Dear intrepid blog reader (I see you there!),
Welcome! Thank you for chancing upon this little corner to find out a little more about me. Here are a few things:
(1) If I were a time of day, I’d be a reddish-orange crack-of-dawn morning.
My regular waking time is 2:50. Yes, I mean ante meridiem. It’s just so much more awesome in the mornings. But this means I sleep like a granny, usually before 10.
(2) If I were an animal, I’d be a bird! An early bird (haha)…
This is based not just on my birdlike nose, which some say resembles a little beak. But I like it. My life-and-calling verse I’ve chosen is Psalm 84:3:
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young–
a place near your alter,
O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
I’ll share in another post about what my life calling is, as well as how I got it. For now, let me just say God granted me a big heart for the North Korean people, especially the street orphans known as kotjebi, or “wandering swallows.”
(3) If I were a kind of food, I’d be bread: soft and steamy warm from the oven.
I know we can’t live on bread alone, but oh boy. I know I could go a few weeks with a hearty grain loaf, soboro (Korean streusel with a peanut-crumbly crust), and muffin tops and be pleased, until I discover my own muffin top baking around the edges.
And the rest…
I’m half Korean, half American, but recently I’ve been connecting with my Korean side, especially since I’ve lived the last three years of my life here in Seoul. I anticipate reverse culture shock once I get back to the States. My Korean mom will probably think it hilarious.
I love walking, and when I know the way and have enough time, I walk everywhere. To work, from church, up and down the stairs, to meeting points, and down little alleys, which are so much less seedy in the daytime.
Although I am mom-chi, which literally means “body stupid” in Korean, that doesn’t stop me from dancing to music. And speaking of music, Hillsong, old hymns, and Disney songs are my faves.
Yoido Full Gospel Church is the church I now attend in Korea. It has the largest congregation of members in the world. However, our English Ministry is much cozier but much more varied in demographics, with people coming from over 40 countries all over the world. And Christine seems to be an internationally popular name, so it’s always fun to meet another one of those. 🙂
I have the privilege of serving on our ministry staff by supervising cell groups, welcoming newcomers, working together with other leaders to cultivate our community and outreach, and occasionally emceeing at some special events and retreats. This collective experience has given me wonderful opportunities to connect and discover what community truly means.
I don’t miss pizza, burgers, or French fries one bit (and anyways, we’ve got plenty of Pizza Hut and McDonald’s chains and all kinds of local equivalents here), but–around Thanksgiving time, I do crave me some green bean casserole.
Finally, I’m an introvert, unless I’m around kids or until I reach my dorky point. Talk to me about books, grammar, and cartoons from the ’90s, and you will know when we’re there.
Since I started with birds, I’ll end this section with a quote from one of my favorite books on writing by Anne Lamotte, called Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life:
“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”
Take it bird by bird with Jesus, and you will be lead down the right way if your heart (and my nose-beak) are aimed to follow Him.
Thanks again for keeping up with my updates!
Blessings to you,
Christine
