hyunjean

dedicated especially to my bifflewiffle hyunjean kim who's having a hard time adjusting/ getting used to college life so far away from home. i ask that everyone just take time to pray for her and keep her in their prayers. pray that she will find a great group of genuine friends (and a decent temporary replacement for me), pray that she will not fall into any of the temptations that college so willingly provides, pray that she will find an awesome church community in jersey, and lastly, pray that she will make princeton her "other home" so that she wont feel too homesick.

hyunjean, i hope whenever you're stressed or homesick you'll read these and feel better& have hope! but this also goes out to anyone who's away from home and feeling overwhelmed/ worried/ scared. i hope you'll all get strength from these verses!

a lot of these are straightforward/ i hope you'll be able to draw your own strength from these so i wont be reflecting my own thoughts too much..

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." - Psalm 27:14

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."- Psalm 46:1

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30

"Cast your cares upon the lord and He will Sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall. "- Psalm 55:22

"Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." -Isaiah 40:31

"My comfort in suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life."- Psalm 119:50

i hope reading these help! i also realized a lot of my older posts are about staying strong and not worrying. it definitely gives ME hope when i feel down to read those again. hyunjean, dont ever forget you can reach me anytime you wanna talk!

i <3 you girl! stay strong!

be strong

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."- Psalm 73:26

Dont Worry

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or sore away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour of his life?"- Matthew 6:25-27

sorry it's been such a long time. i think this passage is perfect for the current state that a lot of us are in. kids in college are finishing off their year, which means finals/midterms. there are high schoolers AP testing. and of course, seniors getting ready to close a chapter of their life and become legitimately independent. undoubtedly, independence= worries. im really excited to be on my own but im also pretty nervous. after living 17 years with my parents how am i gonna be able to survive on my own? i worry about food, buying things, making friends, and even going to the bathroom, soo much... BUT this passage really encompassed everything.
clothes= big problem for me. i worry a lot about the clothes i have. mainly because i love clothes. food... bahh FOOD, I LOVE FOOD. im worried about the kind of food i'll have next year cus my mama makes such good food haha. but God takes care of us all. and the last line is definitely food for thought. worrying gets us nowhere. plus if we consider the mere fact that we are alive, there is enough to rejoice about.

i shall leave you all with my favorite verse of the moment
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:34
tooo true.

Best Friend.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" - Ecclesiastes 4:9-10


-i am extremely lucky and grateful to have some wonderful friends :) recently i had a mehh! moment with one of my closest friends where it was like "oh im having a bad day. what? you did THIS? let me take out my anger on YOU" and i was mean. and then she texts back (oh this was all via text, yes, technology these days.. we cant even have a face-to-face spat loll) that shes really sincerely sorry... and it made me sad. like wow i was just a really big unnecessary bizatch to you, i wish you got mad at me/ defensive.. and then i texted back that no, i was having a bad day, im sorry too. and she replies that we better go make my day better (:]) and she IS still sorry.
&though this may not mean much to others/ her i was really struck by what a wonderful friendship we have. truth be told, what i initially got mad about DID make me a bit upset (though i blew it outta proportion) but i was straightforward about it. because i knew i could be. and she, nice friend that she is, apologizes, and i could tell that she was being sincere through her sad face :('s hahaha. and then I learned the lesson and instead of being like HA yea, you SHOULD be sorry. i understood MY mistake and what i did wrong and it ended up being 1)an apology fest and 2)a "aw-warm-fuzzy-feeling im really glad i have this friend" moment for me. haha

the Bible says that "Two are better than one" and indeed i believe it. when i'm having a bad day (and that day was BAAAD) i have a friend that i can talk to about my problems, a friend that really cares about what my day was like and wants to make it better. when i fall down, i have friends to help me back up. that same day i happened to also be texting (this really makes me look bad huh) with another one of my good friends and he asked me how my day was. the thing is, this friend, doesnt just ask how was your day as small talk. he really wants to know. so when i told him about how i had a huge stomach ache blahblah he texted me things like "hope you feel better!" and "stay strong!" and that made me really happy :). i just think that friendship is one of the things that i treasure the most, especially these days.

and even if you dont think you have that many friends, realize that everyone has one really nice best friend up in heaven and ME :) hahaa, if you want to be my friend.

A Good Attitude

i realized while i was versehunting last night that my recent posts have had a trend of being rather morose. haha. i mean, i hope most of them were ultimately positive for you all.. buut theyre all based off of troubles? HAHA. anywhoo, hoping to divert..

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life,... to be made new in the attitude of your minds" - Ephesians 4:23

"My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." -Psalm 119:50

-THAT is a good attitude. i think it's important to seek out the positive things in life when you're surrounded by nothing but negativity. difficult? yes. impossible? no. what i realized, from real-life examples, is that once you get on the selfpity ball, it all just snowballs into a bigger, angrier, more depressed, woe-is-me, ball.

so next time you're feeling self-depreciative. think of something positive. like, oh i dunno, God promising you everlasting life with him? haha.

i dont really know how else to emphasize this... but i just think attitude really gauges what kind of day you're going to have/ the overall mood(?) of your life? like people that are very selfconcious/ sensitive always take a small thing and make it into a huge deal. and then they worry and they think too much and they end up being constantly worried and hurt by little things others say. and consequently, they think every day is a bad day. did that make sense?

so i challenge you all to change your attitude and be more positive this week! especially with all this college madness... it'll be hard but not impossible ;)

To Deal With Disappointment

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." -Deuteronomy 31:8

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." -Psalm 34:18

what i realized is that when you're not particularly gifted in any certain area, you learn to deal with plenty of disappointments.
story of my life. haha. so i've never been above average in anything (except my height i guess?) and it's been sucky for the most part. i'm not freaking smart, i'm not really pretty, i'm not super athletic, i'm not a violin prodigy... to fail and watch your friends succeed or try your best and your hardest but not succeed hurts, to be honest. so when i read these verses it was especially heartwarming.

-Deuteronomy says that God will ALWAYS be with you and, idunno, that's just a great thing to keep in mind. it's like, okay, i'm not really smart.. but God still loves me and he'll never leave me. such a fantastic-- and somewhat mind boggling for us of Asian origin-- thing to realize. one thing that i think makes it harder is the way we're pressured and expected to be "something" by our parents. i know they only do it because they want you to be sucessful or they just want the best for you but... it still makes you feel like crap when your mom is harping on you about not being as smart as so-and-so. but the Word says not to be discouraged. so i'll try my best.

-the next verse is just as mindboggling. "crushed in spirit" ha. that's how i've felt most of my life. you know how much it sucks (im sorry, im repeatedly using the word "sucks" for lack of a better word) to try super hard and fail while other people just naturally succeed in everything? over and over, i've suffered from a LOT of failures, and subsequently disappointments. but it's relieving to know that God will still remain close to me and save me, eventually. the idea of a savior always reminds me of superheroes. haha. but yaknow what? you cant be saved if theres nothing that's troubling you.

so, conclusion.. yes, disappointments suck and i have had my fair share of them. BUT even through all these things that i think are "the end of the world" God will love me. God doesn't care that i didn't get into UCLA, he still loves me.

crazy.

The Ultimate Getaway

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:17

lately, i've been really tired. inexplicably so. there have been no changes in my sleeping pattern, i still get the generous 5 or 6 hours of sleep and i dont do anything strenuous that'd wear me down. so why? WHYY?
i know that this isn't exactly the same kind of "weary" that the Bible's getting at but reading this passage just relieved me so much. it's pretty amazing to think that when you're burdened and weary with so much, excuse the language, but so much CRAP. God will come and take it from you. can you imagine how relieving that'd be? just imagine carrying, hmm.. what's heavy..., imagine carrying an ELEPHANT on your back. you HAVE to hold that elephant... all the way to your next class at school. this means you have to go through stairs, crowds, bustling people. now imagine you're halfway there and you are really dying. not sure if you can go another step and Jesus Christ, himself, comes and gets rid of the elephant for you. having all of that off your back would be heavenly no? (excuse my pun). that sense of relief and just letting go of all that stress and tension.. NOW IMAGINE! where did that elephant go? WHAT? Jesus Christ is holding that elephant FOR you! and he just traded with you. you get to let go of that elephant and instead be tied with Christ. then you get to walk sidebyside with him, working together and carrying a waay lighter load. win win no?

now replace the elephant with ALL YOUR PROBLEMS. replace the yoke with your faith. you give up your problems to be with God. how can you REFUSE?



sorry that this post wasnt as, um, focused as the others.

Love One Another

"Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers." -1 John 3:13-14

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." -1 John 3:16

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." -1 John 3:18-20

all this is pretty much from one passage but i just wanted to emphasizes what i thought were the most important takeaways.

i invite you all to mull over the first one cus, honestly, i cant wrap my brain around that entirely.

and the second part is really important to me, personally. because that is just the most extreme epitome of love. i've never been able to grasp just how amazing it was that Christ came to our world and suffered terribly and died for us. it's nuts. you know how people say "i'd take a bullet for him/her" and you think, danng that's crazy. think of that x12312903093 and it ALMOST exemplifies what God did for us. and then it says, we should turn around and show that same love to our brothers.

lastly, the 3rd part, i took it to be kinda like a reminder that you shouldn't be all talk and no action. definitely something i struggle with.. we need to take initiative in our lives and frankly, i think this is something that society as a whole needs work on. then it says that "God is greater than our hearts and knows everything". also a mind blower. i mean, the heart is the core of us and, obviously (hopefully..) we know that God is greater than us. then why do we complain about our trifling troubles? because we're having issues in ourselves? well God should supercede our problems. and honestly the phrase "follow your heart" should be changed to "follow your God".

Rules for Holy Living

"Therefore, as God's chosen people. holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." -Colossians 3:12-14

-dang, this should be like the Christian motto. one of my favorite parts is probably the "bear with each other" bit. short and easy to just glance over but REALLY think about it. as Christians it's our job to go out and spread God's love to others, yes. but before all that shouldn't we take time to listen to each other's problems and help carry each others' burdens and troubles? then my very very favorite part is the "put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity" part because i can totally picture it. we put on all our clothes, shirt, pants, whatever. and over ALL of that, we put on a huge coat of love that just covers everything and keeps it all in? (haha, like without it everything falls off? hopefully not.) anyways, just a good thing to keep in mind ;)

THEN, the passage continues to say:
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." -Colossians 3:15-17

-this passage reminds me of praise team. we share so much knowledge and love with each other and i truly think it's a blessing that i am able to be with such wonderful people. the bible says "teach and admonish one another with all wisdom". i thought this was interesting because it doesn't just say teach each other with wisdom, it also says that we need to admonish one another. like we were saying yesterday, "hate the sin, not the sinner" haha. i think a lotta times, it's actually important to "bag on" people. imean, as long as we're not doing it out of spite and hatred but instead out of love and a willingness to help one another, it's just as good as, if not better than a compliment/ sharing wisdom. i think that's why it says "with wisdom". then it says "as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with graitude in your hearts to God." definitely something praise has been mulling over. and i think if we just think about how we should just be grateful to God, everything else will fall in place.

all in all, i dont think there is more to say than...
God is good.

For When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. This is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" -2 Corinithians 12:9-10

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -2 Corinthians 4:17-18

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." - 2 Corinthians 4:7-9


i must say, 2 corinthians is one of my favorite books in the bible.
(hm, or i guess it has most of my favorite lines?)
what i like so much about 2 corinthians is that, i dunno if this is just me, but i get such a strong feeling of hope.

today i wanted to focus on how God uses tribulations to really strengthen us. and i know when we're going through tough times and we're feeling weak, we should know that 1)it's in these times that God's power rests most heavily on us 2)our problems are only momentary for soon we will reach eternal glory and 3)though we may be crushed, we will never be destroyed.

therefore, i urge you all. have hope! and rejoice-- as best you can-- in moments of weakness and trail.