…and it’s been FAR too long since I updated my blog! But classes are finished now, my luggage from the end-of-semester field trip is unpacked, and the savory scent of banana bread is beginning to waft from the mini-oven. Like any cross-section of life, the last month and a half has had its share of trials and blessings. A few highlights were seeing Heejung and her two daughters (all visiting from Germany), making pies for Thanksgiving, catching up with and meeting new Korean friends, becoming a little better at Korean, and of course hiking, though really I haven’t done much of that this winter. Just yesterday I got back from visiting an island in the Southeast with the middle and high school students. My pictures don’t do it justice, but at the time I felt it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen. I also got to put my hands in the sea water, something I love to do. (When I touch the ocean, I feel I’m touching a bit of every coastline in the world—it makes me feel connected to home and the rest of the world.) And last week I got a whopper of a Christmas package from my Sunday school class in Goshen!

There were a couple weeks where I went through a bit of a dip in culture shock, I think. I felt really impatient with the little boys in my house and was not viewing cultural differences with the respect they deserve. Thanks to the prayers of my small group at church, I feel more patient and positive again. As far as friends go, I’m sad that a couple of the fun, single women from next-door will be leaving our community in just a couple weeks. But as in times past, God is faithful to provide, and a very close friend from my small group will be joining our community at the same time the others leave. I’m really thankful for that.

I’ve been studying Korean quite a bit lately, as well as reading books in preparation for my trip to Mozambique. I can’t believe I’ll be sweating and wearing t-shirts just three weeks from now! It took a while to track down malaria medicine, but a nurse from our church found some and even gave it to me free-of-charge, a $100 value here in Korea! I’ve also been playing piano about every night, practicing some variations of hymns from a new songbook. And I decided yesterday I want to watch a bunch of Korean movies during this vacation, supposedly to practice my Korean listening skills, though I can hardly believe something so entertaining could be educational. ;-)

I don’t have much to share in terms of contemplation from the last couple months. Not because I haven’t been doing any, but because it’s too personal. :-P I’ve been thinking a lot about love and relationships lately and what’s most important for their maintenance and growth, especially in a cross-cultural context. I’ve also been reading /Experiencing God/ by Henry Blackaby and thinking about the stark differences between the way the status quo church initiates and carries out plans and the way of faith and personal relationship in which God calls us to walk. So challenging!

It’s about that time of year to start reflecting on the past twelve months and pondering how to live more fully in the next twelve. Looking at my journal entry from December 30th of last year, it seems my goals for 2010 will be about the same: “I would like to seek and find God more. I would like to trust Him more, pray more, be less afraid of sounding like a goody-goody. I want my faith, or rather the Holy Spirit, to touch more of my physical, practical world. I want to be more faithful—in prayer, and in following the Spirit’s nudge. I want to use my time more wisely. To not waste it on mind-numbing escapes or trivial frivolities. Somehow I want to be more faithful but less religious, or I want to make religion work for me, not me for it. I want to continue to learn new things and become more culturally competent. I want to be a more effective teacher. I want to be diligent in self-educating via books, websites, experiences, conversation, and so on. I want to become more integrated into the community, but I want that to be of my own accord, not because someone says I should. I want to learn a lot of Korean—all aspects of it. I want to share more of myself.” Looking back on 2009, I’d say most of those goals have been met part way but none of them fully by any stretch of the imagination. Here’s to more growth in 2010!