So I'm a little late... but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't late.

I’ve been reflecting on Korea these past few weeks and what that has meant to me so far. So many thoughts and emotions flooded back to me but overall I think I’m realizing how much Korea has been a CHANGING period for me. I think a lot of us can agree that the experiences we’ve had here are ones that we will never forget and ones that will have a lasting effect on our lives. It reminds me of one of our favorite songs… oh how he loves us… when she says “you’re never the same! You’re never the same once you encounter the love of God!” not gunna lie… I do mock her sometimes… its kinda humorous. Anyway, I’ve come to realize the reality of that statement. It’s so true. Once you encounter God’s love, you can’t help but be moved by it and changed into more of his image. That’s how great and transcendent his love his, it changes you forever. These last 6 months in Korea have been a drastic period of change for me, change of heart, of attitude, of purpose, of relationship, and of my perspective of God. It’s been such a beautiful process, not always easy or enjoyable but one I’m so grateful for. The true meaning of community has been revealed to me through all of you girls. It’s a concept I’ve never really grasped but have received here in a more abundant and stronger way than I could have ever expected or asked for. I can’t believe that 6 months have flown by this fast, I can’t believe all I’ve learned and experienced in such a short amount of time, and I cant imagine what the next 6 months could possibly hold. So I guess now I’m learning my purpose and role in Christ and in the world. Searching and trusting in God’s perfect plan for my life, whatever that may entail. It’s a somewhat scary but exciting place to be in. So I guess all that to say, reading what Kel wrote, I couldn’t agree more. Faith is so much more vital to our relationship with God than I think we often realize. It’s our foundation and our hope, our comfort and our encouragement, our challenges and our triumphs. I think we are all at a point in our lives when faith is so crucial to our future. I don’t where I’m going and when I’m going there but I am confident that as long as I’m growing in my faith, I’ll be fine. I’ll be provided for and doing exactly what I should be.

I know that was kinda long already, but I was reminded of another one of God’s graces today that I thought I’d share. I was reading in Genesis 16 about Abram, Sarai, and Hagar. After God told Abram he would bear a son at his old age to continue his heir, he allowed Sarai to convince him that that had to be through her mistress, Hagar. Silly, silly man… anyway, he listened to his wife and conceived a child through Hagar. Once Hagar bore this son, Sarai was upset with her for doing so, even though she was just being obedient. So Abram gave her permission to treat Hagar however she wanted to, to suffice her jealousy and anger. The Scripture says Sarai dealt harshly with her. Now I can only imagine what that really meant, I’m sure it was a combination of physical abuse, verbal abuse, and many other terrible things. It was so bad, Hagar fled. Well God met Hagar on her journey to get away. And guess what he told her. He told her to go back. To go back to the people who hated her and mistreated her. To go back to a life of daily pain and frustration. And why? She was only being obedient, she didn’t ask to sleep with Abram, she didn’t even have a choice. And now she has to deal with the repercussions of their stupid mistake. And after all that, God tells her she has to stay there. Imagine her frustration with God, her feelings of anger, abandonment, violation, and hopelessness. But she is obedient. She goes back regardless of her own plan and desires. Now I don’t know how she felt once she got back but I do know it required a lot of faith on her part. Faith that God would come through, that he would provide her with strength and joy in such a bad situation. And I’m sure God was honored and pleased by her obedience. And that he was faithful to take care of her through it all. This was so encouraging for me because I don’t know what or where I’m going or doing next, but I’m preparing my heart for the good and the bad. I may or may not agree with Him on it or be excited about it. And if he asks me to go to a place I don’t want to go or don’t see a purpose in, I have to be faithful in believing that he will provide for me, in every way. So I just really loved that story and it was so perfect for me to hear. Hope it is encouraging for you girls too.

Sorry this is so incredibly long... didnt know I had this much to say

sorry, i like words...

"We know that a person is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ that we may be justified by faith in him and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." Gal 2.15,16

Galatians has some good theology in it. Paul is reaming the church because they are falling for other gospels, namely, it seems, a gospel that is highly legalistic. Using analogy, metaphor, story, and flat out rebuke, Paul is trying to hammer it home: you cannot attain justification, salvation, or any other "ation" by observing the law! The law does not impart righteousness!

I love this (3.2-5): "I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?"

The whole letter is really good, when you read it in one sitting. Paul talks about Abraham, how the dude believed God, and was deemed "righteous." He makes an interesting analogy with Hagar and Sarah, which I'm still trying to unpack. But his point seems to be,

You were crucified with Christ. What is dead to him can also be dead to you, should you choose to believe this can be true for your life. What's more -- he died so that you could be free. He set you free from the bondage of the law, from the bondage of sin, from the bondage of the flesh and its desires. What he offers you is new life. What he offers you is his Spirit. FREELY. And you receive these things one way, and one way only: by believing what you hear.

I've been thinking of all of us while reading Galatians this week, and for a very specific reason. God is up to something. After hearing from some of you this weekend, and the last few days, I am convinced that this is a season for believing what we hear. All of us can see that God is on the move. All of us know that he is poking and prodding and beckoning each of us in ways unique to who we are. And, in one way or another, all of us are hungry for more. We want to go deeper. We want more of Jesus. We want to believe that we can do the things Jesus did, and the "greater things" that he promised we'd do. We want to experience his presence. We want to be changed, rearranged, and claimed by his love.

And like the church in Galatia, it is so easy for us to fall into the deception of other gospels. Gospels that tell us we have to "do" things to experience God's presence. Gospels that give us a checklist of disciplines to master before we can participate in God's kingdom work on earth - healing the sick, raising the dead, etc etc. Gospels that tell us we're not quite there yet, that we're not quite good enough, that we've gotta do this and this and this before we can do that...

But what's shocking about THIS gospel is there is nothing to be "done" before we can go "do." We don't have to attain a certain level of righteousness before we can experience God's presence. We don't have to master certain disciplines before God starts using us to perform his signs wonders and miracles. For if these things could be attained by following any law or checklist, Christ died for nothing (2.21).

Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

My friends, I know your hearts well enough to know that you've believed what you've heard. So be encouraged. He's got you. You are RIGHT in the center of his will for your life.

You haven't done anything wrong

and you have not "missed the boat," so to speak.

He wants you to experience his presence. He wants you to live into his kingdom reality on earth. He has many people he wants to heal. And he wants to use you. He wants to see you step into his freedom. And most of all, HE wants you to understand his wild, unashamed, abandoned affection for you.

The one who has called you is faithful, and he will do it.

Lovin'... In spirit and in truth

So I've been meditating on God's love for us recently... well, more specifically his love for me, which is always exceedingly difficult for me to accept. I'm not sure why, but it is super hard for me to comprehend unconditional love on the scale of the Almighty. I feel unworthy and pathetic a lot. Jesus has to constantly remind me that I am worthy in HIM, and that Him in me is what gives me significance.

One passage that I have been coming back to recently is the Woman at the Well in John 4. I read it in The Message version this week. Jesus bluntly speaks truth to the woman without rejecting her... She could sense his love, his acceptance. Even the fact that he was talking to her at all was unbelievable. She started nitpicking about theology and other disagreements between Jews and Samaritans. And Jesus simply replied:

"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself - Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

So my lovely friends... thank you for living here in Korea with me. Thank you for helping teach me how to live out of my true spirit, before the Lord honestly. As we enter this season of Lent... I hope each of you find ways to live more simply and more "out of your very being" as you worship Him!

... and we're off!

so we love each other... obvi.

and despite relentless effort to not love korea (cha), we're all about this place. although life will shortly take all of us to new destinations we will be with each other forever, unified through grace, experience, love, and friendship.

"I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."