.rest.

a few weeks ago, jody and i were feeling the need for a bit of pampering, so jody signed us up for a big treat: an hour-long back massage at a thai massage place in downtown suji!!!! it was the most wonderful place, and we both thoroughly enjoyed our massages, especially since it was our first time. the ladies did some crazy stuff to us, too, like pulling our heads, and using heated stones in rubbing our backs. they even kinda walked up the bottoms of our feet and backs of our legs. it was pretty amazing. it made me want to do it, too! ha.

the style of the place was definitely asian with a thai flavor. lots of buddha idols. it made me very sad to think that buddhism is so much a part of thailand's culture, but i realized i really know nothing about it. i'm really looking forward to going to thailand after jody and i complete our contracts here in korea. it will be very interesting to see a different asian country and to compare the ways they operate.

in other .rest. news, jody and i are super excited, because we have vacation time coming up! jody has been really working to improve relations at his workplace, and after asking for clarity concerning vacation-time, they have finally given him time off. he will have ten (10!) days off, starting this coming weekend. i will have six (6!) days off, starting next wednesday. SO.... we are going for a short trip! we are going to jeju island, which is just south of the korean peninsula. it is part of korea, but just prettier and nicer than busy seoul. jody and i are really looking forward to going, renting some scooters, and just enjoying a break from school, students, grading and the normal schedule.

Jody made salmon pooties!

Mom, look! See all that healthy food?!?!

friday musings.

i am stealing a few minutes away from my students to write. they are happily watching an episode of full house. surprisingly, the tv show is a hit with my younger students, who care less about current fashion and just appreciate the physical comedy and michelle's cuteness. i have been showing them full house with the hopes that english will be more fun for them.... we'll see if it computes.

it has been such a long time since i have written about what goes on during the work-week. i guess it's high-time i shared what's happening at work these days.

• on tuesday i learned that today (friday) will be my last day with my current 3 o'clock class. after working hard with them for 5-6 months and seeing very little progress, mrs. kim and i have agreed that they would progress better under the guidance of a korean teacher. i will be getting a new group of students (save one - woody), and i'm really excited about them. i understand they are an eager bunch, really wanting to improve their english. we'll see how things go with them. PRAY for creative juices to flow inside of me. i need rejuvination in that arena.
• i continue to press ahead with my 4 o'clock class, which is advancing a good deal. right now we're learning about space and our solar system, so they are beginning to learn more subject-specific vocabulary. it's thrilling to see them grow in their knowledge of english!

• my step 3 class continues to work through laura ingalls wilder's farmer boy, and we tackle various current events in newspaper articles. it is challenging for the students, but they are growing in their knowledge of the world. also, they are learning good, solid english vocabulary and how to write a strong chapter summary - taking the most important elements from a chapter and putting them all together with fluid transitions. it's a fun job, and i enjoy it.
  
• (i would request pray for one boy in particular. his name is kevin, and he's 9 years old. a smart boy with great english... but very strong in his opinion that korea is the best and all else is horrible. he has made several racist comments in my class. please pray for kevin. pray that God would crack his heart and show him that all people are equal and deserving of love.)

this week has been a challenging one for me, when it comes to living in korea. i find that i go through seasons of strength (whether it's one week or two months), and then i crash and burn and hate everything here with a force that scares even me. it's wearisome, because it is so extreme - much like this country. i long for home more with every day, and i cannot wait to be back in a country that is full of faults, but is nonetheless home. please pray for jody and me as we continue to do our best to follow God and remain here to the end of our contracts.

Saturday Get-Together

One Saturday a month Jody and I spend time with the Suji members of our church. It is a wonderful time to see good friends and to encourage each other. This past Saturday, Jody and I went over to Brad and Belle's place, where Brad and Jo did some talking/playing games, and Belle and I did some talking/home-baking. It was so wonderful. Little by little, others trickled in, and we played a game of tumbling monkeys and Billionaire, the card game. For dinner we all headed out to a good duck restaurant. All in all, it was a big group of us - with some new faces in there.

One couple, Dorothy and Mike (in the second picture - the redhead and the guy with the green jacket) came up from the south of Korea and they later spent the night at our apartment. It was so exciting to be able to host people and to know that they had everything they needed!

here's the duck being grilled for all of us. the numbers of side dishes was out of this world. phew!

here were my side dishes. that red paste is really yummy. and all the side-dishes can go on a leaf, along with some of the duck and kimchi, which you can see cooking on the grill (along with mushrooms and slices of potato). it was a light meal, but very tasty!

Yay for spending time with friends!

our easter photo shoot. (ha!)

as mentioned in the last post, jody and i spent easter afternoon and evening with good friends brad and belle. even though it was cold and rainy, we ventured up to the top of the shin-sae-gae mall after the movie to explore. it was quite a nice garden they had up there, and with the rain it was fun to try and take some pictures of each other.

as each month passes, jody and i continue to marvel at the goodness of God in bringing us together. we grow to love each other more with each day, and we are doing our best to take advantage of this year to foster strong and healthy habits for our marriage. together we're working through the book marriage on the rock by jimmy evans. it is an excellent book on building a godly marriage, and we are gleaning a good deal from it as we discuss each chapter together.

in other news, jody and i are so excited about the future. i don't know that i have officially written it on the blog, and i guess now is as good a time as any to do so. we have decided that this is our last year in korea. (toot a horn or blow a whistle, or do something!!!)

though i am contracted to finish teaching mid-october, i may stay on an extra month. jody's contract finishes the end of november. we are thinking we would like to travel a bit in asia... spend a few weeks in thailand relaxing, then maybe see some of the missions work that lifechurch is part of in the himalayas (possibly bhutan or nepal?), and then see a bit of india. from there, we'll fly back to the states, via london.

that puts us back in the states in january. YAY!! though we are truly enjoying this time together in korea, we are both very eager to be back in america and to see those we love and miss so much.

and now you're asking... WHAT'S NEXT?

well, i'll tell you! :)

after much prayer and discussion of jody's gifts, passions, and talents, we feel that seminary is the best step to take. jody desires to serve the Lord, but he wants to be more equipped. i thoroughly support him in this step, and we are busy in the praying and researching phase.

as for the details of where and how, we don't know. but we're taking one day at a time and continuing to submit everything to the Lord. we will follow Him wherever He leads.

even now, i am reminded of a very well-known verse:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalms 23,1

please pray for us as we make these big decisions!

happy easter!

jody and i celebrated a wonderful easter this year. it was a wet and gray day, but it was full of love and joy! we went to church and heard the message that never gets old. Jesus has saved us from our sins. He is no longer dead. He is RISEN! it was so encouraging to be with such a wonderful body of believers and to celebrate. now, more than ever, i am thankful for all that God has done in my life.

the children performed a special song during the service, and i wish the video feature was working on blogger, because i was trying to upload it. but alas, a picture will have to do. their message was perfect:

God so loved the world,

that He gave

His one and only Son,

that whoever believes in Him

will not die
but have everlasting life.

i couldn't have said it better myself!

after the service, there was a baptismal service in the swimming pool (the perks of having church in an international school!), where three people shared how they decided to follow Jesus Christ and how they wanted to make a public confession of their faith in Him. it was so wonderful and exciting! what amazes me is that it never gets old. everyone's story is different. their struggles vary, but i am always encouraged to know that God is alive and actively working the lives of people. yay!

after the baptisms, there was a buffet lunch. good times, but i had to admit - it was a strange mix of korean and 'western' food. ha!

i know jody would dearly love for you to appreciate his korean bling. yes, the tie does sparkle. and yes, we match (sort of).

after that we went and saw a movie at the CGV movie theater in the shinsaegae mall in jukjeon (just a subway stop away from suji) with brad and belle. we got a few pictures out on the roof of the building in honor of the easter tradition of taking family photos.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Matthew 28,5-10

Praise the Lord, He is Risen!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

(a little late, but with just as much enthusiasm)

jody is ridiculous. but he's sending you st. paddy's day love. xoxoxox

and here are james and chris, in my step 3 class. chris was the honored student of the moment and so got to wear the special hat.

*** many thanks go out to lauren wenger for the st. patrick's day goodies. they were perfect and totally made the day fun for them.

.shopping in insadong.

now that all the packages have safely arrived in the arms of family back home, i can finally tell you about what jody and i were up to a few weeks ago.

once upon a time, jody began to get an itch to send some love to our families in the states. i thought about my sad record (2.5 years in korea = o packages sent home) and decided that i agreed! (for those of you who are thinking evil thoughts, i hasten to add that in returning home twice in those 2.5 years i DID bring gifts home in my suitcase. so there. matthew 7 in your face!)

but i digress.

so we went into seoul to insadong and began to hunt for the best gifts for our families. it was fun! we ended up with tea sets, chopsticks, engraved rings and the best ever: spicy asian ramen. the best EVER!

while in insadong, we saw a cool guy twisting dough in the air, which was pretty cool. lots of people stopped to watch him.

and then we saw a man showing people how they make dokk. dokk is a gummy-feeling and tasting cake that is made entirely of rice. people eat it here a fair amount and consider it a traditional, healthy treat. some is good, some is not. on this day we opted just to watch rather than sample. :)

here the ajjumas (older women) are cutting up the dokk and offering it to everyone as samples. people flooded them!

then we wrapped up the day at... yep, you guessed it, Suh-taw-buk-suh Keo-pi ... also known as 'Starbucks'. it was fabulous to just sit down and rest... and to people-watch. jody and i both like to people-watch.