I said yes Lord, yes!

Remember when I first got here and I wrote a blog titled, Why Korea? If not, you might want to go back and read that one first. In that I refereed the book If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got To Get Out of the Boat, that had initially planted the seed that encouraged me to consider Korea. The whole book is based around Peter's invitation to walk on water with God and the fear that came with it. To remind you, our boat is where we feel safe, secure and comfortable. When I came to Korea, I decided that I was leaving the comforts of home where I had family, friends, and a potentially good corporate job in line.

Now that I am here and walking on water, Like Peter, I am being called to step even further out of the boat. A month ago, I stayed home from church on a Sunday to begin my graduate school application to St. Thomas for the Leadership in Student Affairs program. At the same time, a good friend who was an intern Chaplain at Gustavus last year, was talking to me online. His name is PETER. When I told him what I was doing, he started questioning why I was even applying when I was less than enthusiastic about the application. Then, we started talking about seminary. Although I had my apprehensions, Peter could tell I was more excited the idea of ministry. Then he said, "Do you want to know the truth Christine?" (YES!) "I think you already know what you want to do...you're just afraid."

"As a rule, the people whom we read about in Scripture who were called by God felt quite inadequate...the first response to a God-sized calling is generally fear (70)."

Peter was right...I was afraid. I was afraid that I couldn't sing well enough to be a pastor, that I didn't know the Bible, of another four years of school, and mostly of additional financial burdens. But, what Peter said helped me to realize that the call into ministry is far greater than any fear of inadequacy I had. It was almost immediately that I started filling out my application to Luther Seminary instead of the one for St. Thomas.

"If I am going to experience a greater measure of God's power in my life, it will usually involve the first-step principle. It will usually begin by my acting in faith-- trusting God enough to take a step of obedience. Simply acknowledging information about his power is not enough. I have to get my feet wet (80)."

Filling out the application was when I got my feet wet. At this point, all I knew was that I was taking the first step of trusting God by saying yes to his call. I was certainly excited, but because of the financial concerns, I didn't know, if I was accepted, when I would begin seminary. I thought I was going to have to work for another year or two in order to save enough money to start. But, God had a different plan. On February 10th, my birthday, I received what I thought was the best present ever. I was accepted to Luther Seminary. Hip Hip! Then, just a week and a day later, I received an email with an even greater gift. Thanks to Dr. Jodock and Pastors Tania Haber and Kevin Bergeson who nominated me, I was awarded a full-tuition scholarship!

"Receiving a calling from God is not the same thing as falling into your dream career. A dream career generally promises wealth, power, status, security, and great benefits. A calling is often a different story (69)."

Yes, I would have had my dream career if I went into Student Affairs. I loved everything about college and the jobs I had in Admissions, the Career Center, and the Community Service Center. But, I believe that my call into ministry will bring me wealth, power, status, security, and great benefits in a very different sense than my dream job would have.

Since I said yes to God's call, my heart has truly been filled with overflowing joy. My concerns about my future and finances were heard by God and answered very clearly. It's hard to believe that I've been in Korea for exactly six months today. I must now make the most of my final half as I will be returning home at the end of August to begin my studies just days later at Luther Seminary on September 7th. Thank God for all the people he has used to influence my discernment process...and thank God I had my own Peter who helped me get my feet wet, climb out of the boat, and walk on water again!

Festival...a time for celebration!

Last I wrote, tension in the office was quite high. I can officially say that Monday will be a different story. Festival is over, old teachers are wrapping up their contracts, and new ones are arriving.

That being said, the end of the school year Festival was a huge success, and I think, worth every bit of stress and whining. I had the honors of being MC with my Korean supervisor Katie. That meant I got to watch everyone's classes perform their speeches, songs, and instrumental pieces while the other teachers were back stage helping keep the kids in line. Unfortunately, that meant I didn't get to take any pictures of my class throughout the day. The pictures I have are almost all from the other teachers who snapped a few good photos for me...thank goodness. Besides the loud, distracting audio that randomly came on during my students play
that sounded like we were flying through space AND Kelly raising her fist at Ann and nearly punching the girl for trying to show her where to stand on stage, the day was quite successful. My students performed Wizard of Oz and sang Any Dream Will Do (from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). The highlight was by far the adorable costumes that each class had for their songs and plays. They ranged from scarecrows, tin men, lions, Dorthies, and Wizards to Elvis, astronauts, and flowers with white tights. I was so proud of all the classes, especially mine of course, for their hard work and success on Saturday! Each teacher also had the chance to speak about their experience teaching during our time here. That was followed by massive bouquets of flowers being given to each teacher. Like I sad, it was all worth every minute of stress. Take a look at the days events...