one day... "
Indeed... "Change is here." A LOT is going to change...
** Pray for the new president. **
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Pause
God's showing me so many ways I can grow here.
It's truly amazing how I was blind to a whole world of possibilities...
More of my weaknesses are revealed, but with a simple and finite solution.
My heart feels so tight with the blessings I've often overlooked so far in my short life.
Things that held so much importance in my attention don't make sense anymore.
The points I've marked important in my life seem to be slowly wearing away...
Upon my soul does the divine grace begin to shed glimmers of it's true glory.
I pray for wisdom and sincerity.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Broken and Free
It's almost nonsensical...the notion of freedom from self.
The world recreates this beloved treasure
as a vague and faint shade of reality,
the picture of true freedom...
with edges blurred beyond definition.
I feel like, in my mind, I know that I am free;
but in my heart I have this incredible and
insatiable will and dream to be broken,
redeemed, and bare for the world to know...
to know and see my freedom in Christ.
But for my relief, time and time again,
I'm given this revived-nostalgic epiphany
of how the chains that drag my feet are broken
away and the weight of my own burdensome
world is lifted from my weak shoulders.
God breathes life into me.
The same epiphany... I taste in an infinite array
of surprisingly sweet whispers of grace.
It's a never-ending beauty that I am privileged to experience.
Thankful for all hardships and blessings, always.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
In Grace.
As I sat in the law library in awe of the beautiful library, I wanted to really rip open the scripture and find inspiration to do work... Boy was I in for a surprise.
I flipped aimlessly through a few Psalms and a passage here and there of Isaiah, my mind blurred the words that I had underlined and highlighted in past QT's and I began to feel tiny pangs of hopelessness.
BUT God slammed me with 2 verses that eventually cross-referenced to the passage below.
The verses were Psalm 25:10-11:
"All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great."
So here went my thought process:
"Indeed, my iniquities/sins envelope the self I know as wretched. BUT, my darling Lord and Savior... He's pardoned me of all my sin through Christ Jesus!! Not only because of His love for me... but for His name's sake? What... uhh... wait a minute..."
Then began my journey into John:
John 14:20-25
[20] Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
[21] But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
[22] If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
[23] He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
[24] If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
[25] But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
Confused with the meaning of the words I had read in 21-22 and 24, I read it over and over again until the words really sank into my heart.
Piece by piece:
- For the glory of God... in order for me to realize that I am to give glory unto God and to follow through in doing so, He forgave me of all my iniquities. He instilled in me, a light of truth that testifies of His forgiveness.
- For Christ's name sake, there was and will be persecution -- so that God may reveal His glory!
Hardships and suffering are purposeful and truly satiated with "unorthodox" blessings...
God's hand is upon us - therefore, because we depend on Him and seek to glorify Him through all challenges, we become vessels that cooperate with His intention to show the world His grace, love, and wonder! Our unwavering faith, survival, and growth inscribe testimonies of God within ourselves.
I flipped aimlessly through a few Psalms and a passage here and there of Isaiah, my mind blurred the words that I had underlined and highlighted in past QT's and I began to feel tiny pangs of hopelessness.
BUT God slammed me with 2 verses that eventually cross-referenced to the passage below.
The verses were Psalm 25:10-11:
"All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great."
So here went my thought process:
"Indeed, my iniquities/sins envelope the self I know as wretched. BUT, my darling Lord and Savior... He's pardoned me of all my sin through Christ Jesus!! Not only because of His love for me... but for His name's sake? What... uhh... wait a minute..."
Then began my journey into John:
John 14:20-25
[20] Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
[21] But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
[22] If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
[23] He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
[24] If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
[25] But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
Confused with the meaning of the words I had read in 21-22 and 24, I read it over and over again until the words really sank into my heart.
Piece by piece:
- For the glory of God... in order for me to realize that I am to give glory unto God and to follow through in doing so, He forgave me of all my iniquities. He instilled in me, a light of truth that testifies of His forgiveness.
- If Jesus didn't speak his words of truth or perform the miracles he did, there wouldn't have been a chance for people to doubt, spite, and persecute him; there wouldn't be the opportunity for people to sinfully denounce him. This point is more expanded in the following blurb...
- For Christ's name sake, there was and will be persecution -- so that God may reveal His glory!
Hardships and suffering are purposeful and truly satiated with "unorthodox" blessings...
God's hand is upon us - therefore, because we depend on Him and seek to glorify Him through all challenges, we become vessels that cooperate with His intention to show the world His grace, love, and wonder! Our unwavering faith, survival, and growth inscribe testimonies of God within ourselves.
Truly, I can't ramble on more because there are no words to express the full extent of how I am blessed. Amazing is the grace that breathes life into my heart.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Mary, Marry?
So my dad sent me a link in a gtalk conversation a few days ago.
Being that we always share interesting business/science discussions and articles,
you can imagine my surprise to the link that led to the following book...
Thinking that this was some sort of corny joke my dad was trying to pull,
I expressed a sarcastic thanks to the book that I seemingly "desperately needed"
and he seemingly jokingly agreed to my need and desperation of this sort of literature!
Because I am of "perfectly normal" marriage age, turning 22 (23 in Korean terms),
I'm beginning to believe that my parents have really begun writing this chapter
of my life without my knowledge of its existence!
And really... out of all the self help books out there... How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk?
Perhaps I'm more naive than I know myself to be.
Woe is me.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Our Rising Generation
If we examine our world from the outside in, we realize how much time has passed to show that our generation is quickly rushing from under us out into the world. Celebrities have been born and rising from behind, and veterans have slowly begun to set and disappear into the another world ahead. Many of us, including myself, still withhold ourselves from embarking upon this journey that awaits.
In the recent I've come to wonder: when will I let myself drop from comfort and safety into the rush and allow myself to venture the world? Will it be soon? As some of you may or may not know, my life's testimony so far is of unexplainable gratitude, and a remarkable knowledge that I have been raised by the gracious hand of the Lord. In retrospect, I must admit that I cannot fathom where I would be today without the ever so prominent presence of God's grace in my life. However, I can't help but fearfully wonder: when the rays of reality slowly beam upon me, what face will I show to the world?
When I had recently gone to backpack Turkey with my family in May, we met a couple from Dubai who had just been married for about a year. After spending a whole day with our tour group, I was able to peek into their very different lives as I got to know them.
The groom had just turned 30 and the bride was a very tender age of 19. They had been matched up through family ties. The groom had went to school until the age of 15 and proceeded on life by dropping out and taking over his father's business; he is now a very wealthy millionaire, owning and managing 3 sporting goods companies out in Dubai and South Africa. His English was quite eloquent and he spoke Arabic and IsiXhosa fluently. His rough, business-like demeanor and self-sufficient portrayal suggested a short youth and rushed allotment of responsibility.
The young girl, Hannah, spoke only Arabic but shared her youthful sparkle with me through pictures of her family and wedding on her ipod and our very limited shared vocabulary. By her excitement of my and my mother's company, I had sensed her loneliness and craving for tender motherly and sisterly affection. She was just 4 years younger than me, the youngest of 3 sisters, and had been married for a year running a household and supporting a husband. Learning of her life made me feel the reality of the striking differences in the lives of individuals just my age around the world.
I was extremely blessed to have met this couple as well as other extraordinary people on this trip to Turkey. God was very subtle with placing these acquaintances - turned friends into my life. I learned so much about the differing cultures of these fellow tourists and gained so much from the experiences they shared. In other words, the fate of our meetings were undoubtedly timely and purposeful. We grew quite fond of each other's company and I do hope to keep in touch and meet again someday.
The experiences I shared with my new acquaintances/friends made me finally acknowledge a reality I've so long avoided and ignored. I've often day-dreamed the strikingly familiar though process we've all run through in our minds... "When I grow up...." Now standing at the point between college and another chapter that is taking grasp unto another step towards adulthood, I realize that my growing up phase is right now.
This generation is commonly referred to as the Global Generation; the age of an entire continent with a growing economy sharing a singular currency, endless internet mediums pulling the ends of the earth together within seconds, global mapping achieved just by downloading Google-Earth, and the development of a new iPhone being more anticipated than the second coming of Christ. (Disclaimer: That last point is a half-serious joke.)
Needless to say, the world has never been so small in the history of mankind. A terrifying excitement awaits to burst within me, wondering how this generation, our generation, my generation, will conquer it. How will we rise?
I think we don't realize the responsibilities and unfathomable possibilities we hold. Personally, I've been so consumed with my current immediate situations that I didn't realize how much my every single action from this point on will affect the rest of my life, including the very people I am to include in it.
With infinitely more lessons to learn and countless more worlds to encounter, I have so much room to grow. As a young Christian soldier, equipped with only the Bible and hopeful heart of faith, I've come to finally see a physical interpretation of my armor and weapons in God.
As the world rushes beneath me, spanning into an unseen future, I pray to fall into and ride through the rush, with my heart as a throne for Christ and my body as a vessel to contribute in the fulfillment His purpose; striving to go beyond my own abilities and pushing through life without regrets and with the never-ending blessings God showers upon me.
In the recent I've come to wonder: when will I let myself drop from comfort and safety into the rush and allow myself to venture the world? Will it be soon? As some of you may or may not know, my life's testimony so far is of unexplainable gratitude, and a remarkable knowledge that I have been raised by the gracious hand of the Lord. In retrospect, I must admit that I cannot fathom where I would be today without the ever so prominent presence of God's grace in my life. However, I can't help but fearfully wonder: when the rays of reality slowly beam upon me, what face will I show to the world?
When I had recently gone to backpack Turkey with my family in May, we met a couple from Dubai who had just been married for about a year. After spending a whole day with our tour group, I was able to peek into their very different lives as I got to know them.
The groom had just turned 30 and the bride was a very tender age of 19. They had been matched up through family ties. The groom had went to school until the age of 15 and proceeded on life by dropping out and taking over his father's business; he is now a very wealthy millionaire, owning and managing 3 sporting goods companies out in Dubai and South Africa. His English was quite eloquent and he spoke Arabic and IsiXhosa fluently. His rough, business-like demeanor and self-sufficient portrayal suggested a short youth and rushed allotment of responsibility.
The young girl, Hannah, spoke only Arabic but shared her youthful sparkle with me through pictures of her family and wedding on her ipod and our very limited shared vocabulary. By her excitement of my and my mother's company, I had sensed her loneliness and craving for tender motherly and sisterly affection. She was just 4 years younger than me, the youngest of 3 sisters, and had been married for a year running a household and supporting a husband. Learning of her life made me feel the reality of the striking differences in the lives of individuals just my age around the world.
I was extremely blessed to have met this couple as well as other extraordinary people on this trip to Turkey. God was very subtle with placing these acquaintances - turned friends into my life. I learned so much about the differing cultures of these fellow tourists and gained so much from the experiences they shared. In other words, the fate of our meetings were undoubtedly timely and purposeful. We grew quite fond of each other's company and I do hope to keep in touch and meet again someday.
The experiences I shared with my new acquaintances/friends made me finally acknowledge a reality I've so long avoided and ignored. I've often day-dreamed the strikingly familiar though process we've all run through in our minds... "When I grow up...." Now standing at the point between college and another chapter that is taking grasp unto another step towards adulthood, I realize that my growing up phase is right now.
This generation is commonly referred to as the Global Generation; the age of an entire continent with a growing economy sharing a singular currency, endless internet mediums pulling the ends of the earth together within seconds, global mapping achieved just by downloading Google-Earth, and the development of a new iPhone being more anticipated than the second coming of Christ. (Disclaimer: That last point is a half-serious joke.)
Needless to say, the world has never been so small in the history of mankind. A terrifying excitement awaits to burst within me, wondering how this generation, our generation, my generation, will conquer it. How will we rise?
I think we don't realize the responsibilities and unfathomable possibilities we hold. Personally, I've been so consumed with my current immediate situations that I didn't realize how much my every single action from this point on will affect the rest of my life, including the very people I am to include in it.
With infinitely more lessons to learn and countless more worlds to encounter, I have so much room to grow. As a young Christian soldier, equipped with only the Bible and hopeful heart of faith, I've come to finally see a physical interpretation of my armor and weapons in God.
As the world rushes beneath me, spanning into an unseen future, I pray to fall into and ride through the rush, with my heart as a throne for Christ and my body as a vessel to contribute in the fulfillment His purpose; striving to go beyond my own abilities and pushing through life without regrets and with the never-ending blessings God showers upon me.
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