MiSURA

Just in case you were wondering, since I've left for college, this is my first Thanksgiving I'm spending at home ! Last year I stayed at the house of one of the girls from church (Han Madang). It's weird being home. The 7-hr drive wasn't bad. Oh, except it was showering and thunderstorming the whole time, so yeah, it was kinda scary. Especially since I left around 2pm so it got dark by the tmie I got in the middle of Indiana, where, I'll point out, there are no streetlights. And you know how when you're on the highway, the giant trucks release all this steam and fog and unnecessary quantities of water on your windshield? Imagine that for 7 straight hours. It was brutal.

But I'm safe at home, thanks to God. I still went 70+ mph. Probably not a good idea.

So for that..I'm thankful.

Today I also read Mark 13-14. I KNOW.. I'm still horribly behind on my Bible Reading Plan. But now that I'm doing manuscript studies for each passage.. it's taking me even longer. But I can't help it if I like doing manuscript studies ! =) Most of all.... I'm thankful for Jesus and His words. The end of Mark 14 was what got to me the most.

vs53-54 reminded me that that's what many of us, including myself, do so often. We live in a shell. When we're at church, we're comfortable saying, "JESUS" "I LOVE YOU, LORD" "SINNER". But when we are separated from that community of believers and the church... we follow "at a distance" and sit around waiting for the next church time to cmoe around. And when we're discovered at school, workplace, the mall, movie theatre, anywhere that we're a follower of Christ, we outrightly deny it and laugh it off as some sort of joke.. just like Peter. We're reminded again and again of the salvation we have in Jesus. In the previous chapter, Jesus told the disciples what the signs of the age would be. And one of them was persecution. Instead of embracing Jesus words and proclaiming Jesus, he backed out in fear.

I'm no different. Peter was later restored as we see in the Book of John and went on to build a church and write a few books in the New Testament. Little by little, I'm being restored, too. More and more, I am comfortable talking about Jesus in a conversation. Whether it's with inquiring non-christians or straight up atheists. I stlil remember the conversation I had in chem lab about Jesus and how absurd the Bible's authority was... or that was the stance the other girl held. This year, however, I'm not doing so well. I keep on blaming it on the fact that we live on the opposite side of campus where civilization ceases to exist. But it's not true. It's just an excuse.

Just like Peter broke down and wept, I too break down and weep because only Jesus can reveal my sins through His words and only Jesus can restore me with His words. All the more reason to continue reading the Bible !

My family's not so big on EEEVERRRYONE getting together for dinner. We don't even have family in the Chicagoland. Daddy's not even here so it's awkward when we invite all these other families to eat with us.. and plus, many of those families moved back to Korea. So it'll just be a cozy dinner with the three of us. =)

Hope you are all enjoying your Thanksgivings.

Here's my schedule just in case you were wondering, too. ^_____^;;

FRIDAY

1. Shoppingggggggggg.


2. Find out what's so wrong with our phone bill !


3. Errands with mommy


4. Dinner with college group

SATURDAY

1. Haircut in the morning ! I'm still debating of what kind of haircut I wanna get. Mine's so boring. I've got lots of layers and stuff. I don't have enough $$ for a perm so I'll save up for later (winter break?) We'll see. But I definitely want something much different than what I already have.


2. Brunch with Andrea. YAYYYY


3. Art institute... ALL DAY LITERALLY. There's SSSOOO much to see ! I've got homework to do for my Buddhist class, too, so that's why I'm going.


4. Pack up....

SUNDAY

1. Church ! =) Yay Calvary !


2. Leave by 2pm for Clevelaaaaand.
   

for the haircut, what I really wanna get is something like this:

http://www.beauty-box.jp/style/long/207.html and http://www.beauty-box.jp/style/long/176.html

it'll feel light and thin and it won't take as long to dry ! hahahahaaa =)

alright, that's it. enjoy your break !!

i'm not so great at ice skating. i will admit that unashamedly.
but today wasn't that bad ! my thoughts even wandered from trying to keep myself balanced to "who the heck invented ice skating?" so i came back and i wiki-ed it up and this is what it said. back in the day (we're talking 3,000+BC) primitive people used skates to cross "large, icy" areas on animal bone ice skates. how... interesting.

then my thoughts wandered off to... why didn't my parents push me to do other things besides piano? was it because i was so good at piano (bwahha) and i shouldn't divide my focus on other things? was it because i had already tried it and i just forgot the experience? maybe we didn't have enough resources to provide all those ridiculous lessons. now that i'm older, i reeeeeally wish i learned dance (jazz, hiphop, tap, whatever) b/c i know I have rhythm and i'm not uncoordinated. so with a couple lessons and BAM ! i could be on "so you think you can dance?".

my thoughts also thought about all the figure skaters i watch on tv and how much i lovvvve watching figure skating. one of the guys on the rink was definitely twirling around and doing crazy stuff. some of the guys that came with us were hockey players so they could skate backwards and go reeeally fast. i just stayed my pace. but back to figure skating. it's amazing how balanced they are on one foot. i can't even balance on both feet ! but you know how people say that you won't understand unless you've tried, experienced, tasted, fill-in-the-blank it. so every time i watch figure skaters i am in awe... over and over again.

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i'm going home for thanksgiving !
this is my first time ever going home for thanksgiving in college. i also have to drive 6+ hours. but someone will be in the car with me so i guess it's not THAT bad. some things that need to get done while i'm @ home...

1. find out why at&t is charging us so freakin much.....
2. thanksgiving dinner with ccg (yay!)
3. go to art institute of chicago for my buddhist art class.
4. go shopping for winter clothing !!!
5. spend time with my special loves. =)



very random... but i haven't written a song in a while.
i need a vacation.

today, i had to give a tour. there was only one family so i wasn't obligated to walk backwards. but it started hailing and winds were about 15-20mph while walking around outside. i got scratched up on my face a little bit and i wanted to cut off my ears because it was so cold. but i stuck through with it because what else am i supposed to do? just leave the family behind and be like, sorry you drove all this way but i just don't feel like giving a tour today. go back. thanks for visiting. my boss would be angry with me. they would have a reason to hate case and not come and tell all their friends not to come. plus, i wouldn't get paid! that would suck.

i learned an important lesson today. why can't i persevere through my studies or reading the Bible like i do with touring? why can't i read my Bible like my life depended on it (because it certainly does!) no matter what time or circumstance? why can't i take time out to talk with someone even though it's raining or blizzarding? of course there's a safety issue but lately the weather hasn't been THAT BAD. I want to persevere like I did today with everything else in my walk with God. prayer, Bible, and fellowshipping with others.

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In other news, I watched Hairspray twice in the past night. I freakin' love this movie. This song isn't my favorite but it's just a typical song that I would break out and dance to. I don't particularly like Zac Efron or anything either, but the song just makes me wanna liberate myself and dance till I drop.

Zac Efron - Ladies' Choice (from Hairspray Motion Picture Soundtrack) // download HERE




This is also a new schedule for spring08. I posted a potential schedule not too long ago of my spring semester. But looking over it... I'm switching some stuff around and changing a lot. =) Kinda hard to see so I'll explain what's what.



SOCI204: Criminology (MWF 9:30-10:20) // I REEEALLY wanted to take this course last year but it just didn't match up with my schedule but now it does !! So I'm super excited.


ARTH102: Intro to Art History II (MWF 10:30-11:20) // Just a continuation of arth101.

ARTH340: Issues in Non-Western Art (M 2-5pm) // The description of this course was REEEEALLY vague. So I have no idea what to expect. But I need to take more art history 300-level courses. So o well. =) I think it's going to focus on African Art.

CHEM305: Physical Chemistry Lab (TR lab 8:30-11:30am, lecture 1:15-2:30) // Shoot me. The end. I'm never going to wake up for lab. But I gotta since it's LAB. Tues. and Thurs. are going to be lonnnng days. But I gotta take this class to graduate so I better get something out of it.

MUEN382: Case Concert Choir (TR 4:30-5:45) // I took this class freshman year and absolutely enjoyed it ! I haven't been able to do it since then so I hope I can join. Hopefully there are alto spots available. If not... o well.

TOUR GUIDING // I'm not sure when I'll be working next semester but those are the times I'm hoping to work. I hope I can work three next semester like I am now. I get paid a lot ! Hahahaaaa muhahaha okay, greediness.


Next semester will be much more demanding than this semester. But I hope today's lesson will change things around so it won't be so burdensome next year. =)

U2 - Bad (Live) // download HERE // lyrics HERE



Thespeaker showed us a clip of the live concert of this song. She reeeeally likes U2. =) And we watched the video right before we went into a time of prayer... and it says "Let it Go" a couple times in the song. There were a lot of things that I needed to let go of that night such as grudges, anger, and control. I'm not a saint now b/c I've let go of those things, I still struggle with them, but I know that I need to ask for forgiveness from certain people, I need to stop getting angry at the tiniest things, and I want God to control my life.

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So refreshing !
Fall Conference is an InterVarsity retreat that is seriously AWESOMMME.
This year's theme was Insight: Found in the Crowd focusing on Luke 18:35-43 and Luke 19:1-10 about the blind man and Zaccheus.

I'll share some of my favorite moments and things that I learned.

1. Lee Strobel - The Case for Christ
I bought the book ! After so many people talked about it with me... and I saw it on the book table--it was only $5 ! So I had to get it. I've already read about 150 pages and it's really helpful to me b/c I think logically, in some ways. I used to have lots of doubts b/c I would ask such technical questions. Halfway through college I realized that all it takes is faith.. but even the most skeptics need facts and proof.

2. Praise Times
I've never been to a worship session where it was led by an African American person ! But it was so liberating and fun. And then later I attended his seminar about unorthodox praise and worship (which I'll mention later). On Sat. night after the whole night was over.. some of the Case students and I requested that we sing Lord You are Good one last time and we busted out the dance and danced for the next half hour in the presence of God. Not moshing like it's at J-Gen but just purely dancing b/c I want to. I'm not really into moshing (some are, I realize that) but for me dancing is a better of expressing myself.

3. Taboo with Koinonia
A couple people missed out, but most of us went CRAZY until 1:30am or so with the wonderful game of Taboo. It's funny to see people get all heated up trying to describe words like surprise, violin, casket, and swelter. Some phrases that I remember...

• Dood, this is impossible!


• You guys have BAD vocabulary !


• Three nipples?


• Rape, rape, rape ! ...... stab??


• (trying to describe violin) It's .. a device.. that you put on your shoulder ! (someone responds) GUITAR !!!
  

4. Chapter time
For our chapter time, we had a bonfire outside. Thank goodness it wasn't freezing out yet ! We all shared briefly about what we learned and/or praises. A number of people enjoyed the manuscript studies. Manuscript studies is basically inductive Bible studies and in the setting of Fall Conference it's also in cooperation with about 20 other people. I pray that what we've shared will stay with us as long as we live.

5. Seminar: Unorthodox Praise and Worship
It's true that we all have different ways of worshipping. But in the end... I believe that when we've seriously been changed and revolutionized by Jesus Christ.. there's just no way to keep it contained inside. A quote that I acquired says this: Our arms are like antennas. The higher we reach, the better reception we get from God. Like King David danced around in his underwear, totally undignified... we worshipped that Sat. night with no inhibitions. It didn't matter if those next to us were just folding their hands in respect or on their knees. Whatever form of worship, all of us were worshipping as one body.

Praise and worship are two different things: Praise is simply adoration of God for who He is and what He's done and doing and will do. Worship is a lifestyle. Worship is reflected in your behavior and words. Worship is a reflection of what God is doing in your life.

Now time for pictures. =)

There's so much more to think about... but it'll pop up as I continue to write some more later on. ^ ^

note: i don't ALWAYS open my mouth like that.

Whenever I feel down.. whenever I cry.. whenever I feel like giving up.. I just need to look towards HIM. No praise song should be about us... but rather about HIM. I heard this song at J-Gen and I was on a neverending search to find this song and here it finally is ! I had to purchase it through iTunes. Can you believe that. It's like the third song I've ever purchased. But totally worth it. The simple truths about God is displayed through the phrases, "ruler over everything" "wonders of my God and King shines" and "love is neverending". When I can't trust anyone else, when I can't go to anyone else.. He's always there.

"I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High."
Psalm 9:1-2

every week I come to know Him more and can't ever stop wanting to know Him more and more.