recollection

The smell and taste of things bears unfaltering, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.

- Marcel Proust

친구야

내가 좋은 친구가 되고싶은데, 어떻해 해야할지 모르겠어
내가 너를 기쁘게 하고싶은데, 네가 무었을 원하는지 모르겠어
네 마음을 너무나 이해하고 싶은데, 그렇게 하지 못하는 내가 미워
친구로서 많이 걱정이 되고, 신경쓰이고, 원망할때도 있어
가끔씩 이런게 짐이 될때도 있지만, 우리 우정은 변치 말자
무슨 일이 닥치더라도, 서로 이해해 주려고 노력하자
꺼려하지 말고, 마음속에 있는걸 다 털어내자
너도 그렇고, 나도 그렇고, 서로 곁에 있어주고, 마음을 열어주고, 고민 들어주고, 위로해주고
이런게 내가 친구로서 해줄수있는 일이야
너무나도 부족하지만, 네게 힘이 됐으면 좋겠어.
친구야, 내 마음 이해하지?

Peppermint Gum

Greatest Analogy of all. SURGE has some great brains :D

Romans 1:16-17

16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

Juhae shared a quote with us: "A pepper outwardly seems cold to the senses, but the person who crunches it between his teeth experiences the sensation of burning fire. In the same way, he goes on, the gospel can appear at first like an interesting theory of philosophy. But if we take it in personally, we find it full of power."

Juhae: It's also like liquid burst gum where as you chew it, bursts of flavor come out.

Alvin: God provides the pepper or the gum. It is our choice whether to crunch/chew it.

Thus, we put all these together to come up with the peppermint gum!.

God provides us with a pack of peppermint gum and it is our choice to take it and chew it. He will reveal his power through the burning, minty sensation and the bursts of flavor, and by chewing the gum, we are living by faith. Also, it is our responsibility to hand out the other pieces of gum to others. When it comes to telling others about the gospel, we can attract them by

1. fresh minty smell
person 1: ooo that smells really nice. what is it?
you: the power of God working in my life. *hands over a stick of Gum* want to try some?

2. impressing them by blowing huge bubbles
you: *blows a HUGE bubble*
person 2: WHOA. What in the world was that? how'd you do that?
you: by the power of God. You can do it too *hands over Gum*

3. sticking gum on the chair they're about to sit in
you: *sticks gum*
person 3: *sits on it* What is this?!?!
you: the gospel. the power of God makes it really strong. I don't think you can un-stick it from your pants tho. sorry. But wanna try some? *hands over Gum*

Of course, this is so much meaning packed in a nutshell (or a pack of gum), but I think it's a great analogy. I love my small group.

SNOW

First snow!.
At church (friday service), the orchestra had a Fall Concert, and it was beautiful.
Of course nothing was exactly perfect, but it was just so wonderful to see a group of students passionate for music playing together.
I was amazed by some of the performances: violin solo, cello solo, violin-cello-piano trio, clarinet solo.
but most of all, Christine's piano solo piece. I always knew she was really talented, but this was my first time actually seeing her play solo. I experienced so many emotions listening to her piece: peace, happiness, sadness, grief, joy, relief, anger, rage, fear. She expressed what she wanted to and made sure the listener felt it too. It was just mind blowing, seeing her play like that. What a wonderful God given talent. She played with such grace and elegance that you couldn't help but be mesmerized by the song. Thank you Lord for such wonderful friend who can glorify your name through her talents.

Cheesecake Factory

So for SURGE fellowship night, we decided to dress up and go to Cheesecake Factory. It was awesome. I love my small group. I can really feel a sense of community, love, and friendship in our group. I can't express how thankful I am for that. All my life, I have never really though of myself as a member of a community. I never had a group of friends who shared my faith and was really close to me. Of course, I had very close friends, but I needed a good Christian community. One where I could be open about my faith, one where I could grow, one where I could share my struggles and problems. I believe God has provided me with that through Servants and it's a wonderful feeling.

Some fun parts of the night:

Anthony came and took pictures of us all dressed up. I can't wait to see the pictures.

We waited like.. 25 minutes for the bus to come.. T_T

The weather was WONDERFUL

Our waitress had amazing memory. We had about 18 people and she memorized all of our orders, drinks and meals.

The food was really good :)

They prepared a little something for me and Eunice because it was our birthday. I felt special :D haha

Joe tried to cake me with the little whipcream/fudge thing they gave me b/c it was my birthday. I would've killed him if he actually did.

JJ stole my coat and wore it. He looked like a pink marshmallow. I guess that's what I look like when I wear it. haha.

It took like.. 30 min to figure out the check. Where are you math majors???

We had to walk so much.. by the time we got to halsted, I was dying. I told Joe, "You should carry me to JST." of course I was joking. But then the bus didn't come so we just ended up walking back so Joe offered to give me a piggy back ride. I refused cuz that would be awkward.. haha

People were shouting OBAMA!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!! all over the streets and they honked at us because... i think they thought we went to the rally or something. we were in a pretty large group.

all in all, it was an awesome night filled with memories to cherish.

birthday

It's my 18th birthday today! haha I'm finally legal. I am an adult!
honestly, I don't feel much different... but at least i won't be called a young'un anymore : D
Lord, I thank you for this day 18 years ago when I was born into this earth. Unfold your plans in my life, and may it be pleasing to you.

p.s. happy birthday to yoona lee (i think she's turning 8) and peter lee (19) :)