A Happy Day

Last Monday was such a wonderful day. It was Jody's birthday, and since the temperature here in Denver was over 100° and the fires all over Colorado had cast a heavy, cloudy, gritty haze over the city, we decided it would be wonderful to go rest in a safe part of the mountains. As Jody said, he wanted to ease gracefully into old age. Ha!

We decided on Pine Valley Ranch, near Pine, CO. Very family-friendly with all kinds of amenities we're not used to when backpacking, the Open Space was great for a low-key afternoon! Bathrooms, picnic benches, trash cans, clearly marked pathways. Almost luxury!

We found a spot out of the intense heat (even in the mountains it was around 90) under some huge pines and next to a cool, rushing river. We 'tethered' the pups and hung our hammocks up. It was awesome. We read, slept and just listened to the sound of the water. The pups behaved fairly well, too. Since the flies were pretty bad low to the ground, I felt so badly for them and brought them up to be with me in my hammock. I think they were so relieved to be away from the flies that they slept and lounged in my lap pretty contentedly most of the afternoon after that. I was so proud of them!

Since going out to eat is a pretty special occasion in Jo's world, he decided he wanted to celebrate his birthday in true Texas style. And so, after heading home and cleaning up a bit, to Texas Roadhouse we went! In the car, I mentioned the fact that it was so strange that the boots he won in the February Anderson Bean "Bean My Valentine" boot contest had not arrived yet... though it had been four months and my free boots had arrived several months ago. I told Jo I might call AB and see if something had happened. So, after dinner we came home and, lo and behold... what was on our porch?

Jody's FREE BOOTS!

So excited!

Perfect timing, Anderson Bean!

Smelling that wonderful leather smell

Had to get the full shot. :)

Our FREE and beautiful boots!

Many of you asked for a picture of our contest prizes, so I wanted to oblige you. While I make no claim to being a cowgirl, it was so much fun to win the contest with everyone's help. Thank you, to everyone who made this possible!

And it really was the perfect end to Jody's birthday. Happy Birthday, my love!

Happy Birthday, Eu-mi!

(A little late, but with just as much love as if it was on-time!)

The week of December 12th was a big week for the Been Family. Not only did Jody graduate from Denver Seminary, but Eu-mi had a birthday!

We don't actually know when Eu-mi was born, since we got her on Valentine's Day in 2009, and she was 8 weeks old then. So we just do the math and assume that she was born around December 14th. 

So I just wanted to take a moment and say, "Happy Birthday, Eu-mi!"

For her birthday present, Jo got her a new bed with a heating pad, since Eu-mi is forever the heat-hog. She steals all our blankets and the prime spot in front of the radiator. Usually, she'll also try to hog the top pillow on the sofa. 

NOT ANYMORE! The bed is quite large (enough for TWO wienie dogs, if necessary....), and Jody also bought a heating pad to stick inside the bed. Pure genius! Within minutes of putting the heating pad in the bed and allowing it to heat up, Eu-mi had discovered the warm bed... and was promptly curled up and fast asleep. 

Victory!

Happy Birthday, Jody!

I want to take a moment to honor my wonderful husband. On Friday, Jody turned 30 years old. It's a big birthday, I think, and there has been much time and thought put into what this birthday actually means. Haha. I think we've decided it means the end of childhood, for good. He's an adult now - with no more excuses for his ridiculous behavior. :)

For some reason, this birthday has also reminded me of the passage of time since I met him. Jody and I met in October 2006 at our friends' Stefanie and Brittany's apartment in South Korea. Almost 4 years ago... I was 23 years old, and he was 26. We met, started dating 2 months later, were engaged 3 months later, and married within 10 months of knowing each other. Not a situation I would recommend to the average couple, but for us, it was perfect. God's plan and timing for us was perfect, and I'm truly grateful that the Lord brought Jody into my life. He is the best man for me, and I see it now more than ever.


I am truly proud of Jo, and I marvel at what a godly man he is growing into. I pray the Lord continues to lead and guide him, and I cannot wait to see what else is in store for him in the years to come.

Happy birthday, love!

update and news to come....

much has been happening in the been home. just wanted to give you a brief summary and further pictures are to come!

• GOOD NEWS: very little dizziness these days. i think the doctor found out what was wrong, and i'm doing much better. thank you for your prayers!
  
• BAD NEWS (or is it good news, too? i don't know anymore): i have laryngitis again. yes. since thursday (26. june), my voice has disappeared. a possible reason could be the drainage caused by the the medicine the ENT used to break up the stone in my left ear. or another reason could just be that my body needs rest. anyway, i'm feeling alright, despite the congestion, and my boss and i are peaceful about the situation. God is on the throne, and He's seen me through these situations before.
  
• i will be doing work on Little House on the Prairie in the meantime, at home.
  
• jody turned 28 last wednesday! pictures of the surprise birthday party are to come... and, oh, i got him an iPod, and i think he's loving it. thanks to stefanie and john for contributing to his music/movie collection!!
  
• 5 months left in korea. but who's counting?!
  
• we are continuing to pursue denver seminary for jody, possibly applying to start in the next summer session ('09). prayers for confirmation would be appreciated!
  
• at SEI jody has moved from primarily teaching 4-5 speaking classes a day to only teaching a class or two a day and doing a lot more curriculum work - preparing lesson plans for the speaking classes. a korean - canadian young man named DJ started working with jody a while ago to help share the load. and yet another kyopo (a korean who grew up elsewhere) is supposed to start teaching at SEI today, as well. there still remains a good deal of haziness in communication, however. they tell jody very little, so much remains to be seen.
  
• though taking a break for the past few weeks, jody and i have been meeting with brad & belle on wednesday to study a book / workbook called Infectious Inheritance, which addresses sharing our faith. it's been good. i'm anxious to return to the states, where its material applies a little more!
  
  
• COMING... jody's bungee jump and birthday pics...

we love and miss you! stay in touch!

Joyful Church

i also wanted to enclose a picture of some of the new people God has put in my life. after much prayer, i have felt the Lord leading me to a new church that, translated, is called 'Joyful Church'. it is actually a Korean church, but they offer English translation at their 2pm service. there are between 5 and 10 internationals who come, and they make room in the back for us to sit and listen to the translated message through little headphones. i am anticipating wonderful growth in the Lord, as the church is full of faith and the Spirit, and the pastor preaches the uncompromising Word of God. he is unafraid to address head-on the issues of sin, spiritual warfare, holiness, and the difference between living in the flesh and in the Spirit. all these are spiritual truths i know, but i am thankful for the opportunity to be under that teaching once again.

for my birthday a few weeks ago, the international group surprised me one night and brought over cake, some pears (in season right now in Korea), and a big container of German fruchtbonbons (fruit candies). it was rather amazing, because i had given a much smaller glass container of those same bonbons to my german friend thea while she was here. i had seen that they were made in germany and so thought she would really enjoy them. so when i received those same german bonbons (only more and bigger), the Lord promised me great fruit in what i pour out for the germans.

i guess this is also as good as time as any to say that the Lord has answered a prayer of confirmation in my life. i feel that He is indeed calling me to Germany. and while this probably does not come as a shock to most everyone who has known me for a long time, only now am i able to realize how long i had to keep my desires in check and fully submitted to the Lord. now i have greater freedom to dream... this is an exciting time of preparation and prayer, as i begin to see the Lord making things clear - things that have been simmering on the back burner for several years now.

please pray for me as i begin applying to missions agencies. the main one i am interested in is Operation Mobilization (OM). may the Lord continue to lead me by His Spirit.

Praise the Lord!

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3,17

Yesterday was truly a blessed day. Not only did the Lord answer a big prayer, but He also spoke words of encouragement and promise which give me greater hope and faith to believe that indeed, the promises He spoke to me years ago are not forgotten. In fact, they are imminent and more powerful than ever! And I could not have anticipated the enormous amount of love and care extended from those here and back home. The calls, text messages, and emails were so dear. (It was my 23rd birthday.) I want to thank each one of you, but please give me time.

Saturday night Brittany and Stefanie treated me to a wonderful dinner in Seoul. We went to an Indian restaurant near Dongdaemun, and I met a wonderful couple from Brittany's church - Jackie and Ambrose. We had an awesome time together over dinner and then coffee. I hope to see Jackie and Ambrose again before they return to England. It was in conversation with them that I was reminded how deeply my love for the Europeans runs. How can I explain it, but that it is the love of God?

Sunday afternoon we went to a baseball game in the Olympic Park (the same place used for the 1988 Seoul Olympics). The weather has been absolutely beautiful... in a way that reminds me how much I am affected by the sunshine (or lack thereof). I've been basking in the sun and loving every moment of the clear, crisp air and bright blue skies!

And yesterday began with a workout at the Y and then french toast at Britt and Stef's place. They cooked breakfast for me!! And they had the greatest little gift basket with.. you'll never guess...!! A mug with the German flag. I nearly fell over. At work the teachers and students were so kind to me - cards, cakes, and lots of love. Of course some of the kids still drove me nuts occasionally. Haha. After work Britt and Stef came over for our Bible study. It was a truly blessed time, and the presence of the Lord came and filled the room in a wonderfully peaceful way.

I thank you for your prayers. Don't stop! There is much yet to be accomplished.

Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits; Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

Psalm 103,1-5

birthday wildness
sometime last week - i already forget which day - was john's birthday. his mom, who should be awarded PTA mom of the year - brought in some snacks for the kids, and they just went wild. needless to say, all work fell by the wayside for half an hour. lol.

i continue to work hard with caleb. his older brother stephen can no longer come to ERC, because the other teachers found him uncontrollable, so i take comfort that i have been able to at least *control* caleb. i try to channel his high energy level through fun activities, but what i really want to reach is his heart. pray that in the core of who he is, caleb will respond to Jesus in me. for, just as i read yesterday in Corinthians, it is Christ's love that compels me (2 cor. 5,14) and i long to see that stubbornness and defiance go... dosh!



i have seen the most marvelous change in danny, who is "flying" in the above picture. lol. when he began in my class i couldn't get a peep out of him. now he's as talkative as anything. his writing is slow, meticulous and perfectly formed, and he's really done an excellent job.
wendy remains the alpha female in the class - sometimes loud and easily angered - but i can usually diffuse those anger clouds above the eyebrows with a joke or laugh or a command for a changed heart. lol. thankfully, i started from Day #1 not allowing whining, arguing or complaining... and they have learned.

here is dear, dear heidi. even at so young an age, she is a strong christian - so sweet, bold, and unashamed. so, about 4 months ago i began noticing that my gel pens (for writing letters) were all dying, and i needed to bite the bullet and buy more. that week i received 2: one from esther and one from heidi. a few weeks later, i was noticing i needed to get a smaller, more compact wallet for my purse. a few weeks later, heidi gave me a wallet - absolutely perfect for what i needed. and then, somehow i lost some lip gloss (it was only LIP GLOSS!) and i remember being a little bummed. but not long after losing it, heidi gave me a little present: it was lip gloss. the most amazing thing is that i did not tell anyone about what i wanted beforehand.
the Lord is awesome! He knows how to remind me that He loves me and knows the seemingly insignificant desires deep in my heart. i love it! it screams to the world and those who are hungry: "LOOK- God is a God who knows and sees. Just test Him in this..."

as emily said, "my path will be a tasty, snicker-filled way." looolol.

this past saturday i hung out with emily. she showed me pictures of romania, and we had a western lunch (tuna on rolls) with a coffee. it was great!

on sunday i went with a bunch of the teachers to insaedong for the lantern lotus festival. there were tons of foreigners, which was really jarring. i have gotten used to being the only white face, or at least just one of few. we had a great time... pictures to come soon.

OH YES.. IT'S FINALLY WARMER HERE!! yay!

happy birthday lauren!

and i have a few more pictures from this past weekend.

tia smelling the flowers...

koreans do not own big dogs. i have seen maybe one or two larger dogs during my entire stay thus far. instead, the size of the two above is fairly typical. and you should see how they're decked out. we've got stores and shops full of dog clothes, hats, even booties for their cold little paws. Spiderman, Hello Kitty, and every animal design and pattern that you could imagine! lol.

dear dear emily and i

nahamm, me, tia... der ganze tag hat so viel spass gemacht!

we climbed a hill and found this - along with a full gym (weights, machines, etc) OUTSIDE. WHAT?! so anyway....

so beautiful. i love steps.

awww... hello me.

the little girl is SO cute!! and please notice the older woman walking (right side of the picture). she is wearing a viser to protect herself from the sun. apparently it's only an older generation thing, but i still see them a lot here. and friends s. and h. say that in california they see a lot of the koreans wearing them, too.

often, in driving around, i see these burial grounds. and while some still are buried on these hills, because of the increase in city population more and more koreans are choosing cremation.

oh.. and for some laughs...