Life

I have not been this sore for a long time...but its a good feeling, one that indicates not only how out of shape I am, but that through grueling hours of hiking, often wanting to give up, I had persevered and attained the goal. I imagine its somewhat on a similar plane to the sentiment Paul shares with us in Philippians, Hebrews and 2 Timothy. To run, with patience, not giving up but persevering through it all, not because we are without hope but rather because our hope is sure. I had hoped that once we reached the summit, the sunrise would be spectacular. It was anything but spectacular. Yet, the grandeur of the site, being able to see the north and the south coasts of the island from one perch high in the sky, the peaks and valleys of the entire mountain range...it was all worth it. It was't exactly what I had expected it, but it was awe inspiring and demanded worship of our Awesome God.

We began our hike up a little before 5pm, and arrived at base camp about 10pm. We crashed for a couple hours before tackling the remaining leg, a 3+ hour trek, allowing us to arrive at 5am to catch the glimpse of a rising sun. After soaking in the view for an hour, we began our descent at 6am sharp, arriving back at our bus at 11:57am, ready for a shower, some food and a warm bed!

April 2011 E-newsletter

Some might consider this distance to be too much for a friendship to survive...I typically would as well. But, thanks to the Spirit which bonds us (and a little help from technology) I was blessed with a cup overflowing when an old college friend and I reconnected on Skype this morning. My morning check list was made and I had objectives, one of which was to get on skype and call a friend back home regarding wedding plans. I logged into skype and a few minutes later I had a call from Colleen Park coming through. Colleen Park? It took me a second to process...I had to take this call! I couldn't even remember when I'd last talked to her...had to of been fall of '08, right before I moved to Jamaica. I had been in NYC for client meetings and we got together one night at Times Square for dinner (she used to work in NYC, but has since migrated back home to South Korea). Wow. "Colleen? Hey, what's up?"....and two and half hours later, we were still wanting to talk, but it was 1am her time by then and she had to get up at 6am for her hour long commute into Seoul, South Korea where she works as an analyst for a Risk Management firm. We talked about everything that has happened in our lives from that point and where we felt God leading us in the uncertain future. It was sweet communion with a sister in Christ, I forgot how infectious her easy smile and quick laughter was to those who get to know her. At one point we started talking about a friend of her's from back at her job in NYC, a nice guy who grew up Catholic but really doesn't claim much other than he believes there is a God out there. As she spoke of his skepticism, I was thinking of a book I recently read "Reason for God" and in the back of my mind thought of suggesting it to her for him to read. Then she said, "when I lived there he would go to Redeemer church with me, and I think he still goes" and I was like, "you mean Tim Keller's church?" Yes, she said, Tim Keller's church. He is none other than the author of the Reason for God...quickly, I said "Colleen, you gotta get this book for him that Keller wrote, called "Reason for God." Oh, he's already read it, and he just got a gift for me actually, its another Keller book called "the prodigal God" and I exclaimed back, "really? I just gave my copy to Tashi the other day and she is going to start reading it" Maybe it can just be chalked up to coincidence, but I think God is a God who loves us intimately and cares deeply about the details of our lives. Even so much as giving the same book to my fiancée and an old friend at the same time and reconnecting us...now Tashi and Colleen plan to get to know each other by emailing back and forth their thoughts as they read this book. As we said goodbye so she could get some sleep, I realized my jaw kinda hurt from how much I had been smiling. Praise the Lord for sweet friendships and technology such as Skype video-chat where you can feel like there is no distance and no separation, and ultimately the love of Christ which is our common tie.