|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| india testimony, for whoever is interested... <3INDIA part VII
long overdue testimony... :)
At Garden City College in Bangalore, I began a speech like this:
What
if I said that I come from one of the richest families in Korea? Or
what if I said that I am an orphan who lost both parents in a fatal
accident? Will my background affect how you listen to me in the next 5
minutes? Are my words worth more if I have more money in my pockets?
... I am just an ordinary girl born to an average family and I hold the
same potential that you have to make a difference in this world.
At
times I am frustrated with how this world has evolved. Especially when
I have to share a testimony or I want to share something so deep and
real in my heart, but I realize that the most meaningful phrases have
become cliches and to merely say it would not do justice to its
significance. It also saddens me that for some people, the value of
words does depend on the amount of money and "success" the speaker
holds.
I'll try to keep this short. If I may share ONE thing, I
will say that I learned "love" and I will continue to learn and strive
to understand it until the day that I can ask God himself. What about
"love" did I learn? Mainly I learned the power of love - the power that
it holds to give life and transform lives. I usually don't like to
think of events as being "live-changing" experience because I strongly
believe that change is a process, but I would nevertheless say that I
was changed in India. I was changed in and through love.
The
first week of orientation at Wisconsin, I remember asking people, "What
is love?" We talked for several days and we formed answers like: it's
wanting the best for the other person, it's accepting the person for
who he/she is, it's being able to risk your life for that person, etc.
To tell you the truth I don't even really remember why I posed that
question, but after a few days I just gave up not very satisfied with
the quest.
More than anything, there was a large transfer of
information from my head to my heart in the last 2 months. Maybe I
didn't "learn" many new things, but many things that I already knew
became real - God became real, I became real. For much of my life I
knew God existed, but I wasn't really convinced of just how real he is.
I believed in Him enough to fear his wrath, which perhaps gave me the
appearance of being a good girl but I must admit, it was quite
difficult to live up to expectations at times. I somehow "knew" that I
had to live for God and accredit everything good to being from God, but
too often there was a disconnect with what I was saying and how I
really felt. Sometimes I thought that I was working for God, slaving
away trying to attain glory for Him - that's what I thought life was,
doing everything that I can to bring as much glory as possible to God.
I think I had the right concept, but the wrong approach.
Would a
loving God who created me and loved me enough to sacrifice his pure and
holy Son for me, desire glory at the expense of my happiness? At times
I was so tired doing the "right things" in life - namely to serve and
help anyone and everyone. Operating on my own strength, I thought this
was the "humble" life that God was calling me to live. And although at
times I wanted to argue with God, I knew I was in no position to
complain so I just went about life, often wondering why other people
weren't living the way that I did.
It dawned on me one day
that what I was doing was useless. That perhaps it would be me running
to enter the gates of heaven only to be turned away with the words, "I
never knew you." In my defense I would cry out, "God, I lived for you.
I served for you, I labored for you, I even died for you." What are you
relying on to get you into heaven? I missed the point by a mile; there
was nothing I could do to redeem myself. Somehow I had missed the
bigger picture of the cross where God's love was so powerfully and
painfully displayed for the world to see.
So maybe the things I
do now are not so different, but there is so much difference for me
because now I know that I am glorifying my God. I wrote in the last
India Letter that Piper defines Love as: "the overflow of joy in God
that gladly meets the need of others. Their joy gives you joy." God
gives us everything we need. If you want to heed anything from my
testimony, may it be this: God gives us everything we need, we just
need to overflow from it. For too long I've tried to do it on my own
strength, and too many times I become so frustrated and so close to
giving up. I'm so thankful that God met me in India and taught me who
He really is. It's so easy to simply be and overflow as opposed to
trying with all your might to squeeze out every ounce of goodness in
you. There really is so much joy in serving and living for God.
I
know I've only gotten a taste of it, so I'm excited to see how much
better life can get. Sorry it ran a little bit longer than expected...
If you would like a copy of the India DVD (still in production
>.<) please let me know.
Thank you for being with
me during my journey. Thank you for your prayers and support, I truly
thank God for each and every one of you. God Bless~!
God loves you, I love you ^^
<3 Sooyeon | | |
| finals make me sadbut
I'M COMING HOMEEEEE SOOOOOONNNNNN~!!!!
i'll be in cali from the 15-23rd. then nY from 23-25.
i better see YOU!
the dorm looks so eerie...
| | |
| where's the line between loving others and hating yourself?
just a thought. | | |
| laundryit's just another day, some would say a special one for me... but i dont really think so.
i'm gonna start this day by doing laundry. i hope i can launder my life/ lifestyle throughout this year :)
have a good one everyone~!
 | | |
| don't worry, i'm not depressed or anythinghaha. i'm just thinking a lot here... that's all :) anyother thought of cynicism: we often help, or try to help the "helpless" when we can't even help ourselves... would the eradication of hunger across the globe lead to an increase in domestic violence, anorexia, child abuse, etc. that we have yet to solve in our own society? | | |
|
|
