In this place we have celebrated our first through seventh wedding anniversaries. In this place we have shared in a ministry to hundreds of middle school and high school students. In this place we (umm, well I mean I) have birthed two amazing beautiful blessings from God, gifts that bring our life more joy than can be explained. In this place we have been “parents” to some of the most amazing teenagers in Korea (maybe even Asia). In this place we have established deep and nurturing friendships. In this place Jacob & Moriah have been loved and raised by a village. In this place we have opened our hearts and wrapped them around the community, because in this community that is natural .

So now to write about transition, it is required of me to figure out how to keep my heart intact while unwrapping it’s hold on this place. Wow! Is that possible?

As some of you know, TCIS was brought to it’s knees this fall. The future looked bleak. During these times Mike and I were able to see God work in our hearts and the community. There was a renewed call for God to be the power source and provider for our school. For me, I look back on this as a time of God cultivating in my heart the necessity of God’ people to live in community with one another, to hold one another up, to seek God together, and to poor my heart out to God, not pleading for myself, but for the sustaining power of Christ to sustain TCIS.

In this process, which included many long runs, some alone (with Shane & Shane and Christy Nockels) and some with my dear friend Christie Gordon, I began to see my relationship with Christ differently. This shift in perspective called to my attention that God  calls me to more than just the two-way God and me relationship. He calls me to the Him that is in each person I live in relationship with. And the Him that is in each person of my community is desiring the love, sacrifice and adoration I had reserved only for the two-way God and me relationship. In a way, my mind was shifted from an individualistic approach to God, to a community approach to God (a kind of West vs. East thing). I had never before prayed so desperately for the survival of a community. I had never before approached God with a heart that cried out for Him to come and show His power in a specific place. For me the fall of 2011 will be a marker of when God taught me the value of my heart being wrapped around a community and challenged the individualistic approach to God.

Then December and contract-signing time came. You can bet that I was a little thrown back when Mike and I began to sense that God was asking us to move on from this place. Simply on a womanly-emotional level, I was a bit of a wreck–I had my babies here! On a spiritual level, I was confused! On a rational level, I was fearful. Again, after many hours of running (literally) it out  with God, I sensed God say to me, “I don’t always call you to a place. I always call you to me. I always call you to people.” In this I found peace. Peace that He would always be with us no matter where we live, and in that place there will be people.

The emotional-self still says, BUT my babies were born here! The rational-self, retorts, there will be no money…ministry jobs don’t pay much…I don’t know how to be a stay-at-home mom…I don’t know how to be an American…I just started liking Korean food! But peace casts out fear, so there will be a lot of praying for the casting off of fear in the days to come!

Truly though,  with peace in our hearts, we look forward to the coming transition from this place to the next. And yet, the emotions are high as departing from this community will cause great pain. But like muscles that require stretching and tearing to become strong, we pray and trust that God will use this time of transition to make us spiritually stronger. In the meantime, my tears will likely flow frequently as I begin to look around and say good bye to all the parts of this “village” that has helped us “raise” my babies. And in the tears there will be sorrow and joy–sorrow because of the loss, joy because they have been.

I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

`Alfred Lord Tennyson

Not sure if the above fits, but the Lit teacher in me thinks I could make an argument that the theme of my post and this phrase are alike in some way:)

But more than the buildings and the location, I will miss walking through campus and having memories of times spent here return to me when my eyes land on certain people or objects. Just today I stood for a while observing each of the graduating classes whom I have personally seen graduate (class of 2006 — class of 2010). And though these giant sized pictures will inevitably find a new home at the Techno Valley campus, when I look at the faces of those in the pictures, the memories are set upon the backdrop of the current campus. Easy to remember because even though many people have come and gone the backdrops have not changed.

Nonetheless, I believe we will all be blessed greatly through the move to a new campus, one that is near the river and away from the college crowd and all that college students attract. We will have upgraded this, and improved that, and likely be better able to serve the students of TCIS. And hopefully, even though time and space will change many things, we will not lose focus of all that God has given us, both the blessings and the responsibilities. May we trudge forward lightly knowing that God will guide us, but that he has given us this place to use as a ministry that glorifies his name and allows him to shine brightly above all the other demands and priorities that beg for our attention.

So it is with mixed emotions of joy and fear that  we have begun to sort all our belongings and pack boxes. And many a conversation finds it way to discussing our new way of life ahead. It is very strange to not have moved in six years, but to have seemed to have said good bye to so many people. And now saying good bye to the ground on which those relationships were built, brings a twinge of sadness. But I digress.

In the midst of  packing up all the boxes I think we too will pack up little pieces of ourselves and our history. They maybe tucked away just for a bit, but others might get tucked away never to be taken out. Yet others may perhaps be fortunate and find a way out when someone or something from our new life brings to life a special moment from what will now be our former life. So in memory or the people who have left prints on our life through our time at TCIS, here are some photos of the faces who have made this place our home and precious chapter in our journey log.

Spring has been tempting us since the beginning of March, and has finally now arrived. The sunshine is wonderfully welcomed as it brings with it baseball, sandbox time, and trips to the park.

But now to think past the last few months and recollect all that has happened  in our lives, wow that might be a challenge.

Obviously, it goes without saying that life has been busy. Moriah has most definitely moved beyond baby stage to being a toddler traveler. And she is not scared of much. We have to keep a close eye on her or she escapes out the front door and tries to navigate the stairs (thankfully she has only attempted going up), or she  perches on top of our kid-size picnic table, usually eating Play-dough. Her language development is coming right along. She says a lot of “uh-ohs” and “hwello” and “budder” and “mamama”! She is also very clear about when she is hungry or thirsty, in these times she walks to the kitchen and points at the bread or fridge and gives a very convincing gruntish-whine. If that doesn’t work she starts signing more frantically and screeches a little louder. So like any typical girl, don’t come between her and her food when she has an empty stomach.  Her current favorites and guacamole, noodles, green beans with ketchup, and of course anything sweet.  She is turning into quite the sweet girl,I think Daddy is slowly getting his finger wrapped tighter and tighter.

And for Jacob, well his is quite the character. I started teaching again (covering for a maternity leave), so Jacob has been excited to get to go to “school” three times a week. It is fun to see him light up telling us about the things he learns in the short time he is there. He has grown at least an inch since this winter and is looking so much like a little man…it is crazy scary realizing how much he has changed over the last 12 months. His story telling skills are improving…usually we can make out some kind of plot. His dancing skills continue to advance. Today we were watching Muppets in Space, on which the song “Celebration” is played. He started jumping up and down shouting, “that’s on of my favorite songs!” Yes, our kid has quite an eclectic repertoire of songs  in his memory bank. All we can say is some of the oldies are the best ones for dancing and marching around the house.

As for us, February and March were full of preparations for the Dorm Spiritual Retreat. Then it was time for Mike to make some headway on his master’s work and for me to get back into the classroom. Not a dull moment. We had an amazing retreat! Many students experienced the realness of God for the first time, and others were refreshed to experience his presence again. It was also a great encouragement to us to be able to see the fruit of some of our labors in planting seeds in the heats of the kids, and also to know God has let us be a part of his amazing plan for these students’ lives.

Well, unfortunately four months equals a lot of pictures and clips. Hopefully I have found the ones depict our life best.

February–a full month!

March – a little less busy!

Once again I am very behind on keeping everyone up to date on our lives here in Korea. Since I last wrote Moriah has turned 1, we hosted a small Thanksgiving meal, I ran a half-marathon, we ended the first semester of the 2010-2011 school year, and we traveled to and from Minnesota. It is hard to believe how much we have crammed in since the beginning of November.

First, we had many friends come to help us celebrate Moriah’s first birthday. She was very spoiled and LOVED the cake. (I promise to get Thank You cards out soon!)

Second, along with the help of our friends, the Pinhos and the Wards, we threw together some yummy American food to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Third, I finished my first half-marathon. After accomplishing this I can now say I have ran a 5km, 10km, half and full marathon in Korea. Mike was an amazing fan and photographer! I only posted a couple of his hundreds of pics from that day.

Lastly, we ended the first semester of the school year on a good note. We welcomed most of our students back in January and also a new RA, Danny Murphy. Now we are back to having four staff! Yippeee!

Lastly, we made the big trip to Minnesota for Christmas Break. We hadn’t been to MN for a white Christmas since 2006. We had a great time being with family. It was a complete joy to watch Jacob and Moriah spend time with their aunties, uncles, cousins, and grandmas and grandpas. However, all the traveling and partying made for some exhausted kids and parents. Nonetheless, it was well worth all it cost.

We arrived back in Korea on January 4th, it took seven days to adjust to the time change and 10 days for Moriah to start walking. Yep, she started walking on January 12th. The day after her newest cousin, Benjamen Lee Loween arrived.

Well, as we all know pictures are worth thousands of words. So I hope you can capture some of the emotions and excitement of the most memorable experiences we  have had in the last several weeks.

Oh and I celebrated my 29th birthday too!

Mike took me and friends out for dinner and to the ballet!

And we had a dorm Christmas party with lots of cookie decorating!

And Juhe, Jessica, & Jiin taught me how to make kimbap!

If you click on the link below you can see all our pictures from Christmas in MN!

Christmas Photo Book

Moriah is quickly growing in to a toddler. She hasn’t let go of the couch to take steps on her own, but boy can she make her way around as long as she has something to hold onto. She si following in her brother’s footsteps by taking taking as her first word, “Uh-oh”. She enjoys dropping things just so she can say “uh-oh”.  The louder the noise when an object falls, the harder she giggles. She is also taking after Jacob by wanting to drink her bathwater. As much as we try to convince her it is “yucky” she continues to drink it, bubbles and all.  I think her personality is shining bright and clear already, she is going to have her own idea of how to get things done. I started weaning her, expecting it to take a month and be gradual. But after only one week she decided to drop all her feedings and start drinking milk from a cup. After about another week we were able to get her to take a sippy-cup, which has made for less meal-time messes.  She has also quickly learned the sign for milk, as she now realizes she can communicate what she wants.  It is hard to believe that she is turning one in just 11 days! But she is tarting to look a lot more like a little girl than a baby.
Well, it is about to time for some pics and clips.

For Jacob’s party we had all kinds of sports for the kids to play: baseball, football, soccer, golf, bowling, and basketball. I think everyone had a great time and all the parents were pleased that I sent their kids home with whistles and horns;)

We have had a rainy, yet lovely August and September. Due to the rain, trips to the park are a big treat. Our school year has started off as a busy one with 8 students in our dorm having birthdays. I can safely say I have used at least 3 cartons of cocoa, 5-6kg of flour, and at least 5kg of powder-sugar–that is a lot of cakes! I might actually be getting sick of cake…maybe!  Need less to say, I have absolutely enjoyed having the year off from teaching. I feel like I have been able to be a better mommy and dorm mom.

Below are some pics from Jacob’s party and some others from our days post-Minnesota.

August-September:

Video Clips:

The Golf Cake Jacob Wanted To Make For Grandma

I think we have officially begun a family tradition. Whenever someone at home (or elsewhere in the world) is having a birthday, we are going to bake a cake and sing them happy birthday and then enjoy the cake as if they are with us. So, here is the first one for this year. We decided on a golf course cake because that is all Jacob has been talking about since I brought up the idea of making a golf-cake for his birthday. He was so excited to help make Grandma a golf cake. And every night since we have discussed this golf cake idea, his prayer goes something like this:
“Dear God. Thank you for the food, and the family, and the friends, and the golf cake and…” He never fails to mention the golf cake even though he might forget family or friends or food, but never the golf cake. So mom, enjoy the gold cake!

Happy 50th Birthday Mom!!!

This week we will celebrate the seniors through several events (awards programs, a senior lunch, Baccalaureate, and Graduation).Then we will have to say good bye to all our dear friends who will not be returning to TCIS at the Faculty Farewell Dinner this coming Saturday. It is going to be an emotional weekend.

Then it is on to America on June 6th! I cannot believe we are already heading to the States. It has been a such a whirl-wind since returning from Spring Break.  I had been telling myself not to think about being near the end when we returned from Vietnam, as means of making sure that I didn’t mentally make the last 6 weeks feel like a long time. I should have known that this was unnecessary because with all that goes on in the last 6 weeks of school, there is NO WAY it could go slow, not to mention the fact that we have 2 little ones to keep up with.

Speaking of those little ones. Jacob has advanced so much in his communication and language skills. It amazes me how much he understands and how much he is able to verbalize. Lately, he likes to base his decisions on what is “fun” and what is “not fun”.  He is slowly learning to be caring big brother, and as long as he and Moriah aren’t on the floor at the same time, there are no collisions or injuries. This morning he even tried to share his donut with her. Unfortunately,  I had to stop him when he thought he was doing something good.  I think he was a little confused.  He has also found an appreciation for super heroes.  One of the parents of our dorm students gave him a Spiderman outfit for Children’s Day. He loves to wear it out and about.

Moriah is advancing with her eating and sleeping skills. She turned 6 months last week and started on solids. She was more than ready. I am pretty sure it had gotten to the point of her being quite jealous of us at dinner when we were eating and she wasn’t. She would fuss and fuss at dinner time. But now, when she can have a bit of cereal while we eat our meal, she is the happiest little girl ever. She has also started squealing and giggling a lot more. It is pretty fun to watch her observe herself in the mirror, she just cracks up laughing! And the last few nights she has started keeping some regular sleeping patterns that don’t include waking up during the night!!! It is amazing to get more than 5 hours of sleep in one night. However, Moriah’s most marking feature is her “grabbing-ness”. She constantly has to have something in her mouth and hands. When we set her down we have to make sure she is able to grab safe things because she will just reach around until she finds something, and then in the mouth it goes. Ironically, I thought this would motivate her to roll over to get things, but it hasn’t.

Below are some pics of our last 6 weeks:

April:

May: