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.