A Father's Love

I've learned a lot over the years, especially through my father, who through example, has taught me the basics of being a good man. He is

1. A dedicated husband and father - He worked all the time when we were younger so that we could get by comfortably, set up a college savings account very early on, and thought ahead so that not only we, but his wife could live in peace knowing that our future was well-planned.

2. A Protector of those he loves - Without thought, my dad fearlessly (and sometimes foolishly) protects my mom and us. When someone says anything bad about any one of us, he is the first one to fight back and stand his ground. He always protects.

3. Dutiful - He never lets my mom do any of the "dirty work." He's always cleaning the bathrooms, fixing the yard, taking care of the bugs, and taking out the trash. On top of that, he even cooks (if my mom lets him near the kitchen :-))

4. Humorous - The comical relief out of my parents. He jokes around at the right times. He enjoys watching us all laugh.

5. Extremely Caring - He doesn't like to show it, but internally, he has a well of emotions. Although his hugs are few, I know he loves me and he lets me know it through his annual birthday poems that he writes for me

6. Hardworking - I have never seen my father be lazy. While we were young, he worked very weird hours, yet he would be up before we woke up, and slept after we slept. Even though he was always very tired, he'd sit my brother and me down and tutor us so that we could appreciate education and be one step ahead in the classroom.

7. A Father that he never had - My father didn't always have a father there for him, and he grew up in a family with many hardships. Yet he tries hard to be the best father that he can be without having had a great father-like figure in his life.



I am truly blessed to have my dad :-).

And what's crazy is that even with this great dad, I have an even greater Father in heaven who loves more than my earthly father can love, and teaches more than my earthly father can teach.

"Jesus gave them this answer: 'Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.'"
-John 5:19-20

Happy Father's Day!

Misunderstood

I think Jesus must have felt like this penguin above. He was a man on a mission, with a purposeful life, but because other people could not see his mission, he felt alone. He was loved and revered, but even his closest friends could not understand him. I think the more I read the Bible, the more I realize how he was so misunderstood.

Yet in his loneliness, he found strength and a powerful companionship in God. He knew his identity in Christ, stood up, and took the cross.

God, will you give me this faith and this strength to stand up and take your cross.

The Heart of God

Today, someone in small group shared about her recent missions trip to Haiti. All of her stories were touching and made me think about how humbling it must be to go into a foreign land to help those in need. She talked about how she felt so powerless since she wasn't a doctor or a dentist, but at the same time, how she had to rely on God for power and for God to pour His love upon the children and people she encountered. It's amazing how powerful we can be when we rely on God because more than physical healing, we can give a Godly hope.

With that aside, one story really stuck out. There was a 19 year old Canadian girl (oh you Canadians...why are you so nice), who literally slept and lived with 70 orphans at an orphanage in Haiti to help them. Since clean water is not readily accessible there, the orphanage relies on an organization called Samaritan's Purse to bring water. However, Samaritan's Purse had not come the day before and so they were without clean water for 2 days. Our small group member and her team gave this girl some of their own water to keep her strong, but instead of keeping it for herself, she took a small sip and shared it amongst the children. pause here Think about the beauty of this scenario, here is a 19 year old girl who is blessed with so much and can have a healthy comfortable life in Canada, but instead, she's living in the slums of Haiti, amongst the orphans, in poor conditions, clearly very thirsty, AND while she has the chance to have some comfort through clean water, she instinctively shares it with the children that she came to love. WOW.

I heard this story and inside, it felt like my heart grew. That is God's love in that girl because what she is doing is very much what Jesus did when he came down to earth from a heavenly throne to die for our sins. That love became so tangible to me through this testimony that tonight, I feel very very blessed and reminded about the sacrifice that God made for us.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." - John 3:16-17

13.1 Miles of God

I started as runner #4812, ready to rock this race. As the announcer yelled, "Go," I glanced at the verse written on my forearm. I said a quick little prayer and started this race that our team had been training for in the past few months.

Everything seemed fine until mile 5, when I started getting sharp pains in my right rib. At one point, it hurt so bad that I didn't know if I could go on for 7 more miles. While I reflected on God and begged Him to take the pain away, I was reminded of Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul pleaded with the Lord to take away a thorn in his flesh that tormented him, but God replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Although that thorn was not removed, Paul goes on to say, "for when I am weak, then I am strong," because Christ's power rests on him.

I started to really appreciate God. It felt so real, and even though I was somewhat disheartened by my physical status, I was more strengthened by my Christ. From mile 5 onwards, it felt like a big physical battle for me to finish the race, but it was spiritually uplifting.

A fellow brother and I ran and prayed together as we kept reminding each other about God. This brotherhood kept me strong because we would affirm each other and affirm Christ whenever one of us felt weak. It all started to make sense to me why Jesus always sent 2 disciples to do great things (Mark 6:7, Luke 10:1).

At mile 7, I really started to feel bad. In addition to the pain in my right rib, I started to cramp in my left calf. Every now and then, it would pull very tightly and I would yell out in pain. And almost everytime it happened, I would look at the verse written on my arm:

"The Sovereign Lord is my Strength
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
He enables me to tread on the heights" - Habbakuk 3:19

By mile 8, I was stopping at every fluid station (not planned at all), drinking gatorade and pouring water over myself, walking for 10 seconds and then running again. Everytime my leg cramped, it felt like a jab to my spirit. What if the next time I cramp it does not loosen? But as my brother in Christ prayed out loud for us, I kept being reminded about the power in Christ. "For when I am weak, then I am strong"

The next 5 miles was difficult, but bearable. It's funny, because we could not see the finish line, but at the same time, we both knew exactly what our finish line looked like. In Hebrews 12, we are told to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. ... Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." At the end, we kept reminding ourselves, this race was for God and that we would fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith :-). Jesus would be our finish line.

As we approached the finish line, we said out loud, "This is for you God," raised our hands up together, and crossed the line.

(We're on the middle left) :-)

Now that I'm reflecting on this race, I think God is telling me, "Thanks for trying to run this race for me, but really, this was for you Young, because now I hope you understand how much I can carry you, how much I can love you, and how I am there for you. I hope you understand that this life you will live for me is difficult, and how much you have to rely on me to get through it. Now, Young, I know that you know me much better."

Believe in Someone

There are very few moments in life where you go, "Wow, that's a life-changer." I remember one that happened back in 2004.

My brother and I were at our church youth group and somehow, we started talking about our dream colleges. When my brother said that he wanted to go to UCLA, an older guy laughed at him and said something along the lines of, "HAH yea right. Good luck. It's ridiculously hard to get in from out of state. Even my smartest friends can't get in."

I remember thinking, Wow, he must be right. If all of his smartest friends can't get in, how can my brother get in? But my teacher butted in, "Cho can get into UCLA, sure thing."

The older guy replied back with a smirk, "I'll bet you $100 that he can't."
Without hesitation, my teacher said in a cool voice, "Okay. I'll bet you $100 that he can."

I remember being absolutely shocked. My teacher believed in my brother so much that he was willing to bet $100 on him, on the spot, without even asking Cho about his grades! He had only known Cho for less than a year...

Two years later, in 2006, Cho was accepted into UCLA :-).
I'm left wondering - did my teacher's belief in Cho help him achieve his dream? Did he go home and pray for Cho every week? Whatever it was, it made me realize the power of belief in others.


So the question today is, who do you believe in?

Running with Christ

I ran a 10-K race today (6.2 miles) with 10,000 other people in Central Park. People were all running for different reasons, fundraisers, fun, health, and the likes. But today, with good reminder from Hebrews 12, I decided that I would run for God. That this run would teach me about life, discipline and what it means to persevere through tribulation. As a Christian, I view my life as a long race, and like a real long-distance race, it's not easy.

During my last mile of the race, I started to tire out and slow down. As I was reminding myself in my head repeating, "this is for God, for God, for God," I saw a man in front of me with a sign on the back of his shirt. It said, "Running with Christ." I smiled and I ran up next to him, put my hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm running with Christ too." He looked at me, smiled and said, "Nice to have you join us. Pray for me."

I smiled, because then, I realized that I wasn't alone in my run for God; Christ was running with me, and with him, my fellow believers in Christ.

I ran forward with a renewed sense of energy and as I crossed the finish line, let out a nice sigh. I couldn't have done it without Christ.

-- Mr. "Running with Christ" man, your shirt made a difference in how I viewed life today. I am praying for you tonight :-). Thank you

The most beautiful place I've ever seen

The most beautiful place I've been to was a forest in Costa Rica in the Arenal Volcano region. I remember rapelling down waterfalls, jumping into rivers, and feeling the cool breeze send chills down my body. At the end of this adventure, I hiked away from the river into this mysterious forest ground. I could hear heavy rumbling all around. As I got closer to the end of the path, the rumbling grew stronger and stronger. The grounded started to vibrate at each step, and small shots of fear quivered down my body. It must be a big waterfall, I thought. As I took a few more steps, I had a feeling of fear and awe. Whatever it was, it was going to be beautiful.

I turned the corner and I could see the source of this wonder. I remember staring in awe. My brain sent a flush of emotions to my body; I wanted to jump, scream, run, cower, smile all at the same. Instead of doing any of that, I just stared while trying to process what was before me. There was a steep cliff, about 100 feet high and 30 feet wide hidden in the middle of the forest. A heavy flush of white water crashed down onto the rocks while the trees and fungi sparkled in the mists of impact. If you looked up at the right angle, you could see a crisp rainbow with clearly defined colors. With each step forward, my fear and awe for this natural beauty grew. I mustered up some courage and touched part of the falling water as the mists started to engulf me. I wanted to be a part of this nature, not just observe it. The water crashed down on my hands, my arms, and then my shoulder. I rushed back out realizing it was too great for me to touch.

I stepped back again, and at that moment, I appreciated God. I imagined God carefully crafting this waterfall to teach people like me what it meant to "fear God." I thought about the power of God, how he made the earths rumble, the waters fall, the rainbow present, and even the fungi sparkle. I realized that I was looking at the creation of God, and I began to understand God's power. I marveled at Him with fear, with awe, and with reverence, and it was much stronger than the fear that I felt when I first experienced the "most beautiful place" I've ever seen.

"Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast and take your oaths in his name. He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes." - Deuteronomy 10:20-21