Walking Sobo

Appalachian Trail Shake-down #1.

33 days until my adventurous family leaves for Maine.

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Katie from Korea

I have three conversation partners from Korea this year, and they are awesome! I have loved getting to know them, and have learned so much from them as well. I picked the girls up and brought them back to my apartment, for dinner again. However, this time they wanted to be the cooks. I can now officially say I have had real Korean food, and to my surprise- loved it. We had to make a Food City run beforehand, to pick up some rice, and on the way back we ended up having a long talk in the car about relationships. One of the girls, had asked me if I was dating anyone and after I answered “I am not” they asked if I would explain to them why. I found this difficult at first, for I wondered if it was a reason that even many Americans would struggle understanding. I also did not want them thinking it was a “religious” reason; I wanted them to see that it was because of my love for the Lord and my trust in Him as a product of that, not a rule of some sort. I decided to start off with first explaining my desire to follow the Lord's will, and how that meant trusting Him with every aspect of my life. I told them that if I really believed that He know's best for me and desires best for me, then there were many things that I had to stop trying to control myself- and who I was to date and marry was one of those things. I went on to try and explain how it took me a while to learn that God would bring someone in my life when He saw fit, and until then He was blessing me with time to fall in love with Himself. I have found the single life to be that of a gift, and in return have realized it is a gift full of many more wrapped within it. The girls opened up a lot during that conversation in the car, and from what I understand, it is a rare concept in Korea as well. We talked about the gospel and how it seems that relationship verses religion is not only an American struggle. I told them I wasn't perfect at trusting in God and struggled more than not on the whole journey, but I was warned it would be that way, and promised it would be worth it. All in all, we had a great time, ate some amazing food, and swapped a little bit of cultures. They truly are beautiful girls, inside and out.

Mary's Treasure

 Luke 2:1-20

 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” -Luke 2:19

We could learn a lot from the life of Mary. A great number of people believed that Jesus was their Savior, however, is it possible this woman was one who knew without any disbelief? Every human heart aches to see what Mary did. This is a woman who raised our great Messiah; who heard His first words, saw His first step, and tucked Him at night – the One who was promised to come. Through out the scriptures we see how she experienced God in ways that go deeper than the words we read. Luke 2 holds some of her incredible experiences, that if one looks closely, you can see how they all fit together for one remarkable picture.

In verse 19, we are told that, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” She valued them. She saw them as something precious and worth keeping. Why? What is the significance in doing this? To ponder something means to reflect, mull over, and meditate on as a whole. As a mother, Mary held all her pondering thoughts of her child, and the experiences God had brought her to with Him, together. The confusing moments, the fear, the joy, the pain, the rejoicing, all of it was God's plan for a whole picture – His faithfulness. God is the common factor in every experience, stitching them all together with His faithfulness. We too, are at places in life to ponder, just like Mary was. Take the time to look back on all life's experiences that have brought you to this very moment- the good, the suffering, the misunderstood- all of it. If we do not look at God's work as a whole, then we will never understand His love in this life- His completeness. When we “treasure up all these things in our hearts and ponder” on them ofter, we will remain in hopes that God has been faithful and He will continue to be.

And as a result of these pondering experiences, Mary shows us:

She grew to know Him.

She grew to love Him.

She showed the true value and treasure of this world.

She sat at His feet.

She went to His word.

She listened to His teaching.

She saw His glory.

Every human heart aches to see what Mary did. Please do no miss such an important element in Mary's story. Try a new way of looking at things- as a whole – Great is His faithfulness!