Well... It has almost been a month since leaving Korea... Life has almost returned to 'normal' - I mean, it's work-work-work, again. Some things are remarkably different. :)
Right after the trip, I had a bit of reverse-culture shock as soon as I landed in Georgia on layover. I was first shocked to see so many black people... And then shocked to see how much bigger Americans are. :S It was... a weird feeling. But, then I was also taken by how rude everybody seemed. As soon as I got home and I sort of got situated again, I went off to a wedding reception (Lisa & Colin's). I was still really sad about leaving everybody in Korea, and then with my new disgust at being back home, I really needed to see my friends again. I put on my sharp, new suit from Dongdaemun and rode my bike over to the after party (it was so late, I didn't make it to the reception). I walked in and was promptly greeted by a stream of 'booooo's from BFF'ers (my church small group)... Haha... Everyone was complimenting how good I looked in my suit and was asking lots of questions about Korea. I was really happy to see everyone again, but I was really moping (more on that, later), so it was probably tough for anyone to tell. Had church the day after, and I think seeing all my friends and church family got me over the culture shock pretty quickly. The jet-lag, though, was a completely different story. That took like, two weeks to get over...
Before all of this, I really hated 'sharing my testimony' because I felt like it was really dry and boring... About how I grew up in church, thought I accepted Christ at six or something, then later had to rededicate myself and stuff... I mean, I thought that was all there was to it. But, as you know by now, that dry and boring testimony has turned into pages and pages of writing filled with emotions and amazing things God has done in my life. And that, I think, is how it should be... The road to salvation is... well, significant. But, it's what you do with your salvation that really matters. I mean, what if Paul's testimony ended with him getting his sight back? His life wasn't amazing b/c God audibly spoke to him and knocked him off his horse... It was how he lived his life after that was amazing. In the same way, I hope I can bless others with my life through the things that God has done for me, or has enabled me to do. So, now I just don't like sharing my testimony b/c I really suck at public speaking, but that's what this blog is for. :)
Still... Our praise team and PQ went down to one of the churches in North Carolina for a post-Grace rally. It was the first rally we've done in a lonnnng time. It was good... Some people felt kind of uncomfortable before going because it seemed disorganized, but it went really well. There weren't like, sermons... Instead, there were lots of testimonies shared. It was pretty cool to hear the pastors give their testimonies. I mean, we always like to hear them preach, but hearing how far they've come in God is always encouraging. But, hearing some of the kids give their testimonies was just really awesome. I mean, they're young, so there was not a whole lot to them, but to hear how excited and dedicated these youth kids are to God is extremely encouraging, and a good reminder about why we go through so much trouble to serve these kids. On the beginning of the first session on Saturday, I shared my testimony... I didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare for it, so I just read a modified version of the testimony I shared at Dongan. I included a little bit about the trip to Korea and also made it a bit more conclusive with one of the points I took away from the retreat. While I kind of mumbled a bit, the response was pretty great among the kids. I heard some ppl crying about halfway through it... And as PQ said, 'the atmosphere changed'... God's presence really showed up. So much so, Su just led an altar call right after and we went right into ministry time. While it is awesome that there was so much response to my testimony, it also meant that a lot of these kids had broken families and also struggle with depression and such... Youth these days need so much prayer! Anyways, the rest of the rally went really well, and it was great to see young hearts on fire...
The next day... I had to share my testimony at HOPE. Haha... This one, I felt, went over the worst. :P After chatting and stuff about my testimony to the praise team and PQ, I was trying to figure out how to tailor it to include more about Korea and make it 'more natural,' I guess, since these were all ppl I know. I figured HOPE would want to know more about my actual trip than my background, so I tried to pull a few highlights and reflections off my blog writings. I tried to blow through the beginning of my testimony so I could spend more time on the 'meaty' bits, but apparently, I spoke wayyyyy too fast, and Pastor Mimi ran up and told me to slow down a bit... Haha... But, I got through it, and then put up a little slideshow I threw together on the ride back from NC. The first few pics were like, you know, cultural things I did, but then I tried to include some stuff about the Holt trip and Ae Ran Won visit... Not really sure how that went over. I tried to speak off of the slides, and I hadn't slept much and my thoughts weren't really coming together. :P I wrapped it up (I think), and that was that... I kind of felt everyone was just looking at me, confused. Definitely not like at NC.
But, Pastor Q didn't actually preach a sermon. Instead, he spoke off of what I shared, mostly concerning reconciliation. Thankfully, he spent some time going over some of the points I was trying to make and really clarified/built on them. After, we had a little ministry time and there was a lot more response than I felt after I finished talking, so I guess I didn't make a complete hash of things. Goes to show, if God's gonna use you, He's really going to use you. I pray... well, first, that I'll get better at sharing things in person... But, obviously, that God will continue to use my story to help heal the hearts of those who have been through things similar to what I have.
Anyways... Life after the trip. I've got so many people to keep in touch with! I've been trying to keep in touch with my Seoul host family, Hyawnoo, Hyeonbee, Jun-Su (my orphan), the other adoptees, some of our translators... It's kind of hard, but Facebook is pretty helpful in that regard. Still, I wish I could do more. I need to learn Korean... I haven't been very good about studying any since getting back. :( I've been quite busy... Need to get on top my projects so I can squeeze in some Korean-learning-time! But, even so, I still should do my best to communicate with what I have to everyone... The last thing I want is for them to feel like I visited and then just took off.
As for the other adoptees... I just bought my plane ticket to fly back to Minnesota for the debriefing retreat on the 1st and 2nd of October. I'm pretty excited to see them again and hear how they've changed after the trip. Hopefully, it'll be nothing but good things... I know we're all missing Korea, and missing the people we've met. I'll probably put up a couple posts during/after that.
But...
Ok, ok...
What you, my faithful readers (and you cheaters who skipped all the parts about the trip) really wanna know about... Rebecca.
Ok, so like I said... When we said 'goodbye' that Friday night, all that was really for sure was that we would 'keep in touch.' Neither of us wanted a long-distance relationship. In fact, she had been burned by a previous relationship that went long-distance, and I know what my roommate has to go through with his long-distance relationship (in Japan)... But, still... You don't decide who you love. I was moping really, really bad when I got back. All I could think about was Rebecca, and how much I missed her. First... There was simply the fact that it started to get really good and then we had to say 'goodbye'... But, then, there was that uncertainty about our future.
However...
We chatted as often as we saw each other online. First on Facebook, then I made her get a Gmail account... Then we both got Skype up and running. After that Friday, our conversations got deeper and deeper. And... so did our feelings for each other. I stopped moping... And she stopped sleeping right. :S Yeah, we had hit a point of no return. Distance usually pulls new couples apart... But, even with the distance, we have become much closer. We're both in awe that it only took a week... And if you really think about it, it was really only a few hours... But, we're such a good fit for each other that there is no denying that more than chance is involved here...
So, August 18th, we made it official... We promised each other to wait, and then we would be telling other people that we had a girlfriend/boyfriend. Yeah, yeah... "It's not official until it's Facebook official..." Well, concerning that... She doesn't want to change our relationship status until we see each other face-to-face again. That might be forever, you think? Well, not really. More like a month. :P Yeah, you read that correctly... She's coming to visit. Not just to see me... But, also scout out the area and get job interviews... Because she wants to move here.
Just a little exciting?
Yeah... So... The future holds much for us. It's been roughly a month since we've got to know each other, but each day is still better than the last with her. Even without knowing all the details, we have the blessing of her parents, a lot of my friends, Pastor Q, Su, etc...
All I know is... A relationship has never felt so 'right' before. The odds are nutty, the challenges are... quite large... But, I am at peace with them. Many wonderful, sappy, probably-gross-you-out little details aside... This is the first girl I've met that makes me want to become closer to God. She gives me new hope in my life. All my previous relationships seemed to have pulled me away from God... And the same goes for the little 'interests' I had but soon stopped before anything happened with them... But, she's different. She points in the right direction... I feel blessed to have 'found' her. I mean, I can't really say I 'found' her... Things were kind of arranged too perfectly, if you catch my drift. God is teaching me about one of the other 'loves,' now... And I am soooo thankful.
So... There ya have it. Snake came back from Korea with a girlfriend... Ya'll were joking about it before I left, but God doesn't joke about these things. :)
'Til next time, from the debriefing retreat! Thanks for reading, all... :)
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