The Morning Before Thanksgiving

Wednesday Morning, Nov. 26, 2008


12AM Jack walked me over to TBH
A bunch of people cooking turkey and watching one of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge, and Alice and I serenaded the “Elephant Medley” to each other.

1AM Juhae is so hospitable
She was the one that invited me to come over, and I feel special and get so excited whenever she does. It's like... Really? Me?!! =) and and... I needed to shower (badly), and Juhae insisted that I use her towels… I like that.

1:45AM I joined Inhae in the lounge to “do homework”
What did we end up doing? ---Handstands, cartwheels, seeing stars, hugging poles, and dancing to Missy Elliot… Well, the dancing was just me.

3:45AM Inhae and I decided we wanted to go over to MRH
So, we go back to Juhae’s room only to find that the door was locked. Lemme tell you that at this point that I didn’t have my shoes or a jacket or my phone because all my things were inside. All I had with me was my laptop, a T-shirt, and boxer shorts on. (O.O). And it just so happens that Inhae’s numbers all got deleted, so all she remembered was Juhae’s number. We call her, but she doesn’t pick up. Sooo, me and Inhae are sitting outside the door, talking to Minhee online, and cracking up about the whole situation. Anyway, we decide to still go to MRH. Luckily, Inhae had an extra pair of pants and another T-shirt and a hat. So, we walk out of TBH, her with all her stuff, and me with a hat, T-shirts, pants, my laptop, and no shoes on (I looked like a hobo that just stole a laptop from TBH).

4AM We’re waiting for Min Hee outside MRH.
She comes down, meets us outside, and starts cracking up at me, while my feet are about to freeze. We go into Minhee’s room, and Stella was asleep this whole time. So, she has no idea what’s going on.

6:30AM WAKE UP! HURRY HURRY!
We got up SO fast and literally ran out the door, down the stairs, and jumped into Anthony’s car. We decided around 5AM online with Anthony that we wanted to go to the beach to see the sunrise. Stella was sooo confused cuz she had no idea what was going on. LOL. Oh, can I just say, Anthony is a crazy, but good driver. We were worried we wouldn’t get to the lake front in time. But with Anthony’s mad driving skills, we did. The parking fee was $10!!! Was it worth paying $10?...... No, it was worth SOOO much more.

6:55AM The Sun rises
I don’t even know how to describe that moment. But I’ll try. I felt like I was waiting for the second coming of Christ, with all the anticipation and excitement.
Also, I understood what Minhee said when she described the sun as “our baby.” LOL. It’s gunna sound weird, but as the sun was “coming out,” it was so small, like a dot, a very bright dot. But when it finally came out, the sun gave us so much joy and warmth and life, much like a newborn baby. Now, the “coming out” part of the sun was much more magnificent and much…cleaner than childbirth, but you guys know what I mean. Ok, maybe not. But in any case, the sunrise also looked like a fireball slowly coming toward us. Or a nuclear bomb as Anthony described it.

The Creator was telling me, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Even with finals coming up, be still and know that I am a good and sovereign and just God.

That morning, I felt like a kid again- finding joy in the simplest things in life. Like watching a sunrise, or even just doing a handstand or cartwheel. These are the moments I will cherish forever, especially in the midst of all the craziness of college. And I’m thankful to share these moments with my close friends, my sisters and brother.

Thank you Lord for putting all the names mentioned in my life. You are truly magnificent.

Thanksgiving (pretty much my whole first semester)

I am thankful for.... (in no particular order at all)

Emeth- for being adorable.
HMCC (Harvest Missions Community Church)- for providing a communtiy, a family that I can turn to
Joanna, Sandy, Anthony, P. Jimmy, P. Peter, and Yoonsun- for using up their gas tanks and racking up mileages to drive us everywhere
Joanna- for being the first person to call me up from HMCC and talk. and giving me that amazing head massage. and picking me up off the street to go to ACCESS.
Yoon Sun- for making my first experience at Flat Tops so wonderful. and letting us eat all her eggs and toast.
P. Jimmy and Peter- for answering my questions
Jeka Hwang- for eating with me, talking with me, praying with me, keeping strong, and sharing the Pamelo, and giving me brown sugar for my oatmeal and grits, and lending me her song book
Bethanie Lee- for her cheerfulness, graciousness, and love. Oh, and proof reading my paper at 7:30am and letting me use her printer. And for giving me that last piece of sushi!
Juhae, Rachel, Katharine, and Yoon Sun- for letting me crash at their place
Juhae Lee- for texting me to study at Monty Lounge with her, giving me free Wendy's root beer float, tucking me in, and forcing me to use her towel.
Nikki- for her passion for the Word and encouraging me to have the same passion to follow Christ EVERYDAY. and for challenging me to question my faith and seek the truth.
Dad- for the deep(er) conversations we've had since I've been in college
Skype- so I can talk to my sister, Carrie, more and encourage Min Hee to do her hwk.
Elizabeth Chung- giving me so much joy when I'm around her. and attempting to run to the beach with me. And being one of the first girl in AAIV (from the picnic) to reach out to me.
Min hee Lee- for being so caring. giving me ice water when I got hot flashes, giving me the best back massage just when I needed it, praying with me (whether at 8am or 9pm)
Jack Tsao- for being a guy.. haha jkjk.. I remember that's what jeka said, and I thought that was hilarious. but for real... for listening to me talk about random stuff and about life, for being my work-out buddy. making trips to Chinatown with me. and walking me to TBH at 12am
Christine- for being SUPER cool and being as if we've been bffs for ever even though I just met her this year.
Kevin Kuo, Matt Zhang, Sarah Reese- for calling me to eat Jake's HOT wings and hang out
Alyson Kung- for being ridiculously cute beyond belief
Sharon Hong- for treating me to Massa's, buying me a bus ticket, and the wonderful conversation we had.
Grace Yu- for praying for me at AAIV Fall Retreat.
Julie- for teaching me the "Fried Pannoli" (Korean game) at AAIV Retreat
Grace Chang- for taking me to "Cho Sun Nul" (sp???) korean bbq place that was DELICIOUS!! and encouraging me by affirming me in various ways, and sharing your experiences
CLOUDZ- for the delicious food and championship medals from Mini-O's
Tia- for being an awesome "Tank"
Stella Lee- for accidentally sacrificing herself in Dodgeball at H-Games. for playing ping pong with me and working out with me.
Marty- for being a cool roommate
Jessica Cordova- for letting me nap on her bed, drool on her pillow (jk!), forcing me eating her mochi, helping me with Chem., basically feeding-clothing-sheltering me.
Gloria Yum- for running with me, letting me nap on her bed and chillin in her room. for waking me up to do OWLs. and for having a cool last name. and giving me that last piece of sushi.

Rebecca Doshier- for helping me study for my Chem Exam
Julie Nicoles- for giving me a hug everytime we see each other
Amanda Griesbaum- for being a GREAT lab partner =)
Angela Suh- for her constant smile everytime I see her. for demonstrating Christ's love in the way she loves her friends and cares about people.
U-Pass- for taking me to where ever I need to go in Chicago
Anthony- for taking awesome pictures that capture the memories and wonderful times. And driving us to see the sunrise
Sox- for keeping my feet warm when I don't have shoes
Locks- for keeping the girls bathroom locked
Amanda Chang- for inviting me to see Jersey Boys on her birthday (which I didn’t know about)
Iris Lo- for letting me crash at her place and cooking with me and helping come up with my prompt for my English paper
Katharine- for making me toast with peanut butter
Ultimate Frisbee girls- for an awesome tournament and fun drive down to Missouri.
Hyunseo- for never failing to make me laugh and sharing with me despite the language barrier.

Inhae Lee- for reading my blog everyday. for being open and vulnerable to me. for teaching me how to be a friend. for making me laugh with your weird sense of humor and randomness. For getting me started on Blogging- I wouldn't be sharing this with anyone if it weren't for you getting me into blogging. For keeping my head and legs warm when we ran outside at 4am… *sigh*…there’s so much more, but I’ll save ‘em for next time. ;D

Promise

by Kapano Green

read from Oct. 23 entry below.

I Wanna Dance

Just finished my chem test. now I wanna dance.
I miss dancing. I hope I haven't lost it.
I'm thinking about taking dance lessons once a week with Nonstop Dance Production next semester.
What do you think?

Reach

by Kapano Green

When did it happen, how long has it been?
My heart wasn’t always cold
How long did it take to get so far away?
We used to be so close

God I remember the taste of your love
Before I walked away
But I can’t remember how to get home
So won’t you tell me?

Can you reach beyond the miles I put between us?
Can you hear me when I don’t know how to pray?
Can you take me back to where I was before I lost my faith?
Can you love me like I never turned away?

Is there forgiveness left in your heart, or have I used it all?
Am I still your child, am I too far gone?
I need to know!

Can you reach beyond the miles I put between us?
Can you hear me when I don’t know how to pray?
Can you take me back to where I was before I was before I lost my faith?
Can you love me like I never turned away?

Cuz it’s dark here where I am
And I don’t have the strength to stand and walk on my own
So, can you reach me?
Can you hear me?

Can you reach beyond the miles I put between us?
Can you hear me when I don’t know how to pray?
Can you take me back to where I was before I lost my faith?
Can you love me like I never turned away?

With a love without condition
Can you hear me crying out for you today?
Can you take me back to where I was before I lost my faith?
Can you love me like I never turned away?
Can you love me like I never turned away?

Catch Up

Here are some things that's been going on this past 2-3 weeks. I just haven't had time to post 'em up. So here it is... all at once!


1. Barack Obama was elected as President on Nov. 4, 2008

I am happy to be a part of history. Over 270,000 people were in Grant Park to celebrate. The atmosphere there must have been SO exciting. But I’ll never forget some of the tears that rolled down the eyes of some of the African Americans, both young and old. However, I can’t’ help to be cynical when people say that anything is possible now that we have a black president. There’s a lot I can say about this topic, but I’ll save it for some other time.

2. Nikki…

I’ve been meeting up with my friend Nikki about once a week to do bible study, QT, or just share with each other. She a junior and we actually met at Servants small group. She’s been a great encouragement in my life because God is so evidently working in her life even just within this first semester of school. And she really encourages me to do my QTs.

3. The Car Ride Back

Last Tuesday night, after I went home that day to vote, Dad and I have a very good conversation on the car ride back to UIC. We talked about Mom, Carrie, Taiwan, the necessity of a Church community (but I don’t think he understood what I was trying to say with this one), and faith in general. Oh ya, I tried to get him to understand that a Christian lifestyle needs community because God didn’t intend for Chrsitians to walk alone. I don’t think he’s gotten it yet, but he’s open and trying to understand. He thinks a desire to go to church will come naturally for him… eventually =/….. we’ll see. I pray so.

4. Hong Gil Dong!

It’s bad. I barely did any homework last week because I started watching Hong Gil Dong. It’s SO GOOD! Except, God rebuked me today (through the message at Harvest on Repentance) and I realized I was sinning because I devoted so much time watching it that I neglected to do my QTs and my homework. What’s awesome is that once I admitted that I was sinning against God, I don’t feel the need to keep watching Hong Gil Dong. It can wait.

5. My Second Encounter with a Drunk Person

So last Friday on Halloween, we had just came back from ACCESS at NU around 2AM. I decided to take a shower. I had a bad feeling that something was gunna happen while I was in the shower cuz our bathroom door is unlock and there were drunk people everywhere. But I got in anyway, and a guy from my floor walked in on me. I didn’t even hear him walk into the girls’ bathroom, but he was drunk. I was like, “What the fuck are you doing?!!” and he was like, “AHH! Where the fuck am I?” and he ran out. I was like, whatever, he’s just stupid and drunk. I was a lil mad. But anyway, now our girls’ bathroom is locked. Oh, and I went to that dude’s room and told him “I think you owe me an apology.” And he did. But now… it’s just awkward when I see him. =P

6. Lastly... I decided on Harvest (HMCC)!!

I actually decided last week, but this weekend just confirmed it. I'll put up another post on this cuz there's lots to say.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Yes... I'm so happy today that I'm singing Mr. Rogers' theme song. It’s Gorgeous out today! It’s November and I’m wearing a T-shirt! And my roommate just ran out the door to beat up some guys. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood indeed. =)

A Conversation With a Drunk Friend

“Are you judging me?”

This was the start of the very interesting conversation I had with my drunk friend on his 21st birthday about faith and Christianity. I did not understand why my friend thought I was judging him. Does the simple fact of me being there and not drinking make him feel judged? I have my opinion on drinking: drinking under age is against the law and, therefore, sinning against God. Am I automatically judging other people by having that opinion? Him asking me that made me uneasy because I didn’t think I was judging him, but somehow he felt like he was being judged by me. Did I unconsciously give him a certain “judemental” look? Did I do that to all my friends who were drinking under age?! Gahh! Iunno. I hope not.

But pretty much we began to talk about God, salvation through grace vs. salvation through works. It’s too much to share right now. But I was really glad to hear about where he’s at in terms of his faith. He says he’s still a believer, in that he believes that God has forgiven his sins through Jesus Christ, but he still feels that he needs to work to make up for it. Or at least that’s what I understood. But anyway, I got to share about how it’s by grace alone that we can be saved. Not by what we do or don’t do. And for some reason he couldn’t accept that. He thinks he’s fallen too deep. He kept repeating that night, “I’m a terrible person, I’m a terrible person, I’m a terrible person.”

There’s too much to share about, but I guess a prayer request for me would be to just care about him enough to keep reaching out to him, even if its gunna be hard. It might be putting our friendship on the line if I keep persisting to talk about God with him, maybe not, I might be overdramatizing this. But I know he’s hurting and desires something more than what this world has to offer. I realized last weekend that there are SO many people like him. We see them in our dorms, in our classes. People who are searching, wanting more, unsatisfied. That’s what I was like before becoming a Christian.

God gave me that opportunity to share the Gospel last weekend to my friend. But it shouldn’t just end with that one conversation. I hope there will be more of those conversations to come, and pray that I will initiate them. I think God brought me to him last weekend for a purpose. Maybe God wants to use me in the process of bringing my friend to Him. It’s exciting, yet, I’m a lil scared. I’ve failed before, when God wanted to use me but I got scared and backed down. So, what’s the difference this time around? I know that it’s not about me, it’s about God. (I hope that made sense). God has given me another opportunity to be used by Him despite my failure! Praise God! He is gracious indeed.