Ew finals

So in an effort to blog more I thought I would share this quote from a book that, of course, I am just beginning to read the night before my final.

This quote is from a book on the spirituality of Jesus and specifically from a chapter on evangelism,

"Our proclamation must be centered on the kingdom. That kingdom is one of mercy, justice, and righteousness. It is a kingdom where God reigns supreme and where his people honestly seek to live in genuine harmony with God, one another, and the world around them. This is the kingdom that Jesus was passionate to preach. He did not come to design a privatized, gnostic religion, where salvation is about the acquisition of Bible knowledge. Rather, he came to fashion a community of redeemed people in the new covenant. That work continues today just as it did two millenia ago, and if we are to imitate Jesus' spirituality, we must become people who are passionate about spreading the news of what God continues to do in the world. So preach the Gospel. And by all means, use words." 
(From The Spirituality of Jesus by Leslie T. Hardin pp. 166)

curious to know what you people think of this...Also, this is one of my favorite songs right now that kind of reminds me of this. I love it!

Sunday nights

So Sunday nights used to be like the worst night of the week for me. After a great weekend you have to gear yourself back up for another week and it just stinks. I hate that because Sunday is supposed to be a day of reflecting on God's goodness and resting in His presence. And yeah, usually Sundays aren't that way for me. I remember once in college when I was sad on a Sunday night my dad told me he used to get the "Sunday blues" when he was in med school. That totally resonated with me and actually made me feel better.   But tonight I am just so thankful for what the Lord has been doing that I had to write about it. And I think the biggest thing I'm thinking tonight is that God is good even when I don't feel like He's doing anything. When I am at my worst, He is still good. And I forget that until I experience it again and then I say I won't forget again. But I do.

So anyway, we are moving to Capitol Hill (yay!) For those of you who don't live in Denver (probably everyone reading this?) Capitol Hill is a really neat area close to the state capitol building downtown. We are super excited to be able to live closer to Jin's school and to be able to be in a fun community with other people our age. And we are living above a Panera...wins all around :) We have also started to get more involved in our church and its been fun!

God has been providing in some pretty obvious ways lately, but the most encouraging thing is that He's been there all along. He has walked with me through the loneliness of the past few months, but the thing is he's been with me my whole life. And He knows all my stuff and still continues to walk with me through it. I guess the biggest thing I've been learning lately is about living in truth. Living in the truth that I have issues. Yeah, I do. That's a fact. But the crazy thing is that God wants to get into those issues with me and bring me to greater healing. Wow. And He might even use me as a counselor as He works in other people's issues. What a huge blessing. These are just my ramblings but I hope it is encouraging to you guys wherever you are at in life. He knows you and He loves you.

So I'm not 100% sure of the historical context of this verse (seminary makes you realize how important that actually is :) but I know God speaks through His Word and this verse means a lot to me right now.

Jeremiah 31:3  the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.


The verses after this talk about Israel returning from exile and not that Denver is exile by any means ;) but it is far away from what used to be home and can be pretty lonely at times. I find a lot of hope in reading about God's love for the Israelites recorded in the Bible. And the Israelites mess up all the time, but the story of God's faithfulness throughout the entire Bible is just amazing. And I'm finally starting to realize how unbelievable it is that I get to be a part of it. Somehow looking at the bigger story makes me understand my stuff just a little bit better. Crazy. 


Here's a random picture of us to make this blog post more interesting. Its from Atlantic Beach, NC. What a fun day that was :) except please excuse my wierd bang situation...it was windy i guess. 

Phase 2?

So this blog seems to kind of come and go. But my mom suggested that I start up again and I thought it was a good idea. So here we are. Update: we live in Denver, Colorado now. We've been here for almost 5 months now and we really like it! We made it through the winter and now we finally get to experience the best part of living in Colorado...the summers!!  :)

Anyway, these past few months have been some of the most challenging but also the most exciting. We have moved away from everything familiar (again??) this time to the great Rocky Mountains. God has provided for us in so many ways and I'm still marveling at the fact that we can just pick up and start a life in a random place. If you know me at all you know I am horrible with transitions (maybe God is trying to teach me something??) but we are slowly adjusting to life here. Its definitely hard being so far away from family and friends but we are racking up those frequent flier miles!!

Another update: I finally started my Masters of Counseling at Denver Seminary and it most definitely has been a challenge. But I'm hoping that I have moved out of the "What the heck am I doing?" stage (I hear its normal...?) into the "Wow, this is hard but I think I can actually make it through" stage. I'm pretty sure I will still have plenty of those moments but for now I'm encouraged. I especially love my New Testament class with Dr. Smith. My views on Jesus and the Bible have already been radically challenged but I love it. Studying Jesus in his historical Jewish context has changed my perspective so much. And of course studying what he actually said definitely helps. I've been convicted of my blind acceptance of this assumed knowledge that I have of Jesus and his teachings and been forced to take a sincere look at who he really was and what he really said. I'm thankful to be in a place that fosters this kind of growth. 

Jin will be starting his Masters of Accounting this fall at University of Colorado Denver. I'm so proud of him for working hard and providing for our family these past few months and I'm excited for him to get to pursue this dream. Looks like we will be spending the next few years on the Denver coffee shop tour, maybe Jin will even start liking coffee? 

Anyway, hopefully I can keep this blogging thing up!  I promise to do my best to make it interesting and not just a boring life update every few months. We are on a crazy journey just like all of you and I want to share the thoughts and experiences along the way. Today I realized again how thankful I am for technology that allows us to keep up with everyone we love. Seriously, it makes things so much easier. We love and miss everyone!

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.

-Emily (& Jin)