I'm just struck with the realization that we truly have absolutely no right to hold out in unforgiveness. If we can even slightly comprehend what a Holy, Pure, Perfect, and Loving King has done for us so that we might know Him and spend time with Him, then we would realize that the offenses from our fellow human beings mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in light of eternity and what has been forgiven of us.
Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor (Matt 18)
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. 26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Loving People
1. I'm going crazy with excitement that Shin will be home soon. Please pray for him as he makes his 36 hour trip home and readjusts to Alabama (time, weather, food, etc.).
2. God (and my pastor) has been teaching me about loving people...
C.S. Lewis says, "There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whome we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -- no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner -- no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment."
I hope my actions towards others can become increasingly informed by an understanding of eternity and that I would not brush people off as temporal and insignificant.
For more: http://www.downshoredrift.com/downshoredrift/2012/01/cs-lewis-on-what-we-will-one-day-be.html
Or 'The Weight of Glory' by C.S. Lewis (which I have only read bits of)
2. God (and my pastor) has been teaching me about loving people...
C.S. Lewis says, "There are no 'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whome we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -- no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner -- no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment."
I hope my actions towards others can become increasingly informed by an understanding of eternity and that I would not brush people off as temporal and insignificant.
For more: http://www.downshoredrift.com/downshoredrift/2012/01/cs-lewis-on-what-we-will-one-day-be.html
Or 'The Weight of Glory' by C.S. Lewis (which I have only read bits of)
Friday, January 20, 2012
I Want to Be a Woman Who Ministers
The (self-proclaimed) Very Worst Missionary talks about what it means to be a woman who ministers. Which is exactly what I want to be and I'm so blessed to have several of these in my life.
"...The truth is, the women who ministered to my own wanting soul weren’t “women in ministry” at all. They were good neighbors and generous friends. They were soccer-Moms who took my babies off my hands for a few hours at a time, when I most needed help. They were steaming coffee dates where no subject was off limits, where laughter flowed freely and tears of anguish were met with tears of empathy. They were gentle spirits who whispered the Love of a Savior into my life, slowly and sweetly, because they understood that, through friendship, Grace abounds. It just does.
Those women didn’t work in churches. They had government jobs, they were part-time consultants, some were homemakers, one was a personal trainer, another ran a daycare. They taught me that there’s a really big difference between “women in ministry” and “women who minister”. And they showed me that a woman’s ability to deeply impact the world around her, her value in ministry, isn’t limited by her job title (or her husband’s).
That means that Missionary or not, I am a woman who is called to minister. Pastor’s wife or not, you are a woman called to minister. Sunday school teacher or not, your wife/sister/daughter/friend is called to minister.
Our neighbors and co-workers are counting on us to use our God-given gifts and abilities to bring Hope to this broken world. Our families and our friends are depending on us, with our uniquely feminine voices, to speak into their lives with wisdom and authority. And the God who created us, in all our girly glory, has released us to feed the hungry, care for the sick, love the unlovely, and guide the lost..."
http://inamirrordimly.com/2012/01/20/women-in-ministry-series-from-woman-in-ministry-to-woman-who-ministers/
"...The truth is, the women who ministered to my own wanting soul weren’t “women in ministry” at all. They were good neighbors and generous friends. They were soccer-Moms who took my babies off my hands for a few hours at a time, when I most needed help. They were steaming coffee dates where no subject was off limits, where laughter flowed freely and tears of anguish were met with tears of empathy. They were gentle spirits who whispered the Love of a Savior into my life, slowly and sweetly, because they understood that, through friendship, Grace abounds. It just does.
Those women didn’t work in churches. They had government jobs, they were part-time consultants, some were homemakers, one was a personal trainer, another ran a daycare. They taught me that there’s a really big difference between “women in ministry” and “women who minister”. And they showed me that a woman’s ability to deeply impact the world around her, her value in ministry, isn’t limited by her job title (or her husband’s).
That means that Missionary or not, I am a woman who is called to minister. Pastor’s wife or not, you are a woman called to minister. Sunday school teacher or not, your wife/sister/daughter/friend is called to minister.
Our neighbors and co-workers are counting on us to use our God-given gifts and abilities to bring Hope to this broken world. Our families and our friends are depending on us, with our uniquely feminine voices, to speak into their lives with wisdom and authority. And the God who created us, in all our girly glory, has released us to feed the hungry, care for the sick, love the unlovely, and guide the lost..."
http://inamirrordimly.com/2012/01/20/women-in-ministry-series-from-woman-in-ministry-to-woman-who-ministers/
Monday, January 16, 2012
We are Alive
I'm definitely home. Life is good. Not dead, just haven't updated because I've been busy unpacking and getting back into the swing of things. I haven't even uploaded my pics from my phone, but here's one that I've emailed myself. It was taken in the post office in Incheon and it reminds me of how COLD it was there as I sit around my house in shorts and a t-shirt. And it reminds me how cute Shin's smiley face is.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Quick update
Saturday we spent the day with my SIL in Gyeongju. We ate delicious shabu shabu for dinner. Then Shin and I rang in the new year by doing a ton of dirty dishes at my MIL's house.
Sunday morning we went to church, it was really like American church so all was good. Then Sunday afternoon my other SIL came over with her family. Both SIL's, their fams, MIL, FIL, Shin, and I all went out to eat. It was fun but definitely loud. :-)
On Monday we went to Daegu and ate lunch with our friends from AR/AL, DongHwa and MinJi. DongHwa took us on a hike up a mountain to a Buddhist temple. It was physically and spiritually taxing but good for the body and mind to experience. Then he took us about downtown Daegu on an awesome street food tour. We ate deli manjoo (delicious cream puff), hot dogs, pizza, pretzel, sprite, deokpoki, and odeng. It was all delicious and I don't want to think about the hands that made it.
On Tuesday my SIL came and we took kids and MIL to JaSuJeong, a walking cave (with Chinese acrobatics show), lunch, and then came back home. Shin and I went home with my SIL to Pohang where she bought me clothes and then her hubs took us all out to dinner.
Today is Wednesday and we went with my MIL to the doctor's and he have me some stuff for my knee to heal better. Korean healthcare is SUPER cheap and easy btw. In and out in 20 minutes with no appt. Then grocery shopping with SIL. Now drinking coffee with KyungIl and IlHoon, Shin's friends who came to visit us from Incheon. We took them to lunch and BoMun DanJi and it was freezing so coffee has helped warm our chilled bones. We'll all eat dinner with Shin's sis and then Shin's taking me to the airport tomorrow early morning.
It's been amazing and I hope to post more pics once I'm home (after sleeping a lot). Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. I'm going to need it on the looong trip home!
Sunday morning we went to church, it was really like American church so all was good. Then Sunday afternoon my other SIL came over with her family. Both SIL's, their fams, MIL, FIL, Shin, and I all went out to eat. It was fun but definitely loud. :-)
On Monday we went to Daegu and ate lunch with our friends from AR/AL, DongHwa and MinJi. DongHwa took us on a hike up a mountain to a Buddhist temple. It was physically and spiritually taxing but good for the body and mind to experience. Then he took us about downtown Daegu on an awesome street food tour. We ate deli manjoo (delicious cream puff), hot dogs, pizza, pretzel, sprite, deokpoki, and odeng. It was all delicious and I don't want to think about the hands that made it.
On Tuesday my SIL came and we took kids and MIL to JaSuJeong, a walking cave (with Chinese acrobatics show), lunch, and then came back home. Shin and I went home with my SIL to Pohang where she bought me clothes and then her hubs took us all out to dinner.
Today is Wednesday and we went with my MIL to the doctor's and he have me some stuff for my knee to heal better. Korean healthcare is SUPER cheap and easy btw. In and out in 20 minutes with no appt. Then grocery shopping with SIL. Now drinking coffee with KyungIl and IlHoon, Shin's friends who came to visit us from Incheon. We took them to lunch and BoMun DanJi and it was freezing so coffee has helped warm our chilled bones. We'll all eat dinner with Shin's sis and then Shin's taking me to the airport tomorrow early morning.
It's been amazing and I hope to post more pics once I'm home (after sleeping a lot). Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. I'm going to need it on the looong trip home!
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