Sunny Skies

No... I don't mean the ice cream unfortunately, for you fellow Buies Creek friends of mine. The other day I received a fortune cookie that read, "Let the sun shine on your soul." I immediately thought, being the nerd that I am deep down.. what a great pun that I can use in my blog! Over the past few weeks I have been watching the weather in South Korea, and it's been nothing but sunny skies in Seoul with highs of about 75-80 degrees. As I sit here so sleepily getting in this one last post before I take off to the N.O. airport, I can only imagine what God has in store for this summer. Keep praying.

And now I'm off... to let the SON shine through me in Seoul. <-- I'm very excited at this point that my pun has now come full circle.

In HIS hands.

Sometimes things aren't ideal or exactly how we want them to be. Here are some verses that have been an encouragement to me in the past, that never fail to raise my spirit in any situation. Let His word speak to you...

"The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?" -Psalm 27:1

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." -Proverbs 3:5-6

"Consider the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these." -Matthew 628-29

"Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it."
-Luke 17:33

I think these verses challenge us to ask ourselves why we should worry about what we ultimately have no control over anyway?

Checklist

+ taste some kim chee
+ shots
+ plane ticket
+ passport
+ extra undies
+ backpack
+ last minute paperwork

check, check, check...

What is the first thing you do when you know you will be in South Korea for the entire summer? Get ready to go! But how do I spiritually prepare myself when I feel so small in light of God's big picture? This is the question I have been grappling with most over these last few weeks before I leave. I know the Sunday School answer: I am just the vessel doing the work of the Lord. I guess I've just struggled with truly grasping this concept that I am so well aware of in my mind. If I get everything on my list all checked off, yet fail to be spiritually prepared for this journey, what chance do I stand at really being prepared for what God has in store for this summer?

My "A-HA!" moment came when I was reading about the acts of the original apostles. No matter how inadequate I am, what matters is if they can see HIM through me.

"Now when they saw the BOLDNESS of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus." -Acts 4:13

SEVENTEEN little days.

AAAAHHHH! Where has the time gone?!?! Although I have only 17 short days left to prepare for my trip to South Korea, I believe the adventure has already begun.

This week has been very helpful in getting me into the right mindset. A close friend of mine, who is very experienced in international summer mission trips, met with me and a couple of other students who are also looking forward to summers of ministry. We met in the wee hours of the morning... 8 am (crazy I know!) ...to go over some of the basic spiritual principals of ministry and other things like team unity and seeing others with God's eyes. We talked about the four seasons of ministry... Ploughing--Sowing--Reaping--Harvesting ...

We also did some prayer walking around the college campus, which I was surprised to find somewhat of a challenge. I really felt challenged to see others through the eyes of Christ. It made me wonder how my actions would change if I were to be in a continual state of prayer.

I never cease to be amazed by the personal growth I experience when serving the Lord. It's like I get back so much more than what I ever give...

just like me...

"We are made of the same dust. We cry the same tears. No one is beyond redemption. And we are free to imagine a revolution that sets both the oppressed and the oppressors free."

Today one of my group leaders for this summer sent me a link to a youtube video. I clicked on it, thinking maybe it could shake some of the tired off and re-energize me to finish up the last of my packing. As I began to watch my heart was broken for the people in NK.

The thing that strikes me the most about this video, even more than the awful persecution, starvation, and torture, is the isolation that these people are subjected to. I simply cannot imagine what it would be like for that sort of life to be all that I know. I just picture a girl my age, with all of the same emotions as me, trying to rationalize why life is the way it is. Does she think about education? Does she worry about if she will ever get married one day? Does she ever wonder what else is out there in the world? ... all the while having no conception of a girl like me living, living in the lap of luxury, on the other side of the same world as her. To us the world has become so small, so globalized and accessible, yet it is so easy to overlook and forget those who suffer.

I feel like there is no reason why it should be her and not me. I did not do anything to be born into this lovely life of mine, as she did nothing to deserve the punishment of the life she endures. But to her, this is life. And even if she is not aware of my existence, I feel we are the same.

A former professor was telling me today how strongly he believes that we all play our roles on earth, but that ultimately, wherever we are, as Christians our goal is the same, to help others to see the big picture of Christ's love. Although I feel so small in the scheme of things, I know God can use me to show just one person that there is so much more to life than life; that whatever life we are destined to lead on this earth is trivial in the big picture of it all.

So as tears come to my eyes while pondering this short video, I only feel more encouraged and burdened to share this unending love that has been poured into me. And while it breaks my heart to think of how anyone could ever bear treating another person so cruelly, it helps me remember that one person can make a difference.

By your powers combined, I AM SOUTH KOREA!

I happened to be looking at a website with a few countries' flags listed when I realized that if I saw the South Korea flag I wouldn't even recognize it! So since chemistry homework just wasn't cutting it tonight, I starting googleing.According to Wikipedia the flag is a symbol of our planet. The four trigrams (little black rectangular symbols) are related to the classical elements and represent the Chinese philosophical elements- harmony, symmetry, balance, and circulation. They can also be interpreted as...

-sky, sun, moon, eart
-spring, autumn, winter, summer
-east, south, north, west
-humanity, courtesy, knowledge, righteousness
-metal, fire, water, earth
-justice, wisdom, vitality, vertility
The white background symbolizes the "cleanliness of the people", and the yin-yang with the red representing negative of the universe and the blue representing the positive of the universe.

I'm gonna take that and make an American comparison...
"EARTH!" "FIRE!" "WIND!" "WATER!" "HEART!" "Go Planet!"

"By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!" .... press play

Definitely just a tad more interesting then buffered solutions and changes in pH!

Are YOU at peace?

A common first response I've been getting when telling people that I'll be spending 8 weeks in South Korea next summer is, "Oh, wow, so are you going to learn Korean?" I usually just smile and avoid the question, but what I'm really thinking is, "Haha... yeah right!" While this is what I keep telling people, and even telling myself, there's that little voice in the back of my mind telling me that I really should make an effort. I don't know why I so often let that little voice rule my life, but again today, I gave in.

Somehow, despite the fact that I've been up since 7, running around all day and doing homework for the past three hours, I now find myself in bed, not sleeping, but you-tubing Korean lessons. I found a really great series of lessons of travel phrases all by this one same guy. He's pretty thorough. On the screen appears the English word, the Korean symbols for the word, and the Korean pronunciation of the word. The teacher explains the word, breaks it down into syllables, and then repeats it about 42 times, which seems like it would be enough to remember one word, but I've already managed to forget them all. But have no fear! Like the nerd I truly am, I took good notes...

Hello/Good morning; afternoon; evening/How are you?/etc.--- Annyeonghaseyo (literally "Are you at peace?")

Yes--- Ye

No--- Ani-yo

Excuse me--- Silllyehamnida

I'm sorry--- Mianhamnida

Thank you--- Gamsahamnida

That's all right--- Gwaenchansseumnida

Thanks you--- Gomapseumnida

I read on another website that Korean was "remarkably easy to learn" because of all the consistencies. Personally, I'm not thinking that a language that has 18 letter long words is going to be a walk in the park, but I sure do hope I'm wrong.

Okay, now after all that I am definitely ready for some sleep.

-Annyeonghaseyo!