New home and family in Seattle
Jesus said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”
We serve a God who continues to lavish our family with unexpected and FUN blessings. As we recount the past 7.5 years of marriage, we are in awe of God's daily provisions. Although we may not have what the world deems as a successful life, we would not trade it for anything else because it is exciting to live each day trusting in the Lord for all things. All this to say, God (yet again!) blessed us with an amazing adventure in Seattle. Our dear friends who pastor a Korean-American church there invited Ted to speak at their annual retreat. They graciously invited our entire family out. Knowing us, we love to do things together, so it wasn't hard to say "yes, we'll all be there!".
We were preparing our children that we would be at a Korean church. Isabel especially was most excited to be among her own. We arrived the day before the retreat began, and got settled into our friend's home. Then, Isabel started to ask impatiently, "where are the Koreans?" When we arrived at the retreat site early the next day, Isabel met a new friend. Her first question was, "what's your name? Are you Korean?" We all had a good laugh. This is how Korean-deprived our family is.
The retreat was incredible. People from the church came with such hungry hearts that the preached word fell on prepared and fertile soil. The most exciting thing for us was to hear people committing to family devotions together, going on media fasts, rekindling a desire to pray. The community there was so loving and gracious to us that we felt well received.
After the retreat, we enjoyed the beautiful city of Seattle with its perfect summer weather. Not too hot, not too cold. Then, we made an overnight trip to Vancouver. When we arrived, we were met with a really bad thunderstorm. We got checked into our hotel and prayed for good weather, so our short time would not be wasted. After our afternoon nap, the rain cleared up that we even got to walk around the city. The next day, we got to enjoy more of Vancouver under the beautiful sun.
The biggest FUN gift came through an invitation to join some of the church families to an overnight cabin stay at Lake Cushman. Ted especially fell in love with Seattle as it is filled with lakes and rivers everywhere. We could not miss out on this chance to enjoy the church community and the lake of course. So, we spent the last two days with very special family members of the church. They really took care of us. This was the very first time we prepared absolutely nothing for a cabin trip. They cooked for us delicious meals, took us on a boat ride, fishing, water tubing, water skiing...and the best part was that Abigail and Isabel had so many friends to play with. We hardly saw them during our 2 days there.
As we returned from this trip, our hearts were filled with such gratitude to the church and especially our Abba Father who loves us so much. We told the church that we have a new home in Seattle. With so many friends in ministry all around the world, we claim each of their locations as our second home. How exciting to have fellow coworkers serving God all around the world. We would be able to travel to so many places knowing we have a place to stay and friends to fellowship with.
Lastly, we are thankful to have children who love to travel and meet new people. They had so much fun in Seattle. What a fun life our kids live as they have been to so many places and met so many people. Thank you Jesus for blessing us to live with such exciting testimonies of your wonderful provisions!
August 03, 2008
Perspectives in life
This past month was filled with many emotions as we welcomed new babies to our church family, witnessed engagements and weddings, attended a funeral, and even led a new believer to Christ. These are regular events in life, however, when they all occur simultaneously, it really gives you perspective on how we ought to live our lives. We are just a breath, a fleeting vapor, yet God intends for us to live to the fullest potential He purposed for our lives. My children have heard of deaths, but for some reason, the death of one of our college student's mother really sparked their interest. They don't even know who this lady is, but they kept asking if they could attend the funeral and see the dead body. We said, "no", but we are thinking of taking them to the cemetery to explain how bodies are buried.
"did she go to heaven, and is she with Jesus?" - they kept asking.
"yes, she's with Jesus now, and she's no longer sick. When you go to heaven, Jesus gives you a new body" - we said.
"how did she go up there?" - they kept asking.
Even for us, our physical death and our union with Jesus is quite a mysterious concept. How and when does this all happen spiritually? We'll find out in time. However, we do know that one day we will meet Jesus and we want to prepare our children to meet Jesus also. At the end of their lives or ours, will they be able to say to us, "Thank you for preparing me my entire life to meet the most important person, preparing me for what I'll do for the rest of eternity, worshipping Jesus..." OR, will they say, "Why didn't you prepare me, tell me more about Jesus?"
If Jesus is the ONE thing we can impart to our children, that's our desire....not an investment in a comfortable home, not a guaranteed college fund, not a spectacular title or career. More than words, we want our lives to be evident of the greatest treasure of Jesus in our lives.
June 06, 2008
January Update
Happy New Year friends and family. After a long hiatus, we're back. Much has happened since our last update. Our little princess Rachel Jubilee Kang arrived November 13, 2007! She's two months now and growing so quickly. We absolutely love her and we think she enjoys being part of the family. She welcomes big sisters' wet kisses, daddy's facial hair, and mommy's singing to her. She eats and sleeps very well. We thank the Lord for this new bundle of joy.
Our dear Abigail turned five. She's so proud to be five, knowing she will start kindergarten later this Fall. After trying out preschool for a few months, we pulled her out. We realize the oldest child is always the guinea pig for everything. We were debating whether to place our kids in preschool as all other parents do in this area do. We fell into that pressure, but realized it wasn't the best choice for us. Thankfully, with Abigail's resilient personality, she didn't mind meeting new friends and teachers, then having to say "bye" to them. Now that she's older, we see her maturing everyday. She's Isabel's hero and role model. It's quite amazing that although Abigail is just 18 months older, Isabel looks up to big sister in every thing. We're thankful that she has been a good example to Isabel in many ways.
Our dear Isabel is now three and a half. The "half" is very important for all children. She can't wait to grow up to be Abigail's age...but she doesn't realize that Abigail will always be older than her. This past Saturday, she and Abigail started a Saturday morning Korean school. Isabel was so excited to finally be able to go to school with big sister. Although they slept late Friday night, they both got up early on Saturday, quickly dressed themselves, got their little hello kitty bagpacks and were ready to go. After school, they quickly asked daddy, "when can we come back?" We hope the girls will be able to pick up some Korean and get to know the Korean culture a little more.
As the new year has begun, we're thankful for God's faithfulness over our 7 wonderful years of marriage, and for blessing us with three beautiful girls which is Ted's dream come true (since he grew up with 4 boys!).
January 24, 2008
Family Update
We now have a good excuse for not updating this site as often as we'd like....we are expecting another baby girl mid-November. We are so thrilled to receive another gift of life. Although everyone, especially Abigail was shocked when the ultrasound technician announced with confidence that our baby is a girl, we receive the privilege of raising another princess. We've taught the girls to say to daddy "you the man". He has been officially enthroned as the "man" of our home, and he sure takes pride in that! Coming from a family of 4 boys, he never knew the joys of living with ladies.
On June 24, we celebrated Isabel's third birthday. She is so excited to be considered a "big girl". Although we still baby her (unlike how we raised Abigail at this stage), we are realizing we need to let her mature and grow to receive a little baby sister. She has officially transfered her loyalty to daddy and loves being daddy's little girl.
Right after Isabel's birthday celebration, Ted lived out one of his many dreams. He spent five days in the unchartered wilderness of Alaska with three of his crazy fly fishing buddies chasing after big salmon and trout. They fished 16-18 hours a day eating their catch on the river banks and taking cat naps here and there (The sun never sets in Alaska during the summer months). He left with a backpack and fishing gear and returned with over 100 pounds of fish. And we've been eating fish every day since he came back. God is so generous to provide such opportunities for us to enjoy life to the fullest!
Tomorrow, we will embark on another journey as a family. We will take a 28-hour flight (including layovers) to China (www.livingstonesvillage.org). We've waited 3 years for an opportunity to go and finally God has opened the doors for us. As always, we are excited to go together as a family. Taking two young children with a 22-week pregnant mom can be burdensome, but we cannot miss out on such opportunities. We live life once and we must live to the fullest as God allows. Please keep us in prayer during our 3 weeks there. We've been telling the girls that there are many older brothers and sisters who don't have parents. That they are going to be good little sisters to all of them, to pray for them, and share Jesus with them. We believe God will impart His heart for His kingdom to our children as we in faith take this trip to the other side of the world.
July 14, 2007 | Comments (0)
Happy 4th Birthday dearest Abigail
The month of January always holds 3 monumental days for our Kang household. January 1 marks the start of a new year. January 3 is Abigail's birthday. January 6 is our anniversary. There are so many reasons to celebrate at the beginning of each year. We are indeed filled with abounding joy as we start another year.
It has been 4 years since we welcomed Abigail into this world. The night before her birthday, we shared with her the entire birth experience, from labor to delivery. She was quite intrigued by all the details and demanded to hear Isabel's birth story. Of course, we told the girls they needed to wait until Isabel's birthday to hear her story, which was a much shorter experience.
There were three specific blessings we gave to Abigail since she was conceived. After four years of life, we praise God for seeing the beginnings of His promises being fulfilled in our dear daughter.
1. Nazirite vow. We blessed Abigail to live as a Nazirite all the days of her life. Not to pursue the things of this world, but to be single-minded, investing in the kingdom. As parents, to allow her to be single-minded, we are constantly reminded of the challenge to set that example to her.
2. To be a joy. We specifically blessed her with Luke 1:14-16 - "He will be a joy and delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. many of the people of Isarel will he bring back to the Lord their God." Abigail means "joy of the father". We have definitely seen God use our child to bring joy not only to us, but to our church community and wherever we travel. We bless her to continue to be such a gift of joy all the days of her life.
3. To be a worshipper. We remember that before she began to speak, she knew how to sing many songs. Even now, she makes up songs about almost anything and everything. And the most amazing thing is that "Jesus" is usually in the song somewhere. We look forward to having her learn the violin (which was her instrument of choice) and make beautiful music unto the Lord. She often talks about how our family will be a worship team together. Daddy on the guitar, mommy on the piano, Abigail on the violin, Isabel on the drums.
Most importantly, we bless our children and ourselves to have a tender heart before the Lord. We thank the Lord that He truly honors and answers the prayers of the parents over the next generation. We thank God for all the wonderful people who have supported us through this journey of raising our children in the Lord. We definitely need a village to raise our chidlren together.
January 09, 2007
Introducing Rev. Ted Kang and the consecrated Sandy Kang
Four years have finally come to a culmination, namely our ordination and consecration service. Four years ago, we both had oral interviews to become licensed workers of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Since then, we were working towards fulfilling all the requirements for our final oral interview to be ordained and consecrated. The C&MA ordination requirements seem to be one of the more rigorous ones. It includes writing 6 positional papers, 2 projects, attending 4 district workshops, 1 conference, and 12 books reports to name a few. On November 10, we finally passed our oral exams by the grace of God. Why did it take us 4 years, when it's recommended to finish within two? Too many reasons to name here....
On Sunday, December 10, many of our beloved church family members and friends gathered to witness this sacred ceremony. We felt like we were getting married all over again. It's not common for wives to be consecrated along with her husband's ordination. (The C&MA does not ordain woman, although the process to consecration is the same). Thus, this ceremony was very special not only to us, but to our church family. We stood before the congregation exchanging vows of "I do" to remain faithful to the Gospel Ministry and all that entails it. We were also given the opportunity to share words of thanksgiving and praise. We can only testify that we are who we are, doing what we're doing, only by the grace of God. We join Paul's testimony, "but by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me" (1 Cor. 15:10)
In closing, we want to include some words shared by Sandy thanking her family for being instrumental in her life:
Continue reading "Introducing Rev. Ted Kang and the consecrated Sandy Kang"
December 14, 2006
Because of Christ…
Have you ever prayed for something and when God answers your prayer, you, in your human nature regret ever praying it? I have wrestled with this. Recently, God brought a new sister to our church community. As a new believer, we were so excited to embrace her and love her. Little did I know what this would really mean. Often, as believers, we pray that God would use us to reach the lost, to minister to the poor, the widow, and the fatherless. Do I really know what I’m praying? This is an easy thing to ask of the Lord, but one of the most difficult things to live out in our lives. It’s easy to minister to the fatherless who live across the world, by praying for them and sending them money. But, if such a population came into our church and our personal lives, would we be able to embrace the answer to our prayer?
I confess that my heart had no love for this new sister in my life, although I knew she was in great need – spiritually, physically, financially, emotionally. I also admit that I served her in more ways than one. I even formed a group of individuals who can collectively minister to her. I can pat myself on the back for fulfilling my Christian duty of helping the poor and even getting our church members to serving her. However, my heart was hardened and reluctant to develop a deep relationship with her. Frankly, I was afraid she would continue to sap the life out of me. I allowed her to weary my heart because my heart was NOT in the right place.
As I continued to pray for her, God spoke to me clearly through His Word. Several weeks ago, I read God’s heart in Psalm 146:7-9
“He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
The Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the alien and sustained the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.”
God is the Defender and Upholder of the oppressed, the hungry, the prisoner, the alien, the fatherless, the widow – all these accurately describe this sister. God’s challenge to me was this: “If you really mean it when you pray you want to become more like me, this is my challenge to you. Can you follow my example of being the upholder and defender of this sister? Can you truly love and embrace her? Don’t treat her as just another case to solve or help, but truly embrace her as your daughter. Embrace her sons as your own.”
Immediately, my heart changed only because God is able to do that. I finally felt such a love for this sister. She still calls me daily asking me for help with almost everything. But now, I can lovingly help her and lovingly create boundaries for her to help her mature. It was my greatest joy to spend 7-8 hours in labor and delivery of her baby daughter this past week. I had bitter-sweet emotions as the baby came out into this world. This child is joined to a family that is quite “dysfunctional” and she will never know her father. The Lord spoke to me and I receive His promises that this child has been created for His good purposes. She is not an accident. She will never be lacking, for God will Father her perfectly. I believe and pray she will receive the Father’s love at the earliest age and be fully satisfied in His embrace.
God reminds our family that He has called us to be givers of His good life. Not once has this sister thanked me for anything, but I joyfully want to love Jesus by loving her. This is all worth my time and efforts BECAUSE OF CHRIST…
July 26, 2006
