2/7: stubborn God supplying sisters

man i gotta do a better job at keeping up with the days.  im trying to remember monday....yikes....im fading like a fossil.

had dinner with teddy.  i was feeling super lazy that monday so i stuck with the Maple Glazed Chicken and Mustard Mashed Potato recipes with a new Broccoli in Garlic Butter recipe.  the broccoli was simple and i think i screwed up the proportion of garlic to butter, but it turned out to be surprisingly good.  definitely a keeper.

teddy

Maple Glazed Chicken, Broccoli in Garlic Butter, Mustard Mashed Potato Pancake

it was encouraging to hear how God has been very gradually changing teddy's heart.  his decision-making-process is slowly being transformed by God.  slowly, but surely.  i think i was really encouraged because when i remember him from Community Summer Missions almost 2 years ago and even life group last year, i recall the hardness of his heart and mind.  but its amazing to see how over this past year, God has been chipping away at this hardness.  slowly, but surely.  God can change the hardest of hearts, the most stubborn of souls.  in a weird way, He's far more stubborn than we can be, and He will do what He wants to do, He will change us no matter how set we are in our own ways.

had carol over for dessert afterwards.

classic milk and brownies.  yum :)

i dont know if carol realizes how special she is.  she has this awesome childlike heart - childlike heart of awe at our God and hope in who He is.  its really beautiful, and its something that i know i need to be praying for in my own life.  i never want to be come this old, cynical soul that becomes jaded by this world.  Jesus said that "anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it" (Mark 10.15, NLT), and i pray that when Christ looks at my heart, its not a grumpy granny He sees, but a bright young child, wide-eyed at the glorious sight of Him. 

i think one facet of carol's childlike persona that i admire is her honesty and openness.  i've never met someone so open about her life, which is a real challenge to me, since apparently, im someone who is notorious for keeping things in.  i cant count how many times i've been so blessed by the conversations i've shared with carol.  her openness and honesty is something through which God's glory really shines, and its through sisters like her that i realize that God is truly worshiped and magnified through honest testimonies about our lives.  there's no glory if we keep things in.  theres no worship in secrets.

on that note, i had a phone date with my closest friend from back home.  it was good talking with her and it was great sharing all that God did in Chile.  and i shared some things with her about my high school and undergrad years for the first time.  because, as mentioned earlier, theres no worship in secrets.  and it was awesome to be able to celebrate with her and share in the joy of the newfound freedom God has given me.

im so thankful for her.  i know that God has truly strengthened our friendship over the years, despite distance and time.  i remember meeting her almost 10 years ago as freshmen in high school - our moms had "set us up" because they had known each other in the past and because we were two of 5 asians in our entire high school.  haha...oh korean moms.  despite our awkward beginnings, God has transformed our friendship into true spiritual sisterhood.  throughout our undergrad years, while she was at UIUC and while i was here at the far superior UofM, we rarely saw each other.  but even still, there was so much love in our friendship, and in the few times we did meet or talk, there wouldn't be any emotional distance.  and im so grateful she'll also be in school back in chicago when i do go back home; i cant wait to follow and walk with God beside her.  finally!  after all these years.  im thankful because i feel like we are both on the "same page" when it comes to our followership and relationship with God.  even though she was not as physically present in the season of life i had in ann arbor, she is still someone who is very much a part of my heart, someone with whom i have a friendship God sovereignly gave, maintained, and grew over the years. 

hermanas por siempre

im thankful for the stubbornness of our God, for sisters who challenge you to be a kid, and for plain old Christ-centered sisterhood in general.