Day 5 ~ Write a blog thanking someone who has made your heart come alive

Oh sister...how many times did we sit across the table from each other, draining lattes, doing church, laughing and fighting for each others' hearts?  

You knew my hurts, and you spoke words of life and prayed for healing.

You knew the disease that was becoming debilitating me, and you wouldn't let me give up.

You knew my dreams, and you encouraged me to chase after them, even though it meant being thousands of miles away.

You knew my weakness, and you pointed me to Jesus every time.

 Karissa, I've told you before that I am thankful for you, for who you are.  You carry this life and joy around with you.  Your smile is contagious and you see the beauty in every person.  You are this creative person, who pours that into worship.  You want to bring life and beauty  to those around you.  And you've done that. 

 You listened, you interpreted my mess of thoughts, and you told me the truth.  And as you shared your story with me, I found life too.  I learned about myself, that God has called me a warrior, and in you letting me fight for you too, my heart came alive in Jesus.  As you talked about chasing after God and not letting go, I saw what life was possible for me to, if I would chase after Jesus, with all me; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Day 4~ Post a Picture of You in Your Favorite Outfit

I am not a fashionista.  I am learning to like shopping and develop a style that is me.  I've discovered I do like a variety of color after a period of years that blue and gray dominated my wardrobe (with splashes of purple because of school colors).  Now my contextual mind couldn't pick a single favorite outfit.  So I went with three and I will explain what is up.

Whether at night after work, for sleeping or when I am lounging around in the mornings (I start work at 1pm), shorts and a t-shirt or tank is my favorite choice.  In particular, I found this specific tank in Korea and bought 3 because I love how they fit and the material feels.  And these shorts...well they may or may not be from freshman year of high school.  They are so comfortable!

This outfit currently is in reserve since now the temperatures are regularly in the 80's with 75% or higher humidity.  I love jeans and layering shirts.  This flannel shirt, I got just before coming to Korea and it is definitely is one of my favorites.  Its just me, color and style.  The jeans were a major consignment store find.  Fit awesome and at $12 bucks, makes them that much more awesome.

 Okay so, living in Korea has done one major thing to my wardrobe:  I wear skirts 3-4 days a week.  Partially because it looks more professional for work, but also because, I do feel more feminine and beautiful (well, except that I wear Underarmour shorts under all my skirts.), and maybe because it is stinking hot in the academy which skirts make a little more bearable.  I can't remember where I picked up the orange shirt but love it!

Day 3 ~ Who is some one you know who inspires beauty?

Sittin'. Talking 'bout Jesus.  It's what we do.  Sharing thoughts, dreams and passions.

 I have to say that you, miss AZ, inspire beauty in those around you.  You definitely have for me.

Annie is a woman who went after dreams.  She had the faith to go to places that I'm still learning to go.  She took the brokenness she had and it became the foundation of a lifestyle and a ministry all about loving the lost and the broken, bringing beauty where there were ashes.  

Annie sees the beauty in people that others tend to miss, and if she sees the beauty, she'll tell you about it.  Her words tell the stories that sometimes we all really need to hear. She loves people and it seems that her gift  is telling people that who they are is beautiful and there is something so beautiful in pursuing what makes them come alive.  

And that brokenness is thread in a tapestry that makes the full work beautiful and complete.

160 Bus Tales

아줌마

You didn't want me to sit next to you, or so it seemed. I knew it was a risk to squeeze past You to grab one of the last seats remaining on a crowded bus. Your hand rested on the seat, blocking my ability to sit. Still undeterred for reasons even I can't explain, I slid past You to the inside seat by the window. You cleared Your throat, but moved Your hand so I could sit.

Even for the strange looks I received for being a Westerner from people of most of the people here, nothing matched the intensity of stares I got from Your generation. I expected the resistance, and so I put up my own wall. It was easier than the awkward feelings.

I could feel You staring intently at me. Studying me. So I turned toward the window.

Then I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, "Pray blessing over her."

So I did. I prayed for You. 

Five minutes after that call to Heaven, You turned toward me and in Your native tongue, You asked me for the time. In my foreigner confusion, and slow reaction time, I shoved my arm at You, to reveal my watch, because I couldn't manage to get out, "Oh-she-ship-sam-bun, " out of my tongue tied mouth. You pulled my arm close and stared at the watch on my wrist for several seconds.

Then it clicked in my mind: 

You couldn't really see.

You couldn't see my watch, and You couldn't see the clock at the front of the bus, and You couldn't really see my face, which in likely why You looked at me with such intense focus.

You continued to speak to me and I desperately listened for anything in the language I recognized. You leaned in as I stumbled out broken answers.

I discovered, not only was Your vision weak...so was Your hearing. I did sort out that You wanted to know where the Dongshin University stop was, but just as You couldn't see the displaying the upcoming stops, You also couldn't hear the sole speaker at the the front of the bus announcing the stops.

And despite all our broken communication and shortcomings, You got off safely at Your desired location.

As the bus pulled away, I realized that God had intervened. There were Your own countrymen all around for You to ask for help, but You relied on a confused foreigner. A foreigner who asked God to bless You and who figured out that You were probably as intimidated by me as I was of You. So God made me the blessing.

Sure it felt like the blind and deaf leading the blind and deaf, but by the grace of God You made it to Your destination, and I was reminded that I pray and God moves.

World Wide Welcome

Five Minute Friday with GypsyMama

Welcome

GO:

You're always welcome where ever I am.

Every year it seems that my network of friends gets more and more spread out.

Granted I hopped on a plane to Korea for a year.

My friends span states and continents. At one point I had friends on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

But with so many this rings true for me and for them: You are always welcome where ever I am.

There will be food to eat, a place to sleep, and a time for long conversations, preferrably over coffee. The hospitality and welcome of friends whom distance only means less frequent visits but not weaker bonds.

STOP

Day 2 ~ What makes you uniquely you?

What makes me uniquely me?

I put things together.

Even explaining this is difficult because I can think of all the ways that this affects how I live my life, how I love God and how I love people, but here is my attempt.

When I look at a situation or experience, I look to see where God is, what the purpose might me, how it relates to other people's lives, how the situation came to be in the first place, what can I learn, where will things go from here, among a few other things.

When I look at new information I am learning, I look at what it is saying, what it is not saying, how it relates to what I already know, who the information might benefit, what action needs to be taken, how it is interpreted through scripture.

When I look at people and their stories, I look at their past, their present, their future, the stories they've told, and the stories that are left unspoken, but their lives speak loudly.

Then there all the connections between experiences, information and people...My brain is a spiderweb.

I'm an information gatherer but nothing remains in isolation in my mind.  I guess I see other perspectives more easily because of this, and I become a storyteller who has a tendency to go on bunny trails because I'm seeing a million connections and not a straight line.  It takes me time to get to know people because, it takes me time to see their story and make the connections.  I see history as a framework of understanding the way things are.  But I tend to have insight because all the crazy ways my mind works.

I could keep going and try to put this together but I think this is the general idea.

Day 1 ~ What does beauty mean to you?

Oh boy.

I'm sensing a mixed up rambling of everything on this topic in my brain coming spilling out.

Okay.

Beauty is both physical beauty and inward beauty.

Physical beauty is part of the equation even when that standard is subjective and I can't seem to hit the mark. It is physical features, clothing, and even makeup.  I admit, those are standards by which I deem beauty.

But beauty is the person who looks like a million bucks...and the person who makes you feel like a million bucks.

It's the beauty in creation, like the painted sunrises and sunsets where it is impossible not to sit in wonder at God's creation and worship.

Beauty is the kindness offered selflessly, the vulnerability shared, the character of one who holds hands open in worship rather than in fists of anger...even when the anger may be justified.

Beauty is what you see on the face of someone who knows they are loved.  It's not something they earn.  But they have the title of Beloved bestowed upon and given to them by another.  That they are loved for who they are, who they are created to be, and not for what they do.

Beauty overwhelms me.  It means so much to me.  And I'm embracing all these aspects of beauty with the perspective that God, my Creator and Potter, has bestowed beauty on me.  Tentatively bordering unbelief, I squeak out by faith what God has been repeating to me over an over again for years,

"Yes, I believe I am beautiful. I am His."