The half way point

September eighteenth made six months we've been in Korea! Wow I can't believe we're half way through our contract. It seems like the time has flown by.. and at times went really slowly. I am excited to have more amazing experiences while I am here and develop deeper friendships. Here are some of my highlights of my past six months here. Hope you enjoy.

He cares about the little things.

Last Wednesday made five months that we have been living in Korea. =) I had noticed in my previous blogs that I had talked about some of the negative things about living in Korea. To be honest, this summer has not been the most comfortable for us for various reasons but the other day I was talking to a friend who told me a story of a need that God met for her and she said, "He cares about the little things." I started to think of all the little things that God has done for me throughout my life but also since we've been in Korea. We truly do serve an awesome God!

So just to name a few...

The biggest in my mind is providing us with a new apartment. We had some issues with our other one and so we prayed a lot and honestly just waited to see what God would do and He answered our prayer. I am still amazed when I think of how He cares for us and provides.

This summer was hot, humid and rainy. Living in an apartment without a/c can be miserable and mildew can start to grow on everything. Your walls, table, clothes, etc. Thankfully we got through it but when we moved into our new apartment it just so happened to come with a/c. Which means no more sticky apartment and mildew! Such a huge blessing.

God provided us with a bible study group. This is something Teddy, Lisa and I have been wanting since we came to Korea. We even thought about starting our own. In June God answered our prayer. We met a girl from church who surprisingly lived close to us and invited us to her bible study group which we have been a part of ever since and love it!

God provided us with a church that we love! This is such an answered prayer for us because we just wanted to find a church where we felt like we belonged and we instantly felt that at Jubilee.

God provided me with clothes!! This sounds silly but clothes are a big passion of mine and I was told before coming to Korea that "unless your a size six" you won't be able to find clothes but God provided Uniqlo and other awesome stores and I am so thankful!

The last one that I can think of is actually for Teddy. God provided him with RedBull. He loves this energy drink, which I think is grose and tastes like sweet tarts. We found it at a foreign food mart and visit there often.

So I leave you with this verse ...

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! --Matthew 7:9-10

What good gifts has God given you lately ?

God is like a crockpot.

So I was at Jubilee on Sunday and heard Pastor Dave use the phrase "God isn't a microwave, He's more like a slow cooker kind of God." When I heard this I just thought, "ugh, this is so unfair. Why God, why?" Isn't waiting seriously the hardest thing ever! But the more I thought about it I realized this is pretty true and since I can't change the way God is then I need to understand why this is ..

There are many scriptures about "waiting" in the Bible.
Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
Micah 7:7 "Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me."
Lamentations 3:5 "The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him."
Psalm 40:1 " I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry."

In Genesis God took six days to create the earth and everything in it. God made Adam name all the animals before he gave him Eve. I'm sure that was a long time of waiting.

The Messiah didn't come until the New Testament. The disciples had to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. We are still waiting for the return of Christ and also to be with Him in Heaven.
This shows me that maybe waiting is worthwhile.

When I think back on all the amazing things that have happened in my life many of them I had to wait for.
Birthdays and Christmas every year when I was a kid. Seemed like forever.
Graduating high school... took four years ..so glad to not be in high school anymore.
Going to a Christian college....felt like it took forever to get there.
Graduating college
Finding Teddy ... took a long time
Marrying Teddy.. also pretty restless
As I think about these things though, maybe there is more value in them since I had to wait so long. What would it be like if we just asked God to do something for us and God just did it. It seems like it would be amazing!! But would we really be thankful for it? If everything came so easily would there be any gratitude in our hearts for God?

One time I heard a story about Adam and how he was incomplete before the fall on man. I think Donald Miller was talking about this. Scripture says that Adam was lonely and needed a companion. This was a man who did not have any sin and walked with God everyday, yet he still had to "wait" just like us. God knew he longed for a mate but he didn't instantly give Him one. Why? Probably because he would take her for granted and not be thankful for her. So God let him name every animal on earth. This probably kept him busy but didn't take the longing in his heart away. Finally God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and from his rib forms Eve. How did Adam react to this woman? Did he say , " Oh, thanks God, this is cool." No ..He was amazed and said "This is now bone of MY bones and flesh of MY flesh." I've also heard a joke once that the name woman came from Adam saying "Woah! Man!" But I don't think that is scripturally accurate. Still I'm sure he was very thankful and amazed at what God did.

Another thing I've thought about is how we are never bitter at God after we are given something great. We might be in the period of waiting but not after it. In our minds we think "it was sooo worth waiting for and I hope I never have to wait for something that long again." But we don't regret waiting. I've never regretted waiting. I feel I've learned alot of hard lessons through waiting but when it finally happens; when the waiting is over, I just think, "Wow! God really is a good God and heard my prayer!" This is amazing! I am totally humbled by His gifts.
All that to say God has put me in a period of waiting and it's not always easy but I am beginning to see that yes He is a good God and He's not evil for making me wait. It's gonna be worth it!=)

Culture Shock and lots of it

We've been in Korea almost three months now! Wow, the time has flown by. However, there is this little thing called Culture Shock that affects anyone living in a different culture for more than a few weeks. It has hit us pretty hard too. I have been in a bad mood the past few weeks and I was trying to figure out why and I remembered learning about the stages of culture shock in college. So since I didn't remember them all I decided to look them up and found out that there are four stages.

The first is called the "honeymoon" phase. This is the phase where your experience is seen in a romantic light. The place is new and exciting. You love different aspects of the culture like the food, scenery, way of life, that kind of thing. This stages usually lasts for a couple of weeks.

The second stage is called the "negotiation" phase. This is the phase I believe Teddy and I are in right now, It's not the best one to be in. This is when differences between the old and new culture become apparent and may create anxiety. You become frustrated and angry by experiences that strike you as strange, offensive and unacceptable. These usually relate to the language barrier, public hygene, traffic safety and type or quality of food. For example a person may long for food the way it is prepared in one's native country, miss the comforts in one's native couuntry, etc.

The third phase is called the "adjustment" phase. After about 6-12 months, one grows accustomed to the new culture and develops routines. One knows what to expect in the country and it's doesn't feel new anymore. One becomes concerned with basic living and things become more normal. The culture begins to make sense.

The fourth stage is the "mastery" phase. In this phase, one is able to participate fully and comfortably in the host culture. Mastery does not mean total conversion. Some people do not adopt some aspects of the host culture. However, I don't think we will reach this stage since it seems one has to be in a host country for more than a year for this to occur.

Here is a list of things that I have noticed that are much different from what I am used to. Some are awesome, others not so much.

- Sometimes people pee in the street, only seen it once but was a little shocked by it.
- All sports in Korea have cheerleaders, including baseball.
- Pencils don't come with erasers. You buy those separately.
- It is perfectly normal to hit the kids if they misbehave.
- It is also perfectly normal for kids to bring swords and toy guns to school.
- Western humor doesn't always translate here.
- Koreans are group oriented people.
- They love Disney here, I do too.
- Giving affection is important while teaching English.
- You dry your clothes on a drying rack here.
- Clothes and electronics are so expensive here.
- Walking a ton, is a must for living in Korea.
- Service is amazing! This means you get free stuff alot.
- Despite where you are, you get great service.
- If you are white, you will get stared at.
- It's normal to not have a shower/bath tub in your bathroom, just a shower head.
- You use two hands when giving someone something.
- You will be told that what you are eating is unhealthy.
- There are unisex bathrooms.
- You will eat very foreign foods on many occasions.
- Hiking is the thing to do here.
- You will be pushed a lot, it's a big city.
- Spitting happens a lot as well.
- Table manners are much different here.
- You will see drunk people of all ages here.
- Cheese is probably the thing I miss the most.
- We are such a minority here.
- Transportation is amazing here.

That's all I can think of right now. This culture is definetely different from what we are used to but we are very happy to be here and know we are right where we are supposed to be. Thanks for the prayers and we miss you all!

It's all just a gamble

Since Teddy and I have come to Korea, we have noticed that everything is different from what we are used to. The language, the food, the way we wash our clothes, the beds, the music, the bathroom, even the hobbies. Everyday we encounter some new experience and sometimes look like idiots when we are trying to act like we know what we are doing, when in fact we don't and we just can't blend in. However in one area we have been rather successful, until tonight.

There are many food options here in Korea. You can have kimchi,galbi,kimbap,bulgogi,squid, octopus, chicken, beef, cheeseburgers, hotdogs, etc. Teddy and I like to eat Korean food as well as Western food. Our tolerance for spicy food has definetely gone up since we've been here. After a while you just get used to your lips being numb and a fire blazing in your mouth. Everytime we go to a resturaunt we always end up ordering something safe like chicken, quesadillas rice cakes, beef, something we are used to. We look at the menu and, although we can't read it we pick the picture that looks the best to us. We have always been pleased with our selection. However, tonight was a different story. We went into a Korean resturaunt in our town. We looked at the menu on the wall, by the way that's what most resturaunts do here, and we picked something. From the far distance it looked like chicken and noodles so we were pretty confident we had ordered well, like we always do. Twenty minutes later our meal comes out and we notice bean sprouts, some spicy sauce and shrimp right away. So we think "O we picked the shrimp meal" so we start eating, we soon realize there are all types of seafood in our meal. Some Teddy wouldn't even try. There were a couple of big bones on the plate. At first they looked like celery sticks but they were not. We had a lot of fish with eyes, bones and sharp claws sticking out. I wondered if it was all dead. There also looked like some oyster type thing and as weird as it sounds black skin from other sea creatures. It was not the best dinner. After wards we went to a bakery across the road and I got an egg sandwich. I know I'm an Ugly American but as we were walking back to our apartment Teddy said "well it's all just a gamble" and it made think of our life and how this whole Korea experience is a gamble. Even more it made me think of the calling of the disciples.

Peter, James and John owned a fishing business together. They were pretty close to eachother and I'm sure they had heard of Jesus before. One day Jesus was teaching on the shore of Galilee. He climbed into Peter's boat and told him to pull out from the shore so he could teach the large crowd of people. Peter did what he told him to. After Jesus finished preaching He told Peter to go into deeper water and let their nets down for a catch. Peter told Jesus that they had not caught a single fish all night but since He says so they will let down their nets. Many of you all have read the story and know that they caught so many fish that their nets began to break. They filled both boats so full of fish that their boats began to sink as well. When Peter realized that Jesus was making this happen he fell on his knees and told Jesus to leave for he was a sinful man. Jesus told him not to be afraid, from now on he will be a fisher of men. Peter, James and John pulled their boats on to the shore, left everything and followed Him. What I think is so ironic about this story is that Jesus allowed these men to catch more fish than they have probably ever caught in their life right before He called them to leave their occupation. I'm sure they were amazed at how many fish they caught and were thinking they would make a lot of money selling the fish. But to follow Jesus would be a gamble. They did not know what to expect. Would they ever catch this many fish again? Would they ever get paid this much money again? Would they finally be secure in life? What was their life? Was it about catching fish or was it about so much more? What causes the disciples to give up their life, their job, their security to become followers of Jesus. To follow a man who doesn't even have a place to lay his head? How secure is a life of following Jesus anyway? As we read through the scriptures we see the many hardships the disciples face and the persecution they go through. We see the very man they follow be crucified. We see them feeling alone and broken. But we also see the many miraculous signs and wonders. We see Peter walk on water. We see Paul encounter Christ and become such an amazing leader for the early church. The early Christians took a gamble to follow Christ and spread the good news of the Gospel. It seems things are much different now in the world today.

We Christians run to God whenever anything bad happens to us and pray He will make it better. If our internet doesn't work it seems like it's the end of the world. If we aren't comfortable in our day to day life we pray. When was life ever supposed to be comfortable for Christians? Many of the early believers spent their days in prison and being beaten for their faith. If we desire to be like the early church should comfort be an important factor? What if God calls us away from our comfortable life to something better He has planned for us? I must admit when God called Teddy and I to Korea I didn't know how much I would miss the comforts of America. I miss green grass, carpet, comfy mattresses and couches. I miss driving a car. There are just some many comforts in America but God has called me here and just because it's not always comfortable doesn't mean it's bad. I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now and I am content with that. Who wants to worship a God that's ordinary? Our God is powerful and takes us on adventures we could never imagine. Life is really a gamble with God. We don't know what's going to happen but we have to be willing to make that choice to sacrifice comfort for an amazing journey with our wonderful Savior. I'm sure looking back Peter, James and John would have given up anything to follow Christ despite the lack of comfort in it.

So we sit here in our small apartment, eating our weird dinners, sleeping on our hard mattress because we know or at least are learning that our Christian walk isn't about being comfortable or always knowing what's going to happen but it's about trusting God and knowing that it might not always be easy but He promises to never leave us or forsake us and that is the best promise of all.

Not just any Sunday

So today made one full month Teddy and I have been in South Korea. All I can say is..wow! We made it a whole month.. Now 11 more to go. We are still adjusting but are much more comfortable here in Korea than we were a few weeks ago. Although everything is still very new and exciting to us so I'm glad that part hasn't worn off yet. There's just so much to explore!

Speaking of exploring. We decided to go to Yoido Full Gospel Church this morning. If you haven't heard, this is the largest Christian church in the entire world. It's kind of a big deal. We were so excited about it. The church has seven different services on Sunday. There are about 830,000 members and the services are translated into 16 different languages. This church is an Assemblies of God church. I really don't know if they were speaking in tongues because it's all foreign to me. Ha!

The church is also located on an island in Korea which is pretty cool. So we got to the church and went to sit down. The church has good old fashioned pews. So we sit down on the first floor and the worship begins. Of course everything is in Korean so we're just watching everything then a man comes up to us and tells us that we are not sitting in the right spot. So he tells us to follow him and he leads us up to the balcony and we sit in the foreigner section. We also get some headphones that we plug in to this cassett player thing so we can hear the service in English. The worship was contemporary. There was a man playing the guitar and about 6 other people around him singing. There were also about 10 young women dancing to the music. They were jumping up and down and kicking their feet up and it was just really cool. There are no words to describe how amazing it was to sing in English while hearing thousands of Koreans worshipping in their language. It was beautiful. It made me think of what it's going to sound like in Heaven when we are all worshipping one God in so many different languages. After the contemporary worship was over then the choir started and they sang very traditional hymns. It was also beautiful. I have never seen a blended worship service like this before. Everyone seemed happy with both styles of music though. We listened to the sermon and continued to worship more after that. The sermon was in Korean though we listened to a translator through our headphones. This wasn't the easiest thing to do. It's really hard to concentrate on the message when you are hearing two voices. But all in all we enjoyed our experience there. We took lots of pictures for everyone to see what it looks like. Hope you enjoy.

"Colpop is for convenience."

We hope your Easter went well! Easter here isn't that big of a holiday like it is in the States. So no Easter egg dying for us or chocolate bunnies, though Teddy went to church. I on the other hand was sick with the flu.

We've really enjoyed teaching these past few weeks. I have a funny story about one of Teddy's kids. We teach Elementary age kids at our school, so like any kid, they always come to class with candy or some type of food or drink. Sometimes the stuff smells yummy, sometimes not so much. But this week many of our kids have come to class with this thing called colpop. From far away it looks like breaded chicken in a big cup with a straw. Teddy looks at one of his students and says "Chicken in a cup?" ..The student says "yes teacher." He then says "chicken, with a straw, in a cup?" "Yes teacher" "So you drink chicken with a straw?" "No teacher." Then the student picks up the little cup the chicken is inside and shows Teddy the coca cola in the big cup and says "it's for convenience." Ha! Kids here are so intelligent. How many American kids would say the word convenience when describing something. After school we had to stop by the restuaruant and try some colpop for ourselves and it is very convenient. =)