in a strange way everything seems to have picked up right where they left off when i departed korea in september of last year, must be the familiarity + timing. i love that i arrived just in time to greet the seasonal shift from the heat of summer to the autumnal orbs- it's my first time being here during this time of year. and i have been swimming deep in family, family, family from the moment i set foot on land.
last night my cousins and i "snuck out" at midnight (korean grandparents worry more than you could ever imagine) to go to mcdonald's and watch "real steel." LOL. as you can tell, i'm really taking advantage of the fact that i'm in korea...
more to come. the jjajangmyun we ordered for lunch just came to the door! heeehehe. just wanted to let everyone know that i'm alive and doing very well in KOREA!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
hello world
in one week i will be leaving for a month of travels throughout korea, vietnam, and china.
eek!
it is a very last minute, unexpected trip. i am more excited than i have been in a long, long time. in my mind's eye i see myself sitting in the corner of a little cafe in da nang, staring out the window as sheets of rain pour down. journaling, of course, over vietnamese coffee. watching the sun rise every morning, gazing up at stars at night- something i haven't been able to do in so long, and something that never fails to fill me with the greatest sense of peace and wonder. soaking in the little joys and losing myself in the worlds of strangers.
i'm approaching this trip as a time of quiet reflection and the opportunity to rejuvenate + re-center myself far, far away from the lovely but loud chaos of my life. to catch up with friends and family, revel in god's creative powers, see + experience things i never could at home.
boy am i BLESSED :) don't think i don't know it, 'cause i most certainly do.
eek!
it is a very last minute, unexpected trip. i am more excited than i have been in a long, long time. in my mind's eye i see myself sitting in the corner of a little cafe in da nang, staring out the window as sheets of rain pour down. journaling, of course, over vietnamese coffee. watching the sun rise every morning, gazing up at stars at night- something i haven't been able to do in so long, and something that never fails to fill me with the greatest sense of peace and wonder. soaking in the little joys and losing myself in the worlds of strangers.
i'm approaching this trip as a time of quiet reflection and the opportunity to rejuvenate + re-center myself far, far away from the lovely but loud chaos of my life. to catch up with friends and family, revel in god's creative powers, see + experience things i never could at home.
boy am i BLESSED :) don't think i don't know it, 'cause i most certainly do.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
psalm 139:1-18
1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
hehe
today's sermon at church was about moses, and how god uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. how fitting after my last post, it made me smile quietly to myself :) i'm so cool. hehe. okay god is so cool.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
(extra)ordinary
i am surrounded by so many inspirational narratives that i often forget how thrilling my ordinary life has been as well. when compared to the billions of dots in this big wide world, i know that i am living the stuff of dreams. to have had the opportunity to leave my hometown and start fresh in new, exciting environments with minimal responsibilities and burdens- extraordinary. to have had my mind, heart, worldviews so carefully expanded and cultivated at two excellent universities- extraordinary. to have encountered and shared fellowship + intimate experiences with a whole cast of diverse, encouraging individuals who span the globe- extraordinary. to have the complete + unwavering love, faith, trust, of parents who support me in all these things- extraordinary. and to be touched softly every day by an enormous god who never forgets me- extraordinary.
Monday, September 19, 2011
in need of
1. discipline
2. focused attn
3. self-control
lots and lots of goals in the weeks/months ahead, gogogo!
2. focused attn
3. self-control
lots and lots of goals in the weeks/months ahead, gogogo!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
new beginnings
last wednesday night after work i took a familiar route for the last time, from downtown michigan to my old apartment in hyde park. and as i sat on the #6 thinking about the past month of goodbyes and planning for the future, a thought crossed my mind for (surprisingly) the very first time:
"why the hell am i staying in chicago?"
i've been blessed to be a part of some really great communities from high school on. communities that have nurtured me, challenged me, grown me, and loved me. i value community so much that even though i really, really dislike the city of atlanta, i am open to the very real possibility that i might one day return because of the strong communities i still have there- family, kfpc, oxford/emory, and some of my closest friends.
chicago: no family. no church. a job that is a 2hr commute away. and, what's been the hardest part of all, recently saying goodbye to many of the friends with whom i have created + enjoyed community during a pivotal stage of 'me', while those of us who remain have dispersed throughout chicagoland.
a compassionate, encouraging, authentic, steadfast community
so why, why chicago?
why indeed...
because i love, love, love the city.
because i still have much learning + growing to do in this setting.
because there is so much untapped potential.
because, right now, despite everything, this feels right.
this is the first season of my life where i don't have an established community embracing me. and while that is in many ways disheartening and frightening, in others it is exciting and challenging in all the right ways.
please pray for me.
my god, my savior | aaron shust
i am not skilled to understand
what god has willed, what god has planned
i only know at his right hand
stands one who is my savior
i take him at his word and deed
christ died to save me; this i read
and in my heart i find a need
of him to be my savior
that he would leave his place on high
and come for sinful man to die
you count it strange, so once did i
before I knew my savior
my savior loves, my savior lives
my savior's always there for me
my god he was, my god he is
my god is always gonna be
yes, living, dying, let me bring
my strength, my solace from this spring;
that he who lives to be my king
once died to be my savior
that he would leave his place on high
and come for sinful man to die
you count it strange, so once did I
before i knew my savior
my savior loves, my savior lives
my savior's always there for me
my god he was, my god he is
my god is always gonna be
"why the hell am i staying in chicago?"
i've been blessed to be a part of some really great communities from high school on. communities that have nurtured me, challenged me, grown me, and loved me. i value community so much that even though i really, really dislike the city of atlanta, i am open to the very real possibility that i might one day return because of the strong communities i still have there- family, kfpc, oxford/emory, and some of my closest friends.
chicago: no family. no church. a job that is a 2hr commute away. and, what's been the hardest part of all, recently saying goodbye to many of the friends with whom i have created + enjoyed community during a pivotal stage of 'me', while those of us who remain have dispersed throughout chicagoland.
 |  |
so why, why chicago?
why indeed...
because i love, love, love the city.
because i still have much learning + growing to do in this setting.
because there is so much untapped potential.
because, right now, despite everything, this feels right.
this is the first season of my life where i don't have an established community embracing me. and while that is in many ways disheartening and frightening, in others it is exciting and challenging in all the right ways.
please pray for me.
my god, my savior | aaron shust
i am not skilled to understand
what god has willed, what god has planned
i only know at his right hand
stands one who is my savior
i take him at his word and deed
christ died to save me; this i read
and in my heart i find a need
of him to be my savior
that he would leave his place on high
and come for sinful man to die
you count it strange, so once did i
before I knew my savior
my savior loves, my savior lives
my savior's always there for me
my god he was, my god he is
my god is always gonna be
yes, living, dying, let me bring
my strength, my solace from this spring;
that he who lives to be my king
once died to be my savior
that he would leave his place on high
and come for sinful man to die
you count it strange, so once did I
before i knew my savior
my savior loves, my savior lives
my savior's always there for me
my god he was, my god he is
my god is always gonna be
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