Oh, hi!

Long time no see! 
It's been awhile since I've seen you, so let's catch up. 
First of all, did you see the big announcement that I made the last time we talked? No? Take a looksie over here. 
Did I tell you about my best baby friend's first birthday party last month? 

The party was a "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed party. I helped his mama with some of the design work and we had some snacky fun! 
Speaking of fun, I am currently obsessed with this music group.
Ever heard of the 30 Day Shred? Well, what they don't tell you is that Level 2 is kick-your-butt-pinch-a-nerve-in-your-back hard. 

Oh, and did I mention that I updated my blog design recently? Trying to explore this amazing world of graphic designing more and more. 

Korea celebrated Children's Day this past Saturday.  The hubs and I make it a strong point to stay away from the large crowds of little people every year. 

We celebrated the life of my very best friend here in Korea

this past weekend as well. 

A ladies' night out featuring dinner, cupcakes, and noraebang 

was the perfect celebration! 

And I don't know about where you live, but spring has just been absolutely GORGEOUS here in Korea. I can't help but sing when I'm outside and praise our amazing Creator for his marvelous works. I encourage you to step outside today and be thankful for beauty, for breath, and for His faithfulness. 

We kindly interrupt this blog for a special digital announcement...

Spring, spring, spring, spring

"For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come." - Song of Solomon 2:11-12

As I walked down the street todaythe sun felt warm and the breeze was cool and fragrant. The cherry blossoms were out and blooming fiercely, because that's the job that God gave them to do in this season. The birds were out playing and singing; the sky was an endless blue. 
Truly, ''the time of singing has come." 

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy." - Psalm 92:1-4

Ferial-topia

Last week I was teaching "city" vocabulary in a few of my ESL classes. 

I like to do supplemental activities on top of my curriculum, 

so I hopped on over to Google and searched for some city-creating projects. 

One of the first results was citycreator.com and I'm so glad I found it. 

It's a simple, Sims-like program where you can design and build your own city. 

My students loved it. 

We spent the bulk of our time last week thinking up our cities 

and implementing our designs. 

As the hubs and I were driving home the other night, I was reflecting on these city-creating experiences. We were coming from the home of some dear friends who had filled our eveningwith delicious food and wonderful fellowship. Just the night before we had also spent the evening with some other dear friends who had shown us equal hospitality. AND the day after all this reflecting we were planning onspending time with yet another two families in celebration and fellowship. Needless to say, we were on the receiving end of a lot great hospitality. 
Getting back to the scene of my passenger-seat-reflections, I was thinking about all of the dear friends that God has put into our life in the last four years spent in Korea. And all of the dear friends waiting for us at home. Not to mention our beloved family andthose dear to us who are living all over the world. And I considered my city-creation lesson plans. 
 Wouldn't it just be WONDERFULif I really could create my own cityand populate it with all of those dear ones? We could all live and work together for the glory of our God and the benefit of the entire community. Living together, working, eating, creating, singing, playing, building, laughing, crying, and bearing each other's burdens. True community. Doesn't that just sound marvelous? 
And as I continued to think about my utopiaI realized that my city dreams will one day come true, but thank God, it won't be my city, but His. 

And if that isn't something to look forward to, I don't know what is. 

Perfect Peace

I've been pretty quiet around here lately. 
Remember how I committed to choosing love this year? Remember that big post I wrote on change? 
Change + choosing love = difficult. Therefore, I've been quiet around here lately. 
The hubs and I are getting closer and closer to making some firm decisions about all of our options that I mentioned in my "Change" post. As I said in that post, the decisions that we have ahead of us are not easy, and it turns out I was right. 
In the last few weeks I have jumped from one emotional breakdown to another; and in between, my days seem to consist of busyness and stress, with sprinkles of marital arguments to top off this depressing sundae.  
In the few moments of truth and clarity that I have enjoyed in these last weeksI've been able to recognize that all of these compounding sins and stresses all stem from one source: fear. 
What the heck are we doing with our lives? Is my husband strong enough to lead us? What if we don't have enough money saved up? What if we leave? What if we don't leave? What will happen to my lovable cat? What about our family and friends, what will they think? ARE WE DOING THE RIGHT THING? 
I'm afraid. I'm afraid of leaving. I'm afraid of staying. I'm afraid of losing my cat. I'm afraid of losing touch with my friends. I'm afraid of falling right back into our old materialistic lifestyle. I'm afraid of moving across the world. Again. I'm afraid that we won't be able to afford having children. I'm afraid that we won't be able to have children. I'm afraid of taking risks. I'm afraid because I don't know what's coming. I'm afraid of not being in control. I'm afraid of change. 
It's in these overwhelming seasons of life that I must choose to  cling to the promises of God. I don't feel like He's working all things out for my good. I don't feel loved and justified. I don't feel His perfect peace. 
But it's there. 

He will keep me in PERFECT PEACE, and oh boy could I really use some. But, I have to do my part too. His peace comes in partnership with my trust. Not that I could ever do anything to gain anything from God, He gives freely and I am so undeserving of his blessings! But, nevertheless, He asks me to trust Him. How can I choose to trust Him, every moment, every day, even when I don't feel like it? Even when I don't feel Him near? Even when the benefits of His peace don't come right away? 
O Lord, help me trust You! Give me Your perfect peace. And may I be like Jesus. 

PS: I created that Isaiah 26:3 photo above as a reminder of God's promise of perfect peace; if you like the photo you can click on it and it will redirect  you to a bigger versionthat you can save to your computer and print out as a reminder for yourself as well. 

Found: Water

"Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" - John 7:38