squawk, squawk

"We're running shy of eagles and we're running over with parrots.

Content to sit safely on our evangelical perches and repeat in rapid-fire falsetto our religious words, we are fast becoming overpopulated with bright-colored birds having soft bellies, big beaks, and little heads. What would help to balance things out would be a lot more keen-eyed, wide-winged creatures willing to soar out and up, exploring the illimitable ranges of the kingdom of God...willing to return with a brief report on their findings before they leave the nest again for another fascinating adventure.

...Parrots like to stay in the same cage, pick over the same little pan full of seeds, and listen to the same words over and over again until they can say them with ease. They like company too. Lots of attention, a scratch here, a snuggle there, and they'll stay for years on the same perch. You and I can't remember the last time we saw one fly. Parrots like the predictable, the secure, the strokes they get from their mutual admiration society.

Not eagles. There's not a predictable pinion in their wings! They think. They love to think. They are driven with this inner surge to search, to discover, to learn. And that means they're courageous, tough-minded, willing to ask and answer the hard questions as they bypass the routine in vigorous pursuit of the truth. The whole truth."

Chuck Swindoll

난 바빠, 너무 바빠

this seems to exemplify Seoul's convenient, flashy, demanding, fast-paced lifestyle pretty well.
I think this way of life is starting to get to me despite myself (isn't that an interesting phrase). today my mom noted that I've changed into more of a Seoulite since I began working here, and I don't think she meant that in an entirely positive way.

progress

Opening doors for all three of us instead of rushing off, closing the car door after me, taking the groceries in my hands...might not sound monumental, but it makes it that much easier to let go of everything that happened before this past hour.
Fathers in the world, know that it's these quiet little signs of thoughtfulness that make all the difference in your daughters' lives, oftentimes more so than spare phone chargers, fancy laptops, and help with securing an internship.


Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres.

And so we begin our summer as a family...probably the last summer we will all be together geographically. Tomorrow, and the seventy-something days after that, we will all upset and hurt each other in some way. I have my moments of doubt and slight despair because of this. But knowing that Jesus is doing things in each of us, making us more like Him and enabling us to meet each other halfway (like tonight), is all the hope I need - for Appa, for Umma, for Dongseng, for myself, and for everyone else here who shares our blood.
All the more reason to cleave to Him.

And I guess all this laughter helps too. I really missed laughing hard and acting like a complete goof during the first few weeks here.