how's the weather?

That's one of the songs we sing in my G1 class- "how's the, how's the weather, how's the how's the weather?" Today the answer is "it's rainy! it's rainy! it is rainy now!" I really like rain. It makes me feel all cozy and reflective.

I spent the night after I got off work at a little coffee shop not too far from my house reading a most excellent book - The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun. It's an autobiography about a leader of house churches in China. It's absolutely incredible - the things this guy has gone through and his passion for God, God's word, and spreading it. I highly recommend it. If you think you have had to suffer anything because of being a Christian, you'll most likely see whatever you have had to endure as absolutely nothing. He tells about miracles he's experienced from asking God for healing for his father to receiving a Bible when there were no Bibles to be found in China to escaping multiple times from prison under amazing circumstances. You have to read this book.

baptisms, pictures

We had our first two baptisms on Sunday evening. We borrowed a pool at a health club near where we meet on Sunday evenings. Koreans don't normally baptize through immersion, so they were all really interested to see what it looked like. It was really fun. There are some pictures of that and other recent things at the bottom of my April photo album.

books

I've been reading a little more lately, which is good, but it also means I haven't spent much time on things like learning Korean or guitar, like I mentioned in an earlier post. I read "A Chance to Die" by Elisabeth Elliot. It's about Amy Carmichael, a missionary who spent all of her life from her 30s on in India as a missionary. It was interesting, but a long read. I also read "The Story We Find Ourselves In" by Brian McLaren. It's a follow up to his book "A New Kind of Christian." It was really interesting, and kept me turning the pages even though it has many ideas I don't agree with as a part of the story. Now I'm reading "More Ready Than You Realize", also by McLaren. It's about how we need to see evangelism more as a conversation and a friendship in our world today. There are lots of good thoughts in this one. I'll share a few.

"Good evangelists...are people who engage others in good conversation about important and profound topics such as faith, values, hope, meaning, purpose, goodness, beauty, truth, life after death, life before death, and God. They do this, not because they like to be experts and impose their views on others, but because they feel they are in fact sent by God to do so."

"Jesus was short on sermons, long on conversations; short on answers, long on questions; short on telling you what to think, long on challenging you to think for yourself; short on condemning the irreligious, long on confronting the religious."

"If we would rediscover the substance, the essence, the heart of our good news, we would have to work less on how we say what we say because what we say would in itself be so powerful."

boiling water

I guess I'm really tired, because I just boiled a kettle of water to put in the fridge, and was going to boil another one (my kettle is small) to add to it, but instead after filling up the kettle the second time to boil, I just poured it straight into the bottle of already boiled water. Argh. Now, I can either take my chances or reboil the whole thing.

(In Korea, there's apparently not a dependable water treatment system, because you aren't supposed to drink the tap water. It's such a developed country, so it's strange to have to do that, but I obey! Most people have their own water coolers in their house, or they buy their water from the store, but I just boil it. It's easy for one person.)

dishes, pizza, sleep

i just realized another benefit of living in a one-room apartment: when you are washing dishes and wanting to get all of them done in one sinkload, instead of having to walk through the house, you can just turn and look around the house to see if you missed any dishes! I just washed my dishes for the week (I haven't spent much time at home this week, so I washed the whole weeks supply of dirty dishes at once) after enjoying the hawaiian pizza that I ordered for dinner.

The past two nights, I haven't spent the night at my house, so I am looking forward to going to bed early tonight, even though it's Friday. After a nice picnic yesterday with some friends, (it was voting day, a holiday here), I went to the hospital to hang out with my friend Kelli. We played scrabble and a little game of charades, then I spent the night there to keep her company. She had her thyroid taken out this morning. Korean hospital beds (at least the one the guest gets to sleep on) are too short, too skinny, and too hard. I slept on my side with my feet hanging off one end and my arms hanging off the other end. Kelli is in a room with four other women, but she did get a bed by the window! It's actually a really nice hospital, and it only costs about seven dollars per night for a patient to stay there! Wow. I called to check on her after I got off work today, and she seems to be doing well.

The night before last, some of us spent the night at a bath house. Those are good places to visit for a good scrub down and some relaxation time, but not the ideal place to spend the night. They have grass mats and small hard pillows. You sleep in a big room with everyone else - some of whom are sleeping and some are not. For some reason, people like to stay there. I guess Koreans have much different standards for what qualifies as good sleep. So, after two nights of less than adequate sleeping conditions and seven straight hours without a break of work today, I am off to dream land in my own dreamy bed.

my bike!

I got my bike ridable today and had such fun! I bought a little pump yesterday and got frustrated that the back tire wouldn't hold air because as soon as I would fill it up, the pin would shoot out with all the air. I hadn't ever seen a nozzle like that before, but I finally gave up on it and took it to the bike shop this morning. They put a new tube in and I got a basket added to the front, so now I have an ajumma (Korean word for older woman) bike. It's great! I rode it to the subway station, locked it up, and went to meet a friend for lunch near where she works. I came back a little late, but thanks to my bike, I made it to work on time! Yay! After work, I rode my bike all around - to pay my cell phone bill, to get my bank balance updated on my passbook, to eat dinner at a nearby department store foodcourt, and then used my basket to hold a bag of groceries on the way back home to my apartment. I love it! Thanks to my friend Koh for giving me his bike. I feel like I have new freedom!

hanging up to dry

I was just hanging my laundry on my drying rack and had one of those fun reflective moments. Almost every apartment in Korea has its own washing machine, because there are no laundromats in Korea. (I think I saw one in Itaewon, the foreign section of town, but I'm not sure.) Anyway, if you teach at a hagwon like I do, your school gets you a washing machine. I have one on my closed in porch. So, my windows are partly open, even at almost 11pm, because it's getting so warm here! I am standing near the open window, catching a bit of fresh air, and hanging up my laundry, watching people across the street looking out of their window, and I'm thinking: yay, I love it here! I love changes of seasons, because you so appreciate the new weather. The days have been absolutely gorgeous here, bursting with the promise of spring.

I haven't been studying Korean lately and am feeling like I'll never learn it, but am promising myself I will get back in the swing of at least doing an online lesson or two most days and trying to look over it more in my spare moments on the subway or between classes at school. I really need and want to take a real class, but don't have the time right now. I am hoping to make time in my schedule next year, which seems a long way off in some ways, but time here has gone by so fast.

My friend Kelli is having surgery to remove her thyroid this Thursday. Please pray for her. I am praying for healing so she can keep her thyroid.

new pictures, excellent day

I posted some new pictures on my online photo album of spring, friends at lifegroup, and some pictures of my so cute kids at school. Check it out!

Today was another absolutely beautiful day in Seoul. We had a team meeting this morning, which began with worship and prayer. I totally zoned in during worship, even though it was really short. I don't know how to explain it, but sometimes (it hasn't happened in a while until today) when I close my eyes and really get into it, I open my eyes with a different perspective. Not just a different emotional perspective, although that happens too, but I actually feel a little removed from where I am physically. It's good.

After our team meeting, some friends came over to color eggs for an Easter egg hunt that Shannon and Renee organized. I got to help color a few before going to lifegroup with the guys. We had lifegroup together today (girls and guys) outside in a little covered area. It was so excellent. Afterwards, some guys played basketball and some of us went to eat lunch, then I went back up the hill to take a nap outside. I ended up reading my book Travelling Mercies by Anne Lamont instead of taking the nap, though. Interesting book in many ways. Then, I came home and took a nap in my bed.

I wanted to go get the tires aired up on my new-to-me bike (given to me by our friend Koh, who translates at our church), but I halfway knew that once I got to my apartment I would fall asleep, even though I had plans to be productive. In my defense, I did get only 5 hours of sleep last night. :)

don't need what they sell? just wait a while!

Today as I was leaving the subway station on my way to work from life group, I noticed that the store next to the stairway had changed again. When I first moved here, they sold all sorts of plastic stuff, everything only 2,000 won! There was even a little guy there shouting a continual stream of "come buy this great stuff! only 2,000 won! you really need one of these! don't pass up this deal!" (Or, at least that's what I imagine what his Korean yells might translate to.) After that, it changed to womens pantyhose, underwear, and slimming garments. That was actually pretty long-lived. I guess lots of people buy those things as they're getting on or leaving the subway! I think the next line of goods was various cosmetic supplies. Today, the new line of products was high heeled shoes. (Women here, especially those in their 20s and 30s wear high heeled shoes almost exclusively. They wear them with everything, no matter whether they are dressed up or not.)

life group

Today my life group at NCD (Natural Church Development, a company we are friends with here in Korea) was so good. I have felt in the past that we were going through the motions, but increasingly lately we have been touching on some deep issues in the hearts of people there, including me. We meet at lunch because I have until 2pm on Thursdays before I have to go to work. There are usually about six girls there. We order lunch in most of the time and then meet after we finish eating. Today, I got there early and made the rounds visiting people. One girl was sitting in the office by herself and I went in to talk to her. I asked her if everything was OK and she told me it wasn't - that things were bothering her about relationships at work. I related some struggles with relationships on the team and we discussed how God uses these opportunities to teach us more humility, to show us we still have pride, and to build our character. At life group, we talked about the first few verses of 1 John 3 - about how seeing more of Jesus, getting a clearer picture of Him will change us. We will want to be more like Him, more pure and more holy the more we can see Him. That led us into a discussion of what it means to see Jesus. Most of us had gone to see The Passion of Christ on Saturday together, so that gave us a new perspective on His submission and how He layed down His life for us. It was so good to hear these girls' hearts, how God had been speaking the same things to each of them this week, and pray for each other. Thank You, God!

holiday

Yesterday was arbor day here in Korea. I went to eat lunch (shabu shabu - you cook your meat and veggies and stuff in boiling broth, then pull it out into your little bowl to eat) with my friend So Young and my old Korean tutor Jung Min. It was SO good, and it was a beautiful day, too. After lunch, we went to Olympic Park, which I found out is only a 10 minute bus ride from my apartment. Wow! It was full of people rollerblading and picnicking, enjoying the beautiful spring weather. The cherry trees are in bloom and so are a bunch of other beautiful plants. There are these wonderful yellow flowering bushes and some trees that have no leaves but have huge white flowers all over. After walking around for a while, we headed over to one of the gymnasiums for a worship event. One church that we know brought in Noel Richards, a worship leader from England. They also had their own worship band. We took some of our friends with us. I think it was really good for us all to experience some excellent Korean worship (with some English worship too). We enjoyed it!

an orange vinyl couch!

When I went to work this afternoon, it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. There were kids and moms at the playground near my apartment, along with one of the famous Korean yogurt ladies (they walk around with a little insulated cart full of many kinds of yogurt and milk, their hats, clothes, and cart all yellow). There were kids playing video games outside the tiny corner store, and old men inside at the table drinking and talking. The trees are in bloom, and I was thinking about what a great spring day it was.

When I left work (I only work for four hours on Thursdays), it was gray and raining! I love rain, though, and it hasn't rained in a while, so I am enjoying it. There were moms with strollers scurrying to get their kids dry, a kid on roller skates with an umbrella, and a rad orange couch on the side of the road! I was standing there in the rain admiring it when the lady who lives at that house came home from the store and told me it was a great couch, that I should take it (or something along those lines.) She had put it out for the trash to pick up. She asked if I had a boyfriend to help me carry it, and I said no, so she helped me carry it to my apartment. She was old, so I didn't want her to help me carry it up the stairs. I told her we could leave it there so I could clean it off. I cleaned it off and lugged it up the stairs to my apartment by myself. That was a challenge, but I did it! Now, I have a little orange vinyl couch in my little apartment. I did some re-arranging and it looks great. My apartment is getting pretty full, though, with my bed and small table supplied by my school, plus a couch, large coffee table, and bookshelf found in the trash.

used for the useful things

I was at Scott and Jim Bob's apartment last night and came across this set of rules posted by one of their Korean roommates. I found it really funny, so I thought I would share. I post it here as I found it for your enjoyment.

We love our home as We love ourselves.
9:00 PM Thursday
-Our rules to keep our home-
1. We should do rock the entrance door when you go out last time.
2. We should do keep clean our bathroom which you use now.
3. We should do our dishes after your eating.
4. We should save our electricities.

*When you don't keep this rule 3 times, you have to pay 50,000 won and the money will be used for our useful things.
*If you can't keep our cleaning time, you have to tell us at least 3 days ago. Without any special reason, you have to pay 50,000 won.
We love our visitor too
God bless you.