This week's persecuted church - Iran
Iranians who have become Christians face time in jail and execution. The Iranian Pariliament has established a law that gives the death penalty for Muslims who convert to other religions. Pray for the many charges against these Christians to be dropped.

Thought of the Day: Beer and donuts.
Song of the Day: Coldplay-Yellow

This week's persecuted church: Iraq
About two months ago, two Christian girls were murdered with their homes being blown up, wounding their mother. Al Queda and other terrorist groups continue the rise of violence even though the government had made claims to protect Christians. Pray regarding this senseless violence.

One of my kids has an older brother who always fights with his mom in the other bedroom. We can hear all the screaming, hitting, and crying even from our room, so it's pretty disturbing. Today, the older brother actually ran out of the house crying after what sounded like constant pain. The month of January has been rough in this family. Let's hope for a better February, David.

I've gone to 노래방 three times since Saturday. I think I'm going again tomorrow. If Dinko's here, what do you expect?

Thought of the Day: JCVD
Song of the Day: H.O.T-전사의 후예

I've been complaining to people that I can't remember the last time I saw a really good movie. I watched Erin Brockovich in high school in my psych class but never got to finish it. Well, I just finished watching it for the first time the whole way through. Erin Brockovich, the last good movie I saw. True story, y'all.

"officially on vacation!!!!" This is what my old-worker, Margaret, texted to me today. I totally feel her. Leaving that hakwon building did wonders to your endorphin levels. I actually wanted to stop by with some donuts and see how everyone was doing. Unfortunately, the weather was miserable today and so was the traffic. But this is one of the few times that even private tutors get a break. It makes me so happy when I hear that my students are going somewhere far and will not come back for a long time. Break me off a piece of that Kit-Kat bar. Truly.

Today's Daniel Adventure:

(crying because I had disturbed his sleep).
Me: Daniel, you're 10 years old! You're not supposed to cry anymore!
Daniel: My friend is 10, and he cries too!
Me: Well, then your friend is a baby.
Daniel: But my mom cries too! She's not 10!
Me: But she's a woman. It's ok for her to cry.
Daniel: Then I'm a girl too!
Me: No, you're not! You're a boy!
Daniel: No. I have no penis.
Me: Fine. Prove it then. If there's something there, we're going to cut it off. Go get the scissors.
Daniel: My dad cries too!
Me: He does?!
Daniel: Yeah. When people die.

So this went on for a while, but he eventually stopped crying after I started laughing at all of his examples. Daniel, it's actually ok to cry. You make me cry all the time.

Days Remaining: 1

Thought of the Day: 원장님
Song of the Day: Matt Redman-Shine

Last night, I had a dream that Dinko already came to Korea. I was so happy.

Days Remaining: 5

Thought of the Day: 순대국
Song of the Day: Cory Asbury/Matt Gilman-Where I Belong

This week's Persecuted Church: India
Believers are being arrested and accused of "malicious acts to outrage religious feelings and punishment for criminal investigation." Hindu extremists barge into worship services and attack Christians as they are charged with forceful conversion. Pray for the release of those imprisoned and the many who work and study at Bible colleges throughout India.

Yesterday, I was at Hyundai Department Store with one of my students, and I saw a Body Shop. This winter seems to be colder than any other winter I've been in Korea (did you guys see how frozen 한강 was?), so I decided to get some lotion for my extra dry hands that have grown these nasty brown spots. But right before we walked into the store, I felt so embarrassed to walk into such a girly store with all its colors and scents and whatnot. I felt even more cowardly when my student laughed at my absurd behavior, so I bit my pride and walked in.

I never knew lotion could be so expensive! One of the workers rubbed a sample onto my right hand, but I decided that this lotion stuff was ridiculous and left the store. After some minutes, I looked at my right hand and noticed how much cleaner it looked compared to my left hand. In fact, it felt smooth and normal again! I bit my pride once more and returned to the store to buy the cheapest bottle that they had-12,000 won. They even gave me a membership card, which I will hide in one of the secret compartments of my wallet. So there you have it. Phil actually invested in hand lotion. I still think this crap is overpriced.

Last night, I had a dream that I was playing the original Street Fighter II on SNES with Shaq. We both chose Dhalsim, but his character was able to bite me like Blanka does. What a dream.

Happy Sabbath.

Thought of the Day: Shaq.
Song of the Day: Rebecca St. James-Power Of Your Love

I've used this picture more than once before, but it never gets old for me. 2009 will have Lovefest once again.

Days Remaining: 8

Thought of the Day: Let the Right One In
Song of the Day: Girls' Generation-Gee

"Did you know that there's a fish in the Amazon Island that goes into your penis and drinks all your blood?"
-Daniel

"I want to be a lawyer, so I can talk a lot."
-Daniel

All I can say is Daniel's mom is a freakin' warrior.

Thought of the Day: Notorious.
Song of the Day: Biggie-Respect

This week's persecuted church: North Korea
Repatriation is the return of POWs, displaced persons, and war
refugees to their original country. For thousands, this is great
news, but this is actually a nightmare for North Koreans. Especially
with Christians who thought they were safe in China, many are rounded
up by police and sent back for definite torture and probably death.

So I started posting about persecuted churches in our church's forum almost two months ago. Here are the statistics:

11/23 - 74 hits
11/30 - 73 hits
12/7 - 60 hits
12/14 - 42 hits
12/28 - 19 hits
1/7 - 12 hits

I find this downward trend to be more amusing than discouraging. I wonder how low it'll go though.

So I finally decided on a concrete New Year's resolution for this year. I've already screwed up once, but my goal for 2009 is to always make it back home on Saturday nights before the subways close. As the next day is the Sabbath, I believe that our worship starts with how we treat our Saturday nights. If I'm hanging out with friends or even watching a movie til 1 or 2 in the morning, that already says something about how I view the Lord's Day, right?

But with that said, I must give another shoutout to all those who have been praying for my horrible horrible insomnia and sleeping habits. Last week, I went to bed around 10 or 11 every single night, which gave me at the very least a solid 8 hours of sleep each night. It makes such a huge difference the next day the whole day. Sleep truly is a gift from the Lord. If you cannot sleep these days, I'd be more than glad to pray for you!

So I've started The Kite Runner, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. There has never been a book that has made me genuinely angry at a fictional character in my life. As I told Linda, that's powerful writing! I haven't enjoyed a book this much since Life of Pi, which is officially my favorite novel thus far. If you've got time, pick it up. Even if you don't have time, pick it up!

These days, slowly but surely, I have been progressing in my episodes of LOST. It really is a fascinating show filled with so many different characters and mysterious plots. I like how it shows each character's background before they had crashed onto the island. You get to know their past struggles and problems, which give you a better understanding of their personalities and behaviors at the present. It kinda reminds me of the church how we're all, in a sense, lost and seeking to survive in our difficult situations. We all have strengths and weaknesses, but there is one truth that everyone must acknowledge-every single person is important in one way or another. Today's small group meeting felt like an episode of seeing everyone's past before the crash. With that said, let's watch another episode.

Thought of the Day: 정시
Song of the Day: Utada Hikaru-Come Back To Me

This week's persecuted church: Nigeria
Jos is the border zone between the predominately Muslim north and
Christian south. After an election that favored the Christians,
hundreds were attacked and killed with the burning of churches and
homes. Pray for not only faithfulness but also protection from
bitterness against hostile Muslims.

Evangeline Lilly isn't the most beautiful girl in the world, but I am strangely really attracted to her. It's kind of amazing that she's only 5 years older than me. Did you know that she made a brief appearance in Freddy vs. Jason? Only Dinko would care about something like that. Haha.

Last night, I had a chance to play with some of Zeus' cousins. The funniest thing was hearing them call him 재우스. I was really shocked to see just how good his Korean was though. It was so funny listening to him explain why his cat's name is Dr. Doom. Man, I had forgotten just how fun that heretical guy could be. I FREAKIN' should have taken pictures last night! Ahh!

Thought of the Day: Friends.
Song of the Day: Hillsong-One Way