what makes you feel loved

Last night I was hanging out with college students who come over every week to practice their English. We were talking about love and the ways that people express it or receive it. I told them I’d read that some people show love through physical touch, some through giving gifts, some through words, some through acts of service, and some by spending time together. They explained that in this culture people rarely show love by physical touch or by your words. They had never been told, “I love you,” by their parents and would never give each other hugs. But this does not mean they don’t feel loved by their parents. One student shared about a time he knew his father loved him. His dad had some extra money one day and asked him if he wanted to go out and buy something to eat. He didn’t take his dad up on the offer, but said that by the offer he knew that his dad cared for him. Wow, the culture here is different. What makes you feel loved by others? How do you show others that you love them?

-P

Happy Anniversary P

The Lord has blessed me greatly by bringing my husband to me. I can't believe how fast time is going by and even though some may say it's only three years, it's been a great and wonderful three years... and I can't wait for three more and three more after that as long as the Lord wants it.

P planned a great weekend for us this weekend while friends watched A for us. We went to the capitol city and stayed there for two nights. The bad thing was I was really sick, had been throwing up and you know the other stuff for three days by the time the day came for us to leave. Debating whether we should go or not, I started taking antibiotics. That helped enough for me to go. While we were there, I was still sick, not as bad as the three days before, but still sick, so P did the best with what we had... brought movies, candles, treats, games, and more. So despite the fact that most of our time was in our room, we had a good time. We even had a HOT shower!!!

Thank you P for such an amazing time and a great three years. I love the way you love the Lord and how you follow Him in all you do. You are an awesome husband and a fabulous daddy! I love you. Happy Anniversary! (I could type more, but you said no mushy stuff. ha ha :) )

traffic

imagine chicago traffic..... then add a million motorcycles, a lack of road rules as you know them, the absence of street signs, and a maze of one way streets that go in every which way, as opposed to north and south or east and west. this is the mess i was driving in last night when i decided to take a "short cut." it ended up taking me nearly 2 hours to get across town. at first i just had to laugh at how off course i got, but at the tail end of the trip i got "just a little bit" frustrated. i took a left where i should have taken a right and found myself at a dead stop in traffic facing the wrong direction. just on the other side of a one foot cement median were all the cars going so quickly in the right direction, but i would have to creep along in the wrong direction for an eternity before i would be able to turn around. who would have thought i would ever long for chicago traffic?

-p

1 corithians 1

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influencial; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise… it is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1)

These verses were such and encouragement to me this morning. Sometimes we get discouraged, as we think about our shortcomings or about how we measure up to other people. But we don’t need to try to be something big. In fact, we can relax in the fact that we are nothing. We are not alone in our unworthiness. If we are one of those called and saved by grace, then we are just one in a crowd of many who don’t amount to much in the world’s eyes, but have been chosen to bring glory to the King. If we become anything, or do anything, or achieve anything in this world, it is Him who is glorified. Why? Because it is by His grace and power alone that someone so unworthy could do anything of worth.

-P

A just turned two last week and i can't believe how much she is growing... thought you might like a couple pictures....

Date

Four years ago, P called me for our third date and told me to wear warm clothes and have a snack before going on our date. He picked me up and took me downtown to go ice-skating... my first time. then we went out to Bennigan's. Today I got a card that told me that we were going to reenact that night. P got a babysitter and we are going to go ice-skating. Yea!!! Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

valentine's day

Happy valentine’s day to my beautiful girls. God blessed me with the most wonderful wife and sweetest daughter. I don’t know what I would do without them. I never guessed how great it would be to be a husband and father. It’s something I can’t explain… the feelings I have everyday… the way I look forward to coming home to see E when I am out doing something… the way I want to wake up A after she has fallen asleep so that I can play with her more… I won’t go on because I know not everyone wants to hear all about it… but I will say that I can’t imagine life without them. Thank you Lord, for your perfect faithfulness and your goodness to me in bringing E and then A into my life.

beginnings

We have been wanting to start a blog for a long time but just now got it up and running. Here is a little news about ourselves to things going....

E.... I remember the first night crying, not knowing what I was doing and where I was and how I was going to make it, but here I am a year and a half later realizing that every time I watched an old Korean drama I wanted to live life just like that, and that's what I got. An old neighborhood with pathways so tight that only one person could go by and houses even tighter together that it feels like everyone is living in the same house. It's a lot of fun having so many people around us. The most beautiful part is when we drive through the mountains and see the greenery... mountains, hills, trees, rice fields... Thank you Lord for your beauty. So even though some days I get homesick, I think of all the blessing I have in Him here and surrender my life once more.


P... I've been loving life here. For a long time there were so many aspects of life that seemed weird or abnormal... and I found myself sometimes daily thinking about the States and things that i missed. Now life here seems normal.... the things that were once so foreign are now just daily routine. For instance, showering by throwing scoops of cold water over ourselves, or brushing teeth and washing hands without a sink in the bathroom, or eating rice for almost every meal are things i don't even think about anymore. On the other hand there are still things that happen every week that are surprising or confusing, or even frustrating as we struggle to learn a new language and culture. there's so many things we would have loved to share with all of you back home but we never had the opportunity.... maybe this blog will give us a chance to tell some of the stories as they happen.

A... When I got here, I could barely sit up on my own, now I am two and love to sing, dance, read, run around, play with my friends, and eat. My favorite food is rice porridge and chicken and rice. I enjoy spicy food, but if it's too spicy my lips get really red. I do lots of funny things that makes mommy and daddy laugh like cover myself with a blanket and say, "A all gone" or if I don't see them I say, "daddy where are you?" I can't wait to go to the states for a visit, but I like my friends and home here.