The Been Briefing

Here's a Mile High Salute to my beloved Denver Broncos. 

They defeated the Patriots this past weekend 27-13! Kudos to Champ Bailey for that nice return and to all those on the special teams for making good on those turnovers.

We've made it to the AFC Championships!!!! Home field advantage (Make it loud, Mile High fans...) against the Pittsburgh Steelers, next Sunday!!!!!

Oh.. I hear from my mom that my brother Chris called home to gloat. Apparently he may be getting tickets for the game. I could strangle him now.

As for my world (far far away from the American football frenzy that I know is taking place in the Clementson household in Midlothian, VA) this weekend was a bear, but it is driving me closer and closer to the Lord. There have been such moments of desperation for Him lately! The word I am reminded of constantly is in 1 Samuel 30. The Amalekites had invaded and taken the wives and children of King David and his men.... and so they were all in great distress.

Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. (1 Samuel 30,6)

What a profound statement! what amazing faith David possessed! That amidst such despair David chose to take heart and remember who His God was and who he was in his Lord. Although I have not been attacked by the Amalekites or lost wives (good heavens, no!) or children, I recognize the need to, like the author of Lamentations (probably Jeremiah), recall to mind the wonderful things God has done in my life and be encouraged in Him. While my circumstances and feelings are constantly fluctuating, He does not change. Praise His Name!

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “ The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “ Therefore I hope in Him!” The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

(Lamentations 3,21-26)

So what happened this weekend??? Saturday morning Mrs. Kim and I met at Little John's English Bookstore in Suwon (about 5 minutes from Lauren's apartment). We shopped for textbooks for my first two classes, as well as vocabulary books for all the kids. The Mercer Mayer Little Critter books are such a hit with all the younger kids that we got all the books we don't have already. As for actual English "textbooks" .... it's a real challenge to find quality reading books, but we finally settled on one that I hope will work for both my first and second classes. This next week is a trial run. After that, Mrs. Kim and I drove to Migeum, where I introduced her to TGI Friday's ... quesadillas, fajitas, nachos! YUMMMMM! She asked me, "Is this traditional American food?" I almost started rolling. Do we have traditional American food? 

Afterwards I met up with Laura and Grace (a Korean friend from church) and we went to Kyobo bookstore in Gangnam. I have wanted to go for a while. It has a rather large selection of English books and I bought two classics: Cervantes Don Quixote and Tolstoy's War and Peace. They were the largest books I could find, so they'll keep me busy for a while! Plus, I'm tired of hearing and seeing allusions to quixotic behavior and not understanding what it means. lol. Then we took the subway to Yangjae station to visit the Onnuri church's Saturday night service. A Messianic Jew and his wife were visiting, and he led a wonderful time of worship. It was so great; he sang Psalms that he's been putting to music in both English and Hebrew... and an accomplished violinist accompanied him playing on a 200 year old violin. WOW. It was a wonderful time full of God's blessing and presence.

Yesterday afternoon a bunch of us girls took the subway to Seobingo station (1 1/2 hours on the subway to the northern part of Seoul) to visit the main Onnuri church, a place I have also wanted to visit. It was really great to visit. There were quite a few foreigners, which was cool. I'm always shocked to see them, forgetting that I, too, am just as foreign as they are!

Well, I have a great deal of grading to do.. and morning is coming soon. I hope this finds you well and encouraged in the Lord. He is faithful. May we call upon His name, knowing full well He hears the cry of our hearts!