the one on our anniversary

He who finds a wife, finds a good thing
and obtains favor from the Lord
   ~ Proverbs 18:22

Remembering our anniversary is as easy as 1.23...

Soo has survived 2 years of being married to me... she deserves a medal...

So today, of course, i am thankful for...

1. i found a wife... God has shown me favor

2. Soo. she is not just a wife, she is my friend & lover. Many daughters have done well, but she excels them all. Not any woman would do, God prepared Soo especially for me

3. The privilege & honor to be a husband. Of all the millions of men in the world, God chose me to be Soo's husband - to serve & love her - of which i do a horrible job

4. For 2 years with Soo.
    They haven't all been fun moments. There have been conflicts & tears. There have been misunderstandings and frustrations. i wouldn't trade a moment (Though at points i want a redo).

5. Soo's patience, grace & forgiveness

6. A wonderful wedding with wonderful friends, a great photographer and good weather... even if the catering was awful - at least we got a taco truck

7. An amazing honeymoon in Prague & Paris

8. God's gift & design of marriage

9. for all the relationships that didn't work out before Soo

10. That God is with us in marriage, leading us and taking care of us

11. That God is using marriage to refine us, show us sin and make us more like Christ

12. For the love Christ has for the church, which is so much greater than i have for my wife

Thank You Lord for Soo, for our marriage, for this family.
You are good

the one with an old friend

This afternoon was rough. We had a long conversation with our landlord that didn't go over too well.

But God was good to us, and allowed us to connect with an old friend, and it was so encouraging

Today i am thankful for...

1. To be able to see my old friend after 2 years
2. To be able to call this guy friend
3. for his encouaging words & affirmation to me tonight
4. for his faith in Christ & love for others and hope in God
5. God's faithfulness in drawing all nations to Himself (this friend is one of maybe 10 in his people group to believe in Jesus).
6. That God has given him a burden for his people
7. That God has gifted him & equipped him to take the Gospel to his people
8. That God has faithfully provided a girlfriend - from the same people group, also a christian
9. That there are people in this city who really do care for us & love us
10. for our other friend who tried to help us in communicating with our landlord
11. for all those who have been translators for us
12. for my friendship with this other guy also
13. And his faith
14. God's timing
15. that we can trust God even when things don't go as we hope or expect


God is good.
God is faithful.
God is working.
God is worthy.

Our Hong Kong experience

Soon after pregnancy, Soo started experiencing some sharp pains in her stomach accompanied by chills & aches. I took her & Halle to the emergency room, and soon after we checked in, all the pain and everything went away.

The doctor attributed it to gastritis and our doctor furthermore gave her nexium for heart-burn.

The attacks would come every couple weeks… we began to assume it was something she ate… as we cut certain items out she seemed better… she cut out all tomato-sauce based items & all spicy food… then all citrus & acidic fruits & foods… and coffee… basically, she couldn’t eat anything except rice & grilled chicken…

The problems never seemed to go away… and after some other concerns we went to the local doctor here.

We have been blessed to find an American doctor at the Red cross hospital. We knew of the OBGYN last year, but didn’t know about the regular doctor until this year. He is great.

And it is so cheap here!

Doctor’s visit: $3

Blood Tests: $3

Cat Scan, X-rays: $5

Prescription medicine: $3

Even an overnight hospital stay is only like $17

After checking out Soo, he thought gallstones… but we had to do a few more tests… there is another foreign surgeon here who could have removed the gallbladder, but some of the other tests we needed to go somewhere else.

This is part of the experience of living here… leaving the city or country to go to the hospital

so we got in contact with a hospital, set an appointment… and made plans to go to Hong Kong…

The doctor there seemed to know what he was talking about and insightful.

The scariest part for Soo was the fact she would be put under… she had a gastropacy done here with no medicine. Usually in the states they’ll at least give a local anisthetic… here they could prescribe a pill… but that was too much… so she did the gastropacy w/o anything…. But hey, she gave birth without any medicine either!

So, we went to HK and Soo got knocked out. The doctor put 4 keyholes in her, removed the stones & sucked out her gallbladder… they gave us a DVD of the surgery… but we haven’t watched it... Movie night anyone?

They brought a jar of the stones to the room… we weren’t like Joey when he got his kidney stones… but we did look at it… I counted the stones: 81!

81 stones!

That’s a lot.

Soo was also scared about Halle. How would I be able to take care of Halle & her? And what if Halle won’t eat? She doesn’t really take a bottle, and doesn’t sleep well away from home…

However, God was gracious!

We fed Halle formula for the first time & she loved it! She took the bottle without any problems.

Actually, if Soo was around, she wouldn’t want the bottle, but if not, she wanted the bottle all the time.

We were also blessed by Joy Ford. A person we didn’t know; And a person my parents had never met, only corresponded with thru email.

That is the body of Christ!

We really felt God’s hand upon us & the blessing of the body of Christ thru her.

Even though some family were not willing to help because it may be too much trouble, someone we didn’t know went out of her way to come help us & went the extra mile to bring us food & stuff we didn’t ask for, but knew would bless us.

Our true family is our family in Christ

Unfortunately because of the procedures, the day before the surgery Soo couldn’t eat anything, and the first few days after she didn’t have much of an appetite… too bad, b/c going to Hong Kong means a lot of good food…

Before we went, Soo was convinced after the surgery she’d be able to move around and do whatever she wanted… I kept on telling her we probably won’t be able to do much…. After the surgery, Soo vented she just had surgery and I was planning too much…

Still, Soo loved HK. She called it one of her favorite places.

I hated it. I would never want to go back

Hong Kong is expensive.

Hong Kong is hot.

Hong Kong is big & busy.

We were at the mid-levels, which means it was just a series of hills…. The places we were going were supposed to be walking distance… but it was all uphill, thru tons of traffic, and winding roads… and it was hot.

I never sweated so much in my life.

The taxis charged for baggage.

I don’t like big cities.

Still, Soo got to go to H&M and we bought some toys for Halle at Toys R Us.

We got Bubba Gump’s Shrimp (Amazing!), pizza, salad, Fo, Dimsum, Italian & Steak… and of course McDonalds.

The favorite though may have been going to the grocery store and getting deli meat… and of course, my favorite: Tim-Tams!

We got to go to the Peak for a little bit… though I don’t like it so much, Hong Kong is a beautiful place.

We also went to one of the small islands before the surgery as it  was much cheaper there…

Anyway… the HK trip has made me think of a lot of memories… and thoughts

1.     I miss riding mopeds in Chiangmai with Billy Van Elk

2.     I miss going to mid-year conferences in Thailand… last year we were in the states having a baby… year before we got married… and the year before it was in Malaysia…

3.     We should have planned better… or what if we got married in June, had the baby in May… at the very least I could have gone to Mid-year last year and been there when Ken came… been there for Asian friends leaving EA… and then been back this summer for CSU to hear Francis Chan & go see David crowder and Tenth Ave North… and we would have been around in the fall & I could have led the team, wouldn’t have start all over…

4.     The ferry reminded me of Turkey… could you imagine us living there.. taking the ferry every day… hm…

5.     Cold showers reminded me of WW02… taking showers outside… cool showers on hot days & warm showers on cool days outside… it was pretty sweet

6.     Of course I’m in HK, so I got to think of Kelvin Ng

7.     With all that, how about Ghandi’s 5…

8.     And I thought about the fun with Adam Anderson when I went back in 05… the girls were fun too and the students… but Adam & I bonded… got cheesesteaks and hung out weekly… joked around a lot…

9.     This place is a lot like Macinac Island in Michigan… no cars, bikes, lots of small shops… no fudge though

10. Ah, Traverse city was a fun summer… and then today Soo gave me & hug after getting out of the water… reminded me of when Chris Woods said he would accept a hug after being out in the rain and Matt Sfura jumped at the chance… what a memory…

11. This place is like a retreat center… retreats used to be so much fun!

12. Also reminded of the dream I had a few weeks ago: I was on a summer project in India… but hald the students were Americans, the other half were Indians… but we were on one summer project, but like a state-side project… students didn’t realize how lucky they were… Mitch Sheehan was the project cook… Soo & I were there- no baby I think.. Christine Major… not sure who else

13. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life… my goodness it is hot here! And the uphill climb didn’t help.

14. Nutella tastes good when it is fresh

15. Saw Ring-tailed lemurs, which of course reminded me of Steve Tanzek & the TC project again… 15 years later & I still remember

16. I really like sitting in starbucks, drinking a frappacino & writing & reading…

17. Whenever I feel like I’m going to get a lot of reading done, I read nothing at all

18. Wow, I miss deli meats, seeing the case was like walking into heaven

19. I don’t like big cities

20. Can’t wait to get home… where at least we know where things are, and feel more freedom to be normal

Well, that’s me processing our trip…

Thankful for…

1.     Soo getting the surgery and hopefully can eat now and won’t have much pain

2.     There were no complications with the surgery or big problems created by the kidney stones

3.     Experiencing God’s grace & kindness thru the body of Christ as Joy, a complete stranger, but sister in Christ- came to help

4.     God taking care of us, getting us where we needed to go

5.     Everyone’s prayers and concerns for Soo & us

6.     God providing for all our financial needs, that even with all these expenses, we have what we need

7.     Halle taking the bottle & sleeping well while there

8.     Being able to bond with the baby more – as I got to feed Halle, helped me feel closer

9.     God using this to build Soo & I’s marriage

10. Tim-Tams

11. Good food

12. Being able to communicate with all of you!

Mook on Confessing sin (or how God is not like a puppy)

You may have heard it said there is nothing God uses more in your sanctification than marriage, and I agree.

It’s not that marriage brings out the worst in you – it just reveals it!

I see all my sin and self-centeredness and selfishness and pride…  and filth and yuck!

And last week? Well, I saw a lot of it!

Soo forgave me and she accepts me, but it was still hard.

I could still see the grief and pain on her face. I still felt distant. I still felt bad, I still felt awful.

Then I was talking to Halle… and I thought, maybe this is why we like babies and puppies so much.

See, a baby may cry for a few minutes in the middle of the night, or may not particulary like how you hold them, but… they don’t really reject you.

And a dog, well they may whine for some food while you’re eating or may dislike a spanking, but they always like you.

Even if you upset a baby or a puppy- they seem to have short memories.

They like cuddling with you. They give little smiles.

And they don’t talk back.

They don’t say “but…” or give you looks to let you know how disappointed they are.

And I began thinking, maybe this is why I like God so much.

I tell Him all my sin, and He forgives me. He embraces me. He doesn’t hold my sin over me. I don’t feel guilt or shame at all.

And while some of those things are true, I think I discovered I may need to take a new look at confessing sin…

1.     God hates sin. He abhors it.

It’s not a mistake, that He just looks over. It’s not something He can just say “What? Don’t worry about it”

I think that is how I usually picture the whole process in my head.

Like the sin doesn’t bother him that much.

2.     Sin grieves God

This goes with the above. Just because I can’t see the grief & disappoinment and sadness, doesn’t mean God isn’t grieved. Eph 4:30 exhorts us: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

Our sin causes God pain.

3.     God really is gentle with us, gracious with us. He forgives us & accepts us.

And this is not something to take lightly. He knows all our faults and all our sins (Psal 139). And He loves us anyway. He accepts us. He holds no record of wrongs (I Cor 13) and all fear is cast out (I John 4). He doesn’t deal harshly with us.

In the book Prodigal God, Tim Keller makes some observations on the story of the prodigal son. When the Father comes toward the son, he doesn’t say “Ew, you stink. Go wash up and I will give you a big hug.” Nor does he give him a big hug and then say wash up now and take my coat it stinks now too. He embraces him. He wants him to clean up, but not because he is disgusted by him

4.     He really does want repentance

Throughout the Old Testament, God rebukes His people. They offer sacrifices- but they are vain. Jesus rebukes the religious leaders likewise. They worship, but the hearts are far away. Words, even words of confession, are in vain if our hearts and actions aren’t impacted.

We are called to repent
When the women caught adultery is not stoned, Jesus says "Neither do i condemn you" but He also adds "Go, and sin no more."
Jesus lived among the sinners, but He never condoned what they did and certainly did not enable them to sin

5.     God longs to show mercy

Even in all His anger in the Old Testament in Jeremiah and elsewhere, He is looking for opportunities to show mercy and grace and love

6.     All of this is possible because of Jesus.

Though God hates sin, He punishes our sin on Jesus. Though sin grieves Him, He looks at the righteousness of Jesus. And Jesus stands us an advocate for us.
Thru the death of Christ, we are free from all condemnation- all guilt, all shame. Jesus took all our shame, all our guilt upon Him on the Cross! We are accepted, loved.

Jesus is now living in us and sent His Spirit so we can repent and turn to God. Jesus provides the example for us how to live and the Holy spirit is making us more like Christ

And we are shown just how much God longs to show mercy, when the Father sent His Son, and the Son freely gave His life for us

So, while God is gracious, kind- and all I need to do is confess, I am already forgiven. I shouldn’t take my sin so lightly.

I am not just talking to a wall. I am not talking to the air. I am certainly not talking to a puppy. And while Ricky Bobby may pray to baby Jesus- He is not a little baby, He is King of Kings, God Almighty. He is meek & mild, ferocious & wild. He is a gentle thunder. He is the lion & the lamb – a lion-like lamb and a lamb-like lion (as John Piper would say).

We don’t just confess to get things off our chest, and not to feel better about ourselves.

We confess to renew our relationship with God and allow the holy spirit to work in our lives and make us more like Christ and to relish in the mercy & grace & kindness & goodness & love of our Lord.

Lord, be glorified!

My favorite birthday memories

Well, it was a great birthday, my first in the states in years... and first where people weren't required to come to my party... 56 people posted birthday messages on my wall (After the first few wrote matt, almost everyone wrote mookie)... got to see a bunch of friends over the weekend... it was great.

Though, i kinda feel like people forgot it was my birthday... not much singing these days (sideways glance)... not many phone-calls this year... actually only my parents... still it was a great day and birthday calls are kind of hard, so the next few days- that would be great.

This may go in my top 5 birthday memories. There wasn't much flashy, but it was relaxing, fun and encouraging. And it was my first with Soo as my wife, my first as a married man that is - and she's great.

We had a bunch of people over Saturday morning and Soo & my mom made doughnuts and some other stuff for breakfast. Then we had dinner with a couple friends (Brack & Marc) at the Weber Grill tonight. So, that was good.
i got a bunch of free stuff, which makes me happy.
i didn't get to spend the huge chunk of time at starbucks like i wanted, but did watch some football, and now going to spend some time with God... and went to church this morning.

So, best birthday memories?

My best bday memories

1.     2008: Serving others, time of sharing & worship, fun with a group, good convos… (i wrote about it in yesterday's blog, so i won't repeat myself)

2.     2001? UofM: Will threw me a surprise party (always great, always special), 3 birthday cakes (mom got me one, I took to Bible study, the girls across the street made one too… and another?) – or at least 3 parties, a good day of ministry: surveys, Bible study, discipleship even, lots of love and birthday wishes

3.     many growing up as a kid: we played baseball, football and basketball… went mini-golfing, and had pizza & video games at celebration station, all my friends spent the night… and I think doughnuts in the morning. God wasn’t involved here, but it was fun

4.     my 30^th bday: maybe just b/c I was turning 30… got some encouragement from lots of people and some creative gifts and a big party…. And a cake in the face

There have been a lot of sad birthdays and a number of average ones. This was a good one.

Thankful for good friends, loving family and of course my amazing wife. God has blessed me. My life has been good. And the Lord is good to me.

Thanks all!