Monday, June 18, 2007

Beauty

Slice of Life Index

Beauty in Music

Yesterday (5-20-06) my family had the privilege of attending a concert with Mary Rose Jordan as the solo piano player accompanied by the Elkhart Symphony Orchestra. She has won many musical competitions in Indiana and now she is somewhat of a celebrity here. I know her as Henna’s childhood friend and not as an accomplished musician.

I am not a musical person, yet in Mary’s music I was taken into a wonderland of imagination. It was like I saw sceneries so diverse: I saw the thundering of wild horses stampeding through vast grasslands; I saw gentle fawns munching on sweet grass, delicate fairies dancing in the air, wild storms causing all creatures to seek safety, a rising sun bringing new hope and a fresh dawn. Then I would watch Mary’s face as she played on stage. She also was lost in her music. Mary has won a scholarship from Northwestern University to continue her music program in Evanston.

My drive home from Indianapolis

It was an experience of God’s beautiful creation—majestic land, fields, farms, trees as far as the eye can see. Coming home from Indianapolis (job training & orientation, 6-5-07) I took US-33. With the winding and bending of the road, I was never quite sure what beauty lay ahead for me…like our lives. As we travel our lives’ paths, following Christ, we see the bends in the road, yet we’re never quite sure what awaits us…quite a romantic life.

Oh the beauty, oh the fresh air, partaking of God’s beauty, what healing for my soul. Then we slow down to pass small towns, just two stop lights or stop signs, then out into the open vast field of winding road to be interrupted by another small town, and again the vast expanse of beautiful fields. Oh, I see Wal-Mart. I am coming into Goshen, college, downtown, then my neighborhood…old Victorian homes…another type of beauty, so similar to my Chicago neighborhood I left behind. Thank-you Lord, any beauty You bring to me reminds me of You.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Rejoice with Me

Slice of Life Index

Oh dear friends and family,

Come and rejoice with me...for my father who is 80 with failing health, bed-bound, has received Jesus Christ into his heart. He has had a very difficult life, and when his oldest daughter (JaeHi) became a Christian, it was very hard for him to take. I got saved at age 14, and at age 18 met a wonderful group of Christ-centered Christians in the local church in Chicago. He disowned me at age 18 and told my brother and sister never to be so foolish as me. I feared him and respected him all my life. To his dismay, I later chose to marry a Christian man who would choose to serve the Lord full time. I prayed for my father since age 14, never quite believing that he would receive the Lord.

On Tuesday when I was visiting him I asked him if I could pray for him. This was the third visit where he did not protest my praying. I started out by saying, “Dear Jesus, please give my father comfort and peace.” To my surprise, he repeated after me, “Dear Jesus, please give me comfort and peace." I said a few more prayers which he made into his own prayer. Then I said, “Lord Jesus, I pray that my father would ask You to come into his heart.” He followed me by saying, “Lord Jesus, please come into my heart.” I was amazed. My prayer of unbelief had been answered.

I told him, “Father, Jesus waited your lifetime for this moment!” and he replied, “Yes, Jesus waited my lifetime for this moment.” I asked him, “Father, would you talk to this Jesus about all your concerns, cares, sadness, and fear?" He said, “Yes, I will!”

Dear family and friends, please pray for my father that he would have much experience of Jesus Christ during the short time he has here.

With much love,
JaeHi