Grace Retreat (Part 2)

Above is a well-made recap video of Grace Retreat 2014 by Jerico. He did such a great job capturing the main points of each speaker!

At the retreat, I learned a lot from Pastor Stephen Chandler's seminar and message. The seminar, titled "Death by Distraction," was based on Judges 4 when Gideon fought the battle with only 300 soldiers. I learned that God prefers to work with 300 people who has his heart rather than 10,000 people who don't know his heart. Pastor Stephen emphasized the importance of knowing what gifts we receive as Christians because if we don't know what gifts we are supposed to receive, we won't receive it. As Christians, we are not called to fight people, but we are called to fight against the lies the enemy has established in our world.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)

I really liked when Pastor Stephen said, "Grace Retreat is where God taught me how to war. God will teach you how to war - how to fight for people." Our life isn't supposed to be easy and comfortable here on earth - that's what heaven is for. We are not civilians, but soldiers for the Kingdom of God. And here are the three main points he made:

To be an effective soldier, you need to:

1. Remain focused. There are so many Christinas abandoning what god has in store for them because they forget that they are not a civilian. They are soldiers, but they forget what they were fighting for. Gideon's soldiers who went home because they were afraid forgot that they were slave at home. As soldiers, God has called us to fight for others. 
2. Remain alert. Do not compromise on your relationship with God. I learned that the relationship I have with God is far greater than anything else.
3. Remain fearless. Everybody encounters fear, but how do we deal with it? Go to God. 

Faith of a Centurion

This was from today's early morning prayer meeting!

Matthew 8: 8-10

“The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go.’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this.’ and he does it.”

I wonder how the centurion must have felt when Jesus told him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” The Bible rarely mentions the phrase that  Jesus was amazed; and whenever it does mention that Jesus was amazed, it was always due to great faith or lack of faith.

In verse 5, a Roman centurion came to Jesus, asking for help. He was not an ordinary citizen - he was a centurion, a high ranked Roman soldier in charge of 100 soldiers. He knew his power and authority very well, but in this circumstance he was helpless. He came to Jesus and said, “Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” The centurion had two confessions. First, he acknowledged that Jesus was Lord. By confessing this, he believed that Jesus had power and authority over him. Second, the centurion acknowledged that the servant was paralyzed and he could do nothing to save him. He had no faith in his ability to help his servant. His faith was not in himself, but was fully on Jesus and Jesus’ authority and power to heal. “The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go.’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this.’ and he does it.” This amazed Jesus and then Jesus told the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would” and it was done.

The centurion believed that Jesus’ words had authority and could heal his servant - he had great faith in Jesus. We see that all Jesus required was faith and obedience in order to work through the centurion. In the same way, Jesus does not have a list of qualifications we must meet before he uses us or does miracles through us. Instead he requires faith and obedience. But often times when God calls me to do something, I first look at my qualifications. If I feel qualified, I’ll do it, but if I don’t feel qualified, I struggle to accept what God calls me to do. However, I must put my faith not in myself, or my abilities, but fully on Jesus, trusting that he will fulfill the promises he has given me. Although God calls each of us to do different things occupation wise, but he calls each one of us to have faith in Him. Despite the circumstances we may see in front of us, we have faith in God - trusting that he will fulfill the promises he has given us - not because we are able, but because God is faithful. There are promises God has given me that seems impossible when I look at my abilities. For example, I believe that God has called me to the medical path of becoming a doctor. It was easy to say before I entered college that I was going to be pre-med. However, as I entered freshman year, I was hit by the reality that college was hard, really hard. It was much harder than high school and challenged me in many ways more than just the difficulties of school work. Even though I was only a freshman in college, I felt the competitive spirit in the pool of pre-meds. For example, in curved classes as organic chemistry, it feels like while your friends want you to do well in the class, they secretly want you to fail so the curve will be in their favor and vice versa. It’s so easy to compare and see that others are already in research labs, volunteering, getting involved in clubs, and whatever else people are doing and feel behind or unqualified. In the middle of both semesters, I told God that it seemed impossible to do well in some classes - and it would be only by his grace that I was going to do well. And I can assure you, it was only by God’s grace that I did well in those classes. During my freshman year, I realized that the journey to become a doctor is long and hard and it is only possible through having faith in God alone. I have faith that if it is God’s will for me he will carry me through, not because of my abilities, but because he is faithful.

One word: have faith.

Grace Retreat (Part 1)

As always, Grace Retreat was such an encouragement to me. I loved my small group and I was encouraged by how God leads each one of us in his unique ways in our lives. All the girls in my small group were so sweet! In the past, I always saw the media team taking pictures and making videos and told myself that one day I would join the media team. And this year, I joined the team and took pictures for the Grace Retreat! I really enjoyed photographing the attendees and it was a really good experience in general (the pictures that Ann & I took can be found here).

The Grace Retreat was always a time and place where I encountered God in the past. Each year, I was encouraged by the speakers and the prophetic words spoken over me. I hope each person who attended this year had an experience with God; however  I hope that it doesn't end there. The same God we encounter at Grace Retreat is with us today because God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Throughout the year, I've been learning (again) that Christianity is not just about reading my Bible every day, going to church, attending Bible study, etc. It's about a relationship - it's about having an intimate relationship with God, who created the heavens and the earth (which is an amazing privilege and you just have to accept His invitation!). I was actually going to write a blog post about this a few weeks ago, but I didn't and now here it is. I believe that the last school year, God was just telling me to sit in his presence. Throughout the semester I was reminded of the passage of Martha and Mary.

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. (Luke 10: 38-42)

While Martha was cleaning and preparing food for the guests, Mary chose to sit at Jesus' feet. While Jesus was calling me to be like Mary, I wanted to be like Martha. I wanted to do something my freshman year - join an organization, club, do something exciting, make an impact, etc. Yet, Jesus was calling me to simply sit in his presence. However, I really struggled to just sit still and listen to his voice. Simply sitting and doing nothing seemed not that important and it was hard to set aside time to spend time with God. I was too busy running around doing things that seemed important at that time. (It reminds me how Aug used to always tell us that we had to make time to read the Bible and pray instead of wishing for more time in the day.) And as the summer began, God kept calling me to sit still and just spend time with him. Yet, I kept pushing it back. Although I knew how important it was to spend time with God, it was easy for me to keep pushing it back. Setting aside time in His presence is absolutely crucial to my relationship with God. I believe that in this place of intimacy, I will be reminded of who I am in God. I believe that God will show me the blueprints of my future directions and even more.

...to be continued

Daycare

As the spring semester ended, I was praying for summer plans. I had no idea what I was going to do with such a long summer break, considering how difficult it was for me to stay home throughout winter break. I knew I couldn't just stay at home the entire summer. It's really amazing how God gave me this opportunity to help out at the daycare/summer school for the kids. I've been amazed by how Johanna and Julia really love the kids and want them to have the best time at the daycare. I've also been amazed by how much patience they have for the kids - they help the kids use the bathroom, wash their hands, read the same books over and over again, clean up, etc. It's also rewarding having them listen. They're all learning how to share and clean up. Being at the daycare, I am learning to appreciate moms (and dads) even more. I'm also amazed at all the moms out there who take care of their children everyday. It's not a job that ever ends. They're constantly denying themselves to care for their child(ren).

Here are some photos from the daycare:

For now they communicate in Korean. I'm not sure how long this will last, but it'll be cool if they keep speaking Korean later on!

Best friends in the making?

Aw, I get to witness moments like these.

They love playing with dirt and sand!

Squirting water to help them keep cool.

Look at all the beautiful art work. I'm amazed that Johanna can tell the difference between the kids' art work.

Josiah was pretending to be the dad and Jakey was pretending to be the son for "take your child to work day".

The highest stack of chairs. 

Playing with sand means getting sand all over your body, haha.

I really enjoy listening to their conversations. They have a lot of interesting things to say.

Josiah's birthday celebration! Kisung brought all the kids a happy meal.

Gabriel really likes being in pictures.

They absolutely love playing with water!

"Look at my mustache!"

Creativity

I've been meaning to write a blog post on creativity for quite a while now (from winter break), but I hadn't figured out how to start this blog post.

Random tangent, but I recently realized that I haven't taken an English class for a whole year now (gasp). All I have been reading since college started are organic chemistry equations, textbooks, and scientific papers (that use unnecessarily complex language, in my opinion). Although I didn't quite enjoy English class in Roosevelt, it was good for me and I learned so much about literature and how to write. I am hoping my writing doesn't get worse in college.

Okay, back to the topic. It a truth so simple, yet it has taken me months to learn it. And then when I thought I learned it, I had to relearn it. So what did I learn these past few months? I learned that creativity comes from God. During the fall semester, I was getting adjusted to college that I didn't take many pictures. It also kind of felt like my creativity ran dry. Then over the long winter break, when I had nothing to do, I would go on Pinterest and become fascinated by all the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) ideas. I also had so much fun reading through Hillsong's Creative Blog. As I started using Instagram, I also became fascinated by all the creative Instagramers! And I too, wanted to be creative. However, I refused to acknowledge that photography and my love for arts came from God. Due to my pride, I struggled and struggled. During this time, I read some blog posts from other Christians, and I was really convicted.

"Creativity is a gift--it’s good. Yet, as with most things given and good in this world, the enemy loves to put a polluted and poisoned twist on it, and he loves it even more when he can get it right into the majority of our modern churches. More and more I have seen a disturbing number of “ministries” surface focused primarily on assisting willing and eager participants “find themselves” and “express their own individuality” through all different forms of art. They have made Christianity about self-expression, instead of a surrendered life that expresses Christ. They seem to forget that arts, music, drama, etc, all exist as a means to glorify Jesus, and not as an avenue to self-exaltation."

(The rest of the post can be read here.)

As the new year came along, my friend and I declared 2014 to be a year of creativity. And it's been amazing seeing all the ways God has stirred members in our church to do creative things! I've seen people explore things they have never thought of before. And I hope that as a church, we can expand and improve the media team, praise team, etc. and take steps in doing creative things. As I rightfully acknowledge that creativity comes from God, I have been learning so much and having so much fun with photography!

However, I learned that although creative things make me really excited, God calls me to worship Him. It's so easy to get distracted and unintentionally start worshiping the artists, instead of worshiping and praising God - whom creativity originally came from.

And so this is the simple truth that took me so many months to learn.

God the Provider

After Mary Anna played played this song for me, it's been one of my favorites this week. The song lines - "for you are for us, not against" really caught my attention. How often I forget that God is for us, not against us!

Last week my dad jokingly asked me, "Are you been praying for a car?" I had made comments about needing a car to my parents, but I didn't expect that my parents would buy one any time soon. Instead, I had been praying that God would give me a job over the summer so that I could start saving for a car. However, I find it amazing that God knew my desires and what I needed. Last week we went to the Hyundai dealership in College Park and bought our new car! This year, I've been learning that God never fails to provide. Sometimes (well, a lot of the times), he will not provide in the ways I expect it. Over and over, I see God's grace throughout my life. I don't deserve to have this car, but I'm thankful that God provides! 

I didn't get a job over the summer. However, God has given me a lot of opportunities over the summer. I've been teaching Luke geometry from last week and I started helping out at the daycare at church on Wednesday! The kids are really funny. I love listening to them talk and seeing what they have to say, haha.

Josiah: "My mom, my mom told me she's picking me up today. She's picking up all of us!"

Jakey right after: "My mom, my mom told me she's picking me up today."

Art Class

I took an introduction to drawing class in the spring semester (ARTT110). I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about drawing! I really wanted to show a progression of my drawings that I did over the semester. However, since I never went back to pick up my final portfolio, I'll just show you guys different drawings from the semester and what I learned from them!

Here we go:

On the second day of class, my professor told us to draw the still life he set up. Those were all the instructions he gave us. We had 2 hours and 30 minutes to draw and render the still life we saw. I finished drawing everything in an hour or so and attempted to create the shadows that I saw in the drawing. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't even know the difference between all the pencils that I had - 2B, 4B, 6B, 2H. And this was what I drew after 2 hours and 30 minutes.

In the following classes, we did a lot of shape, mass, and shape & mass drawings as well as contour drawings. The top ones were blind contour drawings, which means I drew them without looking at the paper.

I just remember looking around at everyone during the blind contour drawings and seeing people peek down at their paper, even though they weren't supposed to, haha.

Then I learned about the importance of composition in a drawing! Before, I would draw the entire still life, but I learned that you can choose a part of the still life. I learned about the importance of the rule of thirds (it was easier to understand because I knew it from photography class). 

We drew the same still life from the first day of class in the middle of the semester. My professor wanted us to see how we were improving. By this time, we used more charcoal and were more familiar with it.

This took one whole class to draw and render. 

I really really enjoyed this class. Instead of just drawing from a clean sheet of paper, we first covered the entire paper with charcoal. Then we created the drawing by erasing.

This is when we started drawing only in pencil later in the semester. I realized that drawing with pencil takes an extremely long time and I prefer charcoal over pencil.

Although my professor didn't tend to give us a lot of instructions, I did learn a lot. I'm glad I chose to take ARTT110 even though I don't think I'll be taking any more art classes in the near future. Thanks for reading!