Korean Festival

We had such a great time at the Korean Festival. I haven't been to one since I was a young girl. My mom showed us how to play all of these games. It was fun watching her do them too.









This is a version of hackey sack. It is harder because under all that stringy stuff is a plastic weight. So, it is hard to see where the center of the weight is going to hit.












This is a Korean board-game. There are 4 people on 2 teams. The big silver things are like dice, only all four people on a team flip them at once. The way they land, tells you how many places to move your piece on the board.


This is sort of a mix between see-saw and trampoline. You take turns jumping and propelling your partner higher into the air. It is a great work-out too.








This is how they used to make rice cake.




My mom is getting ready to arm-wrestle. Yeah!








This is sort of like a bean bag toss. Only you have these arrow-looking things and you try to get them inside the jar or one of the hoops. Abby rocked at this one!














We told the boys to "Go fly a kite". . . and they did. (Sorry, my corniness just came out.)

They actually flew them for a long time.
One was even made like the traditional Korean kites.



This is a game sort of like jacks. My mom can throw all 5 pieces in the air, catch them on the back of her hand, flick them in the air and then catch them inside her hand. She does is so fast too.
We were all amazed.




There was so much more to do, but it was sooo hot. There were jumpy things for the kids, demonstrations and mini-parades with traditional dancers, drummers, and dressed royalty. You could even dress up in traditional Korean wedding clothes for pictures. Unlike American festivals, most of the activities are free and your prize was food. Now, that is my kind of prize!

I don't know why I don't have pictures of those things. I must have gotten tired of pulling out the camera.
All in all, it was a great day. I look forward to bringing our baby to these in years to come!

Wounds

I got this nasty burn on my arm over a week ago. I was baking something on a cookie dish and hastily took it out. When I did, it seared my arm. Not but a little while later, I did the same thing and seared my other arm. The second one wasn't as bad and was near my wrist.

The first wound is definitely taking much longer to heal and not look so gross. It is bigger, but is also located just above the inside of my elbow. So, every time I pull my arms in, the air is blocked from touching the wound, thus causing it to get sticky and gooey. YUCK! The smaller one gets plenty of air and has almost healed itself, yet there is definitely going to be a scar.

Emotional and spiritual wounds are like physical wounds. The more we try to cover it up, the less it really heals. The more we close our arms rather than reaching out to God for healing, the grosser it gets. When we open our arms and let His "air" breathe on us, the better it heals. There still may be a scar, but hopefully, we can use those scars as reminders to not be so hasty and that God heals all wounds.

BTW- I am learning to sleep with my arms open. ; )

Triathlon

I still have a few more pictures to get and upload, but I couldn't wait to share what I have already. : )

There were 8 students that I have taught in the triathlon. One was the sibling of one of my students, but I worked with him in an after-school program. There was one family that I don't know who also joined the cause. Awesome!

This was a BIG deal. I was surprised to see how many children were there and how serious some of them and their parents were. Some kids had very expensive bikes and the parents were "coaching" them like it was the Olympics.

This was the first triathlon for all of the students I knew, and they LOVED IT!!!

They raced by ages; oldest to the youngest.

First, they swam.
(There were different distances for each age group.)



Then, they rushed to their bikes.










Lastly, was the running.
Most of it seemed like it was uphill.













To the FINISH line!








They were tired, but excited about their accomplishment.

Some of them wanted to do it again.

I am so proud of all of them!!!



Here is a link to a video one of the parents made of the event. It is wonderful!
http://gallery.me.com/jenniferstyle#100062/IronKid

Happy watching!

clogging the mind

Lately, I have not been able to enjoy my beloved patio to have my quiet times. After I prayed and received this blessing, not but a few weeks later did my neighborhood start building more houses. It is hard to concentrate with banging of nails and cement trucks. . .

So, this morning I decided to beat the construction workers. I got my coffee, my bible and journal, and rushed out to the patio. I sit down, and what do I hear? The garbage truck.

That got me thinking about distraction. It is interesting how I can multitask in the classroom so easily with my students. Students can be behind me and I can tell who and what they are doing while helping another student. It is actually a bit amusing when I call out the student behind me. They are shocked. I guess that is why they say teachers have eyes in the back of our heads. I guess it is sort of a 6th sense??

But when I sit down to have my quiet time, read, or write, I can't concentrate. I think about things I need to do during the day, questions I need to ask or answer others, noises or words around me.

I was watching Dr. Oz yesterday and he was talking about how "bad" foods clutter your arteries. It makes you feel tired and yucky, but we can get so used to it that it is not as noticeable. So, what does that have to do with quiet time? I feel like I ingest so much of the "world"; thoughts, sounds, words. . . that it begins to clutter my mind. After a while, I get numb to the fact that my mind is not very clear. I need "good food" to help cleanse my mind and unclog it.

When I sit on the patio, the sounds of the birds is one "good food" for me. It reminds me of how creative God is. The calls of the birds sound different, they are different shapes and sizes, yet they are still birds. The sky is another "good food". Watching the changing colors, the clouds slowly move and change shape. It is awing. My creator is peaceful and can do so much more than I can imagine.

Once, I get some of that "good food", I can more easily transition to reading or writing more "good food". By the end of my meal, I can tell that my mind is more at ease and clear.

If it is so good for me/us, then why don't we do it more often? Well, I love food and wonder the same about my diet. I have been praying and asking God to help me with my regular diet (food). I have lost maybe 20 pounds in the last 6 months. I say it is because I am so excited, but I know deep down that God helped to curb my appetite and give me motivation to eat better food. If God can help me with my body, I know he would LOVE to help me with my mind. The mind is connected to the heart, and the heart is God's target.

Thank you God for being the Drano of my mind and heart.

Baby Samuel (Jihoon) is 6 months old today

It feels a little frustrating not being with him, but we know that God is watching over him. It is also comforting knowing that he seems to be in a loving foster home. We are writing a letter and sending pictures to them soon.

WE CAN'T WAIT TO BRING HIM HOME!!!!

Our First Fundraiser

Our weekend started off with a nice dessert time with the McNatts. They just adopted a baby from China and were wonderful to meet with us and give us some insight. We are all so excited about what God is teaching us and others through this process. It is so nice to have others around that can empathize with all of this. There are thoughts and emotions that you just can't describe.

Then on Saturday, we went to our first fundraiser. My mom and sister were able to come. It was truly exciting to have them meet so many of my close friends and vice-versa.

















Allison was the Tupperware Consultant and is a great friend of mine. She is donating all proceeds to the adoption. She has been such an encourager!





Jen is the one that helped us get started. God has used her and her family in such a powerful way for us. She also planned a surprise shower for us. So she gave our first baby shower ever!!!


There were so many others that were able to come and many who made orders online. She raised close to $500 for the adoption fund! WOW!!!

We went to Saturday night service because we knew that Sunday would be busy.
(More to come once we get more pictures.)

Samuel's Storybook

With the help of one of my crafty friends, I made the cover for Samuel's Story book. It is up to you to fill in the pages.

I am asking all of those who partnered/are partnering in anyway to do a page
for Samuel.

1- Just take a regular or decorated sheet of computer paper,
2- put you/your family picture on it,
3- and write a letter to Samuel (handwritten or typed) sharing your part in
his story. Please include how you came to partnering in this adventure as
well.
If you have children that prayed and participated in fund raising, I would
love to hear what they have to say also. I have heard so many people say
that they or their children are and have been praying for baby DeGuido for
years. Some have been woken up at night to pray, and some have been given a
word of peace or encouragement from God about this process. We have several
items that have been donated, and many have donated in other ways.

You can send it, put it in my or Joe's mailbox at Perimeter, or hand it to
me anytime. If you want to wait, that is fine too. You can always update
as the time goes on.

We can't make a baby book of his birth, but we can show him how much he was
already loved even before we met him. I also want him to see how the body
of Christ rallied together to bring him to his God-given home.

I am very excited about this weekend. We have the Tupperware Fundraiser tomorrow and the kids are doing the triathlon on Sunday. I will post pictures as soon as I have time.

Delight

A friend of mine, with my same name, gave me one of those bookmarks with your name, it's meaning and a verse. Kim means "from the Royal Meadow" and the verse is "Delight yourself in the Lord; and he shall give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

You know how you can understand and believe something, but then grasp a greater understanding of it later. Usually it is an experience or event that sort of "open your eyes" to see it more clearly. Well, that is what this adoption process is doing for me in MANY areas. I see more of my sin, more of God's grace, and more of Him.

Believe it or not, I have always been quite insecure. I still feel myself get nervous even in a small group of adults when they are all looking at me and listening to me. I don't know how to take compliments and get embarrassed by them. Most of the time, I have been the side-kick friend or the one that has many friends but not really a core group. I have learned how to be open without being vulnerable. There have been seasons in my life when I have found courage to be free of what others think of me, to an extent, and let my "go get em" part come out in social arenas, which embarrassed me even more than sitting back and watching.

In the past 6 years, God has slowly been releasing me of different insecurities. I found acceptance in Him and have been called to do things that others close to me did not agree with. I've experienced persecution, which was very hard, but God walked with me through it. Then, he put an individual in my life that has been very hurtful and judgmental. I would cry when I knew I had to see that person because I didn't know if this person was in a good mood or not. If this person was, things could be very nice. If not, things were very uncomfortable. Over the years, I still get nervous and pray, but I am over letting another person's judgment or mood effect me so much.

Needless to say, I have not experienced the love and acceptance from others like I have recently. Now, my family loves both Joe and I unconditionally. It just took me years of making horrible mistakes for me to realize it. But as far as those outside of my family, and a few others, I don't generally get too close. I have learned to have low expectations so that I am not disappointed.

The same holds true with God. I know that He loves and accepts me, but my expectations are low. I can easily believe that He will work miracles in others lives, but don't believe that He wants to do it for me. Maybe because I lost my grandmother to cancer after praying and believing she would be healed, or after Him letting me go through a divorce or the other many disappointing and hurtful things that I have been through. I have kind of viewed my life more like Isaiah's. I go through trials and tribulations to glorify God by my clinging to Him. He always carries me through the storms and definitely works on my character through it. I come out of things feeling closer to Him and although not wanting more trials, thankful for them.

But this time things are different. God's is pouring out blessings upon blessings, miracles after miracles. He is showering me with His love and using His people to love on me like never before. I don't know how to handle it. Before we even started this process people came up to us and offered us financial support to adopt. One even sent us a check. God put different people in our lives to make it clear that this is the direction He is taking us. We have had so many people praying for us, including precious children. Every step of the way, God has either given us favor in people's mind to open doors or had others provide for things we have needed. This weekend, a family offered frequent flier miles to get Joe and I to Korea and back. Someone else brought up the idea and they responded. Even now, we are preparing for baby showers, writing "Thank you" letters, and seeing others get just as excited as we are. WOW! I really mean WOW! We are having to sit back and let God drive. This is so new to me. I'm used to doing things without major help from others. I'm not used to people giving so generously to me. I asked my principal this week, "How should I respond?" I am so overwhelmed with gratitude that words can not express it.

I went to something called "Coffee Talk" this week at my church. I only went because someone invited me. Ginny Owens was the speaker and she played a song that has helped me through many trials. The chorus says, "I will walk through the fire, if you want me to." It reminded me of all that God has brought me through. Then she played a song, "Call Me Beautiful", and I could hear God speaking to my heart, "I love you so much." It was like an "Aha!" moment. All of these blessings is not because of my works, and I shouldn't beat myself up when I fall short. No, all of this is because He loves me despite my damnable good deeds (which I knew to an extent, but I somehow understand it more). I don't deserve it, which makes me want to love Him more. I can see His love and true character even more clearly, so that I can delight even more in Him. Every prayer, encouragement, gift, and blessing, just points me to Him in thanksgiving. All of this is not just so that my dream of being a mother can be fulfilled. It is so much greater than that and me.

My prayer is that all of this will help you to see His love for you more clearly and for you to truly trust in His faithfulness. When you are adopted by God, you benefit from being a child of the king of kings. Wow! What a true honor and blessing.