Ladies and Gentlemen,
It's Friday. Thank the Lord. For have three half-days this week, I can say it has been one of the longest weeks I've had here in SK.
On Sunday I wrote my musings on tranquility and peace. My convictions were that I had let me life become too busy with worry, and I am too afraid most times to put my hand in peace. Sunday night I asked the Lord how I might pursue this one-handed tranquil life while I still work and live my life in Korea. During dinner that night with the Kim's, they shared with me the Korean Christian traditions during Holy Week. Every morning starting Monday for 40 days, most Korean Christians will wake up at 5am and go to church and pray for an hour. Many Christians do this all year around actually. Most Korean Pastors teach a sermon every morning Monday through Saturday around 5 or 5:30 am and then at church on Sunday. It's fascinating to me, the dedication to prayer these believers have. If only I had a small ounce of that dedication to prayer....
Well, the Kims do not go to church every morning all year round, but they are dedicated to these 40 days that begin the Monday of Holy Week. As they spoke about it, I felt a tug at my heart. "Well, Lauren, you said you want to spend more time with Me and feel my peace. Here's your chance." Um...really, God? Don't you know me? Didn't you create me? I am NOT a 5am person. Anyone that knows me well knows that, and those that have lived with me or spent mornings with me especially have experienced the wrath of morning Lauren. It's not pretty. Low, my heart still tugged. "You asked me and I am answering."
It's Friday and every day I have woken up and prayed for an hour with the Kims, and I must say I am utterly exhausted...but I've never felt better.
This week the students had final exams, so we had half days at school, and they were anything but easy days. I've made so many mistakes this quarter its ridiculous. I've messed up so many of these kids grades. I've had so many miscommunications. I've been misunderstood beyond belief. I could not have been more frustrated with other teachers and students and myself. But its amazing how every day I've been so much more able to hold my ground and have strength. To make it through the days and leave feeling peaceful, though it was far from peaceful mornings. I think this might be the start of what it feels like to live with one hand in tranquility. And all I did was pray. He did the rest.
Today we remember pain, death, and suffering.
But that is not the end of the story.
Winter is past.
Spring is here,
and Jesus is Alive.
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