How can an orchid be brought back to life?

Lately, I feel like my creative juices have died, just like the orchid by the front door. As I've mentioned in my last post, I am cat AND plant sitting for my boss and his wife, Wendy. There is an orchid by the front door in a glass tube that I am supposed to take out everyday or every other day, soak the roots in this bowl of water for 10 minutes, and then place it back into its glass tube.

The day that I moved into this apartment to cat/plant sit, I remembered to soak the orchid. I began to pat myself on the back, too soon, about remembering to take care of the orchid, and the next thing you know. . I had forgotten about the orchid soaking in the water for an hour or so. I frantically tried to dry the roots and put it back in the glass as an orchid bud that had drowned (i assume) fell off of the stem. Three more have fallen off since. .

If I had a video camera attached to my hand at all times, I would have a video to send in to "America's funniest home videos" after what happened this evening. Around 6 PM it began to rain, so I closed the back door to the patio. Then the cat would not stop meowing and scratched me, so I opened up the door and let her out onto the wet patio. She was all flustered this evening to begin with (just running around everywhere) and before I knew it, she sprinted back into the house. As she was bolting across from the patio to the inside of the apartment, her wet paws caused her to slip, slide, and collapse/flop hard straight onto her side and into the chair legs under the table in the dining room. It was brutal, and it was hilarious. If only I had recorded that, I would upload it onto this blog post. For those of you out there worrying about the cat: she is fine. She has apparently fallen off of the balcony before, lol, so this is nothing new for this crazy cat. . . I am still laughing out loud thinking about this.

Grace

Jesus est vraiment ressuscite!

Heavenly Father,

I thank you and praise you for loving a wicked and sinful person like me. Thank you for putting on skin, walking on this earth, living a perfect life despite the same temptations that we go through today, and being crucified, dying on the cross to pay for my sins and the sins of everyone else in this world even those who don't know the good news of Jesus Christ yet. You were then raised from the grave three days later, victorious over sin and death, and I can now live with the Living hope in spending eternity with you as my eternal life began in the moment that you saved me from a real place called hell. I can now call you "Abba", father, and joyfully live to please you as your child. As you've called us to share this good news to the ends of the earth, making disciples of all nations, I am enthusiastic and motivated to live with purpose by your grace. Your grace is sufficient for me. Thank you God for abundantly pouring your grace and your love onto us. God give us eyes to see that we may see you through your eyes as we live day by day throughout the world. God give us ears to hear you. God give us your heart that we may understand and respond in repentant faith in what you call us each to do for your glory. Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you Lord for the little things that we take for granted, for the bread that I ate for lunch today, Jehovah Jirah. You say that the eyes are the lamp of the body, and I pray that eyes would turn away from living for ourselves and to living for you, not having a divided focus, but one-- to bring you glory. Forgive us for selfishness, forgive us when our eyes are focused on ourselves and for any other sin that our hearts may be deceiving ourselves about. Thank you for your mercy and for your grace, and I pray for grace to forgive others and each other in order to live united as one body, the body of Jesus Christ. Blessed are the merciful for they will shown mercy. God protect us in the name of Jesus Christ, as you are always with us, every second of every day, omnipresent all over the world. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and to You, Lord, be all the glory forever and ever. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.

My God is alive!

Grace

Plants and a cat named Tigger

There are three weeks left here in Marseille, and I've moved from my apartment by the sea to another apartment in the center of town. I am living here for 10 days starting today to take care of a cat and so many potted plants that I can't even count them all. It is a blessing to have an opportunity to serve my boss and his wife while they're out of town, explore this part of town for the next 10 days, and live in such a spacious apartment!

I finally feel like Marseille is becoming more of a second home to me and can't believe that I only have three weeks left here after this weekend. Well, really 2.5 if you subtract the half week that I will be in Paris. Below I recap what's been going on here lately, what's new, etc. which includes updates on the resurrection day dance in Toulouse (city that's 5 hours away by car) and whatever else comes to mind!

A group of 20 or so from my church here went to Toulouse this past weekend in order to participate in a resurrection day dance demonstration. We left at 6 AM on Saturday and it was so much fun just being around everyone-- road trips truly make bonding inevitable, even when everyone is tired. We arrived at the church there and jumped right into practice behind the church. The ground was pretty rocky and not paved, and in my opinion, this ground was not suitable and borderline dangerous to practice a dance on it especially when there is a jump in the routine.

Let's be honest, I was thinking to myself ==wouldn't it be a good idea to impress my new friends by doing a jazz leap for the one part that we all jump off of the ground and throw our hands up. . . so when it came time to run a few steps and jump, i definitely did my leap. I went up and came straight back down onto my bottom. I did the whole "shifty eyes"/hope-nobody-saw-me-fall glance around and got right back into the routine. When it was time to take a break, I went over to stand by everyone trying to play it cool as if nothing had just happened. Little did I know that I'd been walking around playing it cool with this white crumbly rock substance that had smeared all onto the back of my black nike shorts and black leggings. For the rest of Saturday, everyone and especially this youth boy, Maxim, didn't forget to remind me not to fall.

Saturday night, families (members) of the church there volunteered to house us in groups of two and three. My french family was so great! They reminded me so much of a mixture of families from the Living Hopes in B/CS. They also had chickens like the Millers! (my comm group fam at LHBCB) AND they had a rooster. I am convinced that God knew how much I missed going to comm group at the millers and brought me to this family.

Sunday we went to church together and drove back that afternoon. I got home around 7:30 PM and skyped into our first Haiti team meeting at LHBC an hour later.

I am so excited for everything that God will do in Haiti this summer and am in the process of preparing a prayer guide to send out. Please leave me your email address if you'd like to receive a prayer guide and pray for us! I've been emailing back and forth with different people, and I am truly encouraged by all of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I praise God for y'all! Your faith encourages me, and I hope this encouragement is mutual.

In the midst of working, living, and trying to figure out what I will be doing with my life, I am learning to wait on the Lord, to seek Him first on everything, and take everything day by day knowing that God's got everything under control even when different unexpected events leave me momentarily flustered. Flustered yet joyful, broken yet peaceful, weak yet strong.

I am praying for all of you, and I can't wait to see most of y'all very very soon ;)

Love,

Grace

"These are a few of my favorite things!". . .

Yes, fifth grade was a year full of the macarana in P.E., peeing in my pants at recess (or was that 6th grade?), failing to spell rasciocination in the spelling bee and losing (still can't spell it--not that i'm bitter or anything), and watching the sound of music 4 times in music class. So naturally, I start to hum the songs from the movie when I can't think of blog titles.

Sunday I posted that my bus didn't take me to church like usual because of a serious accident on that street. Today I found out that a pedestrian woman, 32 years, and her child, 3 years, in a stroller were hit like bowling pins (direct quote). According to the article, a grey vehicle ran a red light and hit a land rover from a perpendicular angle. The land rover then spun out of control and hit two parked cars, the woman on the pedestrian sidewalk and her child. The women was killed, and the child survived. This accident happened on the street that I usually walk up in order to get to church. This accident happened around 10:30 AM Sunday morning. If I wasn't running late to church that morning, I would've been on that street when the car hit and may have died as well. Crazy.

When I take the metro to work, I have to either climb 101 stair steps to get out of the metro station or take an escalator. I love taking the metro because I love climbing the stairs every morning. It's a great work out!

I do the dishes here once a day, and twice a day on the weekends. A clean kitchen truly is a happy kitchen.

I've been cooking every night, and it has been so much fun. I am experimenting a lot, learning from the ladies at work, and finding joy in cooking from scratch. Tonight I baked a cheesy potato casserole with reblochon cheese. MMM. . it is very tasty.

A co-worker who had been asking about the Bible and more came into my office today and asked me if I pray for people that I don't know personally. I said "yes". And she asked me to pray for her friend who has cancer. Let me say that again. Someone who doesn't believe in Jesus who is afraid for what may happen to her closest friend in the states, came to me knowing what I believe, and asked for prayer for her friend to be healed. She was seriously broken over her friends situation. I wrote down the prayer request, and then asked her if she would be ok if we prayed right there on the spot. We stopped working for a few minutes and prayed this morning. Later on in the day, we talked more about life after death, heaven and hell, I was able to share my faith, and answered more questions; I am praising God for this.

There have been many opportunities for the gospel to be shared, and I want to share all of them with y'all. I will have to share them in person when I return to the states.

Out of all of the people who work at the consulate, a guard named Tom and I are the only believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I found out that Tom is a believer a few days ago, and it was very encouraging. His wife called me tonight and asked me if I would like to spend time with their family, go to their church with them, and have dinner with them soon. Praise God.

I miss everyone and am praying for each of you.

Love,

Grace

Praise God for this Sunday morning!

This morning was crazy. I got ready for church, and took the bus from my house to the old port, where I change buses. I then got on the other bus (2) that drops me off right in front of my church. About halfway to the church, the bus turned in a direction different from its usual route. At this point, I was thinking that maybe the bus is taking a different way, or I have a really bad memory. I decided to wait patiently for my stop while keenly looking out and around at the neighborhoods and surroundings-- trying to recognize anything and everything that I could. I rode this bus around for one hour as it took me into the most "dangerous" neighborhoods (more run down and described by my co-workers as the places that the police don't even like to go). This bus then took me to one of the main roads in Marseille (la Canabiere) and stopped itself there.

It was 11:15 AM, and I was frustrated. I asked the bus driver why he didn't go to my stop. He told me that there was a serious accident on that street, and he could not drive there. So he decided to take a detour that wasn't even close to where I would need to get off, and not tell anyone who got on the bus about this new plan. I would not have gotten on the bus if i knew he wasn't going to go to my stop at all.

He told me to take the metro down to the old port, where I'd gotten on this bus one hour ago, and try another bus. I just sat there and cried. He said that there would probably be no other bus that can go there today. I don't know the town well enough to know how else I could get there without having to walk through some shady areas alone. Also considering that by the time I would be able to get to church, it would be over, I was just frustrated. The service would be over (maybe), but there was actually still a practice afterwards for the resurrection day dance.

I had to make a decision in this moment. I could either go home because it was too late or I could take the metro to the train station and walk through a more dangerous neighborhood alone praying that I wouldn't be attacked. I cried A LOT because I honestly didn't know what to do. I cried because my cowardly flesh just wanted to give up and go home. I cried because I could not bring myself to just go home; I felt like this was a time that called for trusting in the Lord and perseverance. I just cried and prayed for awhile asking God for help and direction.

I began walking towards the metro not knowing which direction I'd end up taking the metro: home or towards church (plan B). I went towards church. I got off at the train station, grabbed a chicken sandwich, and stopped to pray some more. There was a war going on in me.

On the one hand, I was being consumed with fears about getting attacked, getting mugged and having no way to get home since my bus pass would've been stolen, more fears about the fact my phone stopped working this past Friday which means I'd have no way to call 911 in case of an emergency, etc. I had thoughts that it would be wiser to go home since it was late anyways.

On the other hand, I thought it wouldn't be right to go home because of these fears that were fears of things other than God. Going home because of these fears would show God that I am putting Him in a box. If I get attacked, I get attacked, if i die, i die, but I will get to go to heaven. Plus, if someone wants to attack or harass me, I can open up my Bible in hand and share truth with them.

Before I knew it, I was up and walking to the church. I didn't get lost and I was crying like baby the whole way there clenching my Bible in my hand because I was so scared and knew that this was right, which means I also knew that there was no way I was going to just go home.

I got to church and was embarrassed about how late I was; I didn't want to go in because of my pride, and I could've turned back around and gone home from there. However, after pacing around outside of the entrance to the sanctuary for awhile, I took a step inside and was welcomed by my brothers and sisters in Christ there. It was a very difficult step to make, and I was still crying.

This morning was a battle. Lots of crying and praying. I could've literally just stayed at the train station all day long going back and forth on what I should do.

I was undoubtedly spiritually attacked with fear and thoughts of how people may judge my extreme tardiness once I finally arrived to the church enough to make me almost go back home from there. But God did His thing and there I spent the afternoon laughing and being restored in fellowship with my French church family.

Praise God!

Springtime in Marseille and new realizations are blossoming. .

I can't believe that it's been two weeks since my last post, but time has been flying by like a thief in the night. How have y'all been doing? (the other day I said "y'all", naturally, and was asked to repeat the word 3 times as if I was speaking in another language) Please feel free to send me an email or leave me a comment and fill me in on what's going on in YOUR life! I would really love to listen (more like read) and learn about what's going on with you.

I am doing well in Marseille-- really nothing to grumble about as I am taking things day by day. Things like. . . work, pests in my home, new friends, the weather, new adventures, and scraping out my last bit of courage to keep trying at speaking french, etc.

The weather has become absolutely glorious with the sun shining down and a light breeze to keep cool. During the evenings, it is just breathtaking to look out of my window and see the mediterranean look almost like a really large scrunched blue silk dress laid down on the ground with a strip of gold glitter shimmering down on the dress. Then, as the sun continues to set, there are rays of vibrant colors in the sky that are engulfed by a mist that makes the coral/salmon mixture appear soft. Springtime is definitely here! Trees and fields are highlighted with blossoming colorful flowers. Praise God for His creation!

Let's also take a moment to praise God for vacuums! For four weeks, I haven't had a chance to find a solution for the dead bugs that were piling up in my apt, but last week I was able to do a little spring cleaning thanks to this vacuum cleaner that I found. Having a vacuumed apartment made everything 100 times better (for lack of a better word) and more productive, and I realized how much I've taken my parents, grandparents, janitors, etc. who clean for others, for granted. When places have been cleaned for me whether it was at home, hallways at school, public restrooms, the list goes on, I didn't know how much of a difference this job made on the lives of everyone who lives, works, studies, etc. in these places. So THANK YOU to all of the janitors, parents, grandparents, homemakers, etc. out there who clean for all of your hard work. Your work is vital and impacts all of our lives more than you know.

I broke down in tears at the beginning of this week (big surprise, I know) because I was so frustrated with the fact that I am not where i'd like to be with this French language. I've realized that getting the highest grades in my French classes really don't do anything in terms of communicating verbally in French. Through this frustration and the more-often-than-not discouraging responses from the French people, who I've interacted with, God has also been giving my heart the eyes to see, feel, and wear the shoes of an international student in America, and He has brought to my mind, specifically, those international students in the B/CS area that I've gotten to know while working at Loupot's textbook store and eating free meals at the BSM. God is developing in me a passion for international students in the states. My heart can now empathize with the same struggles that any international student in America, who is not so great at speaking english, live with, and I am being equipped with this experience in Marseilles to relate to these students and people. There was one international student who came into the bookstore (where i worked) and could not explain what she needed because she could not speak english very well. I am in tears remembering her discouraged expression as she left because of the frustration of this language barrier between her and all of us at the bookstore (I think that it's one thing to be nice, but another thing to be able to empathize and respond knowing what may be going on inside of the person). I now know exactly how she must've felt. I pray that wherever she is, God will bring encouragement to her.

As I am going through the pains of learning the French language and living in a foreign land for just 10-weeks, I feel like I can better understand my own mother and what makes her the way she is. My mom permanently came to America from Korea when she was in high school to a place that was better than Korea's situation at the time, but to a place that was foreign to her as she had to learn a new language and new ways of living.

Spiritually, I honestly feel like my faith is being tested by being in Marseilles for these 10-weeks. My faith in Christ, apart from B/CS, TX at living hope, is being put to the test here where it is highly rare to find believers. It has been spiritually challenging and there has been a lot of praising God but also a lot of repentance and asking for overwhelming amounts of grace in order to radiate light in this dark town. Praise God for opportunities to share the gospel with people! I'm not kidding you, people would come up to me and flat out ask me about the Bible after seeing scripture on my desk, or start up a conversation about what happens to us after we die. These opportunities were so obviously God's prompting that it is not even funny. While praising God for all of the things written above and more, I often find myself on my knees and in tears being broken over my sin, rejoicing for the praises of each day, and as I intercede for others. It has been humbling and refining.

My experience in going to and getting plugged in at a church here have also opened my eyes to what it is like to be new at a church again. Going to church as a "newcomer", who doesn't know anyone, is not easy regardless of where anyone is in their walk with God, and I am realizing that it is easy to forget (once getting plugged into a body of believers) what it is like to be new. I sure did but was reminded by experiencing this newness all over again. This is a topic to be elaborated on later, but I am also looking forward to returning to the US and using what God has showed me to minister with my heart to newcomers who visit and/or join our church.

I don't know how many words I've already typed, but if a picture is worth 1,000 words, below are 345,456,456 more words ;). Enjoy! (captions are below each photo)

(at the old port where I take the metro to work)

(mediterranean from the street that my apt. is on)

(walkway around the Mediterranean-- love going on runs here)

(view from my apt-- a little blurry because I took this through my window)

(I spy God-- this was early March when the weather wasn't as warm)

(Boat ride around the Calanques)

(Day trip to the city of Cassis)

(with American friends in Cassis)

(Sylvie, Shourouk, and Marie Christine in my office where everyone eats lunch)

(From the top of the Grand Palais in Avignon)

(From the top of the Grand Palais)

(Pont d'Avignon: Bridge of Avignon)

(from the deck below the bridge. . . so glad that this couple decided to re-enact this)

Love y'all,

Grace

If my third week here was a baked potato. . .

It is now the beginning of my fourth week in Marseille, and I can honestly say that I am content here where God has me. As you can read from my previous posts, my first two weeks here were . . normal for anyone who doesn't care for pest control and is immune to loneliness and homesickness. My third week (this past week) here was a major turn around. I wouldn't go so far as to say that this was a major turning point in history like the industrial revolution or the invention of coasters but this past week was a close second.

If my third week here was a baked potato. . from potato shack, it wouldn't be the simple kind with only cheese and bacon bits or the half order, but it would be the intensely loaded full-sized potato blessed with chicken chunks and bbq sauce (feel free to FedEx me a potato). So much has happened this week that I feel it would be a bit much for one post on its own, but I'm going to hit the highs of it all and invite you to ask questions about any or all of it if you would like to know more!

Work has been going well; not because of the work that i am doing but because of the people that i work with! Paulette is my co-worker and is someone who has blessed me so much with her dry sense of humor and encouragement. She kind of craazy-- but in a wonderful way that leads to me find myself frequently in her office just talking about life and work and herman, her stuffed pet hamster (or something) that sits on her desk. I actually began my third week crying in her office Monday morning. Not the dainty tears that softly trickle down your face, but the heaving kind with the staccato inhales that usually happen in triplets. It was truly a good cry. That night I came home, ate dinner, prayed, and went to bed early. Since then, I've been given this indescribable peace and contentment that I am praising God for!

The rest of the week went by like those scooters that zip by me every day, and the days were full of love, great conversations, and grace.

On Tuesday, Marie-Christine who works in the consular section, unexpectedly came to my office in the morning and gave me a huge bottle of water as a gift. She said that this water has Mg in it and is good for women; she said she got it for me because she knows how much I have to go through to get groceries here. We planned to go get lunch together soon.

On Thursday, lots of things happened, but what I want to share is that I met Allen Palermo's French twin. I really hope someone from Living Hope reads this. This man could've been born on the same day and year as Allen and got sent to France upon birth. He seriously was about the same height, had a similar hair color and cut, had similar mannerisms even down to his sense of humor!. . but in French. He is the president of this distinguished association who had their meeting at our consulate and he led the meeting, which is how I picked up on his sense of humor, etc.

On Friday, while i was running some errands on the second floor, Josette said that she had brought enough lunch for two, and that she wanted to share it with me. She has already been so hospitable inviting me over to her home for Sunday brunch, and it was so sweet for her to even think to share her meal with me (which, btw, she is an amazing cook so anything she makes is very delightful). Considering that this is an unpaid internship, I was very thankful to be able to save my coins for lunch this week.

Saturday was the day that I had an opportunity to go to a potluck and fellowship with other "young adults" and youth at my church here. It was so much fun even though there were times when I zoned out because everyone was talking so fast, in French. We ate Mexican food, mmm, which is very rare to find here, prayed, and did a bible study/life application discussion after the fellowship part. It was like comm group! Sara, one of the girls there, drove me home after because we were there past midnight.

Sunday, I went to church and stayed there until 3 PM to practice for the resurrection day dance. It was so much fun! It was so nice to be able to greet people by name after having gotten to know some of them the evening before. I am looking forward to building these relationships and doing life with other Christians while I am here. I also met the worship leader, Patrick, and he allowed me to play on one of the guitars after service. After practice, Sara offered to drive me home again. It was nice not having to take two different buses home in the rain.

I miss you all, and I am praying for you. I ask for your prayers as well. Specifically, God has put going to Haiti on my heart, and after receiving permission from my mom, I am in the process of preparing support letters to send out. There are quite a few challenges with this spiritually, logistically, and financially since I am volunteering abroad, but I pray knowing that God has got this worked out already and ask for your prayers as well.

It has been a pure joy getting to skype in to Shepherd 2 class and prayer class this past week. I felt nourished, renewed, and encouraged being able to be in touch with my living hope family. Praise God for this that with this renewed enthusiasm I may go back out day-by-day during my time here and live out my faith, pray for souls, and glorify God as I encounter the people in my sphere of influence here. I pray for salvation for each of these people and opportunities to share the gospel.

To God be all the glory!