Right in the Kisser

"I fell asleep that night thinking about the kiss that might have been.  What did a kiss feel like, anyway?  Somehow I knew it wouldn't be like the one I got from Mom or Dad at bedtime.  The same species, maybe, but a radically different beast, to be sure."
-Juli from Flipped

It's amazing to think how powerful a kiss can be.  It can make people happy, jealous, angry, embarrassed, turned on/off, surprised, confused, awkward, betrayed, and/or sick.  It has the power to unite but also the power to destroy.  You can communicate so much with so little, but it's also possible to communicate so little with so much.  You can kiss without being kissed in return.  The fascination with one's first kiss.  The dread of grandma's kiss.  This kiss that we have.  Isn't it amazing?

The funny thing about that picture is that I entitled it "nasty shekis."

Thought of the Day:  100일
Song of the Day:  Spice Girls-2 Become 1

This week's persecuted church: Eritrea

The number of believers in Christ now dying in the country while serving time in prison for their belief totals 21, said officials at Open Doors USA.

Terhase Gebremichel Andu, 28, and Ferewine Genzabu Kifly, 21, died as the result of starvation and untreated health problems, confidential sources inside Eritrea told Open Doors. Andu died on Oct. 16 and Kifly died one week later on Sunday.

Both were arrested during a prayer meeting in 2009 at a private home in Tesenai, according to Open Doors. They faced two years of physical torture and were denied medical care inside Adersete Military Camp.

Angesom Teklom Habtemichel, 26, who was imprisoned at Adi Nefase Military Camp in Asab, died at the end of August, officials with the ministry said. He suffered from severe malaria but was “denied medical treatment because of his written refusal to recant his Christian faith.”

Thought of the Day:  등산
Song of the Day:  B2ST-You

Threads

"God is holding the threads of your life.  Believe me, you will never know until you stand before Him how beautiful a design He has planned before you...the Grand Weaver is holding the threads of your life.  I do not know what you are going through now, but you submit your life to Him, and I promise you He will surprise you and pull those threads together till you stand before Him and say, 'Only you could have brought such beauty out of such a chaotic life.'"
-Ravi Zacharias

Thought of the Day:  Basketball
Song of the Day:  Elton John-Can You Feel the Love Tonight

Yesterday...

was my mom's birthday, so we celebrated over the weekend.  I don't remember too many of her birthday celebrations, but I'd like to believe that this was her most memorable one yet.

While my mom was out celebrating with her best friends, I went on a baby hike with Michael to 우면산.  We were originally supposed to pull a crazy by going to 서락산 in one day, but time and logic told us otherwise.  I regret not going now; I think Michael does too?

Who am I kidding?  I'd probably be dead meat by now.

Thought of the Day:  Francis Chan

Song of the Day:  Coldplay-Yellow

This week's persecuted church: Pakistan

A Christian woman named Zubaida Bibi, aged 35 and mother of four was employed as sanitary worker in Crescent Enterprises, a garment factory in Korangi Industrial Area.

On October 12, 2011, during duty hours, Zubaida Bibi entered to clean factory bathrooms when one Muslim employee named Mohammad Asif followed her and locked door behind him.

When Mohammad Asif attempted to sexually assault Zubaida Bibi, she cried for help on which Mohammad Asif took out a dagger and slit the throat of Zubaida Bibi.

There are rising incidents of sexual harassment against Christian women workers on workplaces in Pakistan which go unreported due to cultural and social values.

The influential Muslims feel free to kidnap and rape Christian women in Pakistan where Islamic laws protect culprits. In kidnap and rape cases against Christian women, the Muslim culprits walk free from courts which keep victims silent on such abuses.

Thought of the Day:  in urban
Song of the Day:  Nirvana-Drain You

Balloons

"You can never tell where the winds will take you, what fantastic good fortune they can lead you to."
-Professor Sherman from The Twenty-One Balloons


We balloons act like we can control the course of our lives when in fact our destinations are governed by the direction of the winds.

We balloons act like we are so strong and smart when in fact our bodies can pop in an instant and our minds are merely puffed up with empty air.

We balloons act like our shapes, sizes, and colors are the result of our merit and worth when in fact our curves and shades were determined by our maker.

We balloons act like our rising to the heavens is dependent on our own efforts when in fact it is the hot air within that brings us closer to the stars.

We balloons act foolishly.  Yet our Owner gives us life and delights in us.

Thought of the Day:  Free Tuesdays
Song of the Day:  Bad Meets Evil feat. Bruno Mars-Lighters

Pulling Up

I did nine pullups for the first time in my life.  I think this is the best shape I've ever been in.

Thought of the Day:  Practice
Song of the Day:  2Pac & Elton John-Ghetto Gospel

This week's persecuted church: Eritrea

"They held a gun to my head and threw me in a cell." - these are the words of Eden, who fled Eritrea five years ago after being persecuted for her faith.

She faced regular beatings and assaults from police officers – just for practising her religion.

Eden’s years of abuse came to an end when policemen brandishing guns burst into the safe house where she and her friends were holding a prayer meeting.

The armed officials grabbed her and threw her into prison and she had to endure kickings and beatings from prison officers.

Eden is a Pentecostal Christian, a denomination which is forbidden in Eritrea, where the state religion is Orthodox.

Thought of the Day:  Man Date
Song of the Day:  John Mayer-Great Indoors

The Happiest Place on Earth

Thought of the Day:  Internet Addiction
Song of the Day:  Coldplay-In My Place

간현

Yeah, I'm kind of traveling a lot these days.  I think I need to take a break and just stay in Seoul this weekend.

Thought of the Day:  안동
Song of the Day:  YUNA-곰신

This week's persecuted church: Burma

In the past two months, the Burma Army has repeatedly attacked Kachin villages. Civilians have been taken for forced labor, raped, tortured and killed.

On 20 August, Burma Army soldiers stationed in Je-U village, Man Si Township fired mortars at Nam Gau village. The village school teacher’s house was hit by a mortar shell, while the teacher, Mai Awng, was tutoring students inside. A six year-old child, Hpaula Htu, was killed and four people injured, including the teacher, her seven year-old daughter and two children, aged seven and six.

On 16 September, soldiers from Light Infantry Unit 387 arrested 12 Kachin villagers aged between 14 and 70, from Namhpathka village, Momauk Township, ten miles from a hydropower project at Taping. The villagers, accused of supporting the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), were tied with ropes, detained at the army base and severely tortured, before being released on 19 September.

On 21 September, Mr Tam Gam and his wife Roi Lam Ja Ngai, both aged 24, were seriously injured by landmines on a Roman Catholic prayer mountain near Jahtuzup, Phakant Township, while they were gathering bamboo. Rou Lam Ja Ngai’s right leg was blown off below the knees and her left leg was seriously injured. Her husband was injured in his face and chin.

Alarm Clock Gene

I completely forgot to turn on my alarm for Sunday morning, but I ended up waking up two minutes before it was supposed to go off.  This "alarm clock gene" really works (and comes in handy)!  And because of it, I will no longer be late for Korean class this morning...unless I keep blogging like this.

Thought of the Day:  Seoul Station
Song of the Day:  Third Day-Medley

This week's persecuted church: Iran

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, a member of a Protestant evangelical church in the Islamic republic, faces death by hanging for refusing to abandon his Christian faith.The 34-year-old pastor of the Church of Iran was born a Muslim but became a Christian after his 19th birthday. Under Iran’s version of sharia law that makes him an apostate — Muslims cannot renounce the faith into which they were born.

“Repent means to return. What should I return to?” he asked. “To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?”

The pastor’s wife, who was initially sentenced to life imprisonment, was released on appeal.

Thought of the Day:  Paju
Song of the Day:  John Mayer-Heartbreak Warfare