February has been a bit of blur of activity!  The boys have been busy with books and work. I took a class entitled Foundations of Women’s Ordination with the Nazarene Bible College, and I have done various things at church including Children's Church, attending a board meeting and our teachers meeting, and even a read-aloud seminar. Did you know that there are denominations that have grown out of Methodism that are quite positive about ordaining women? But let’s start with the boys… 

Let’s start with Justin. My first son has had some go-rounds during this break. When he finished SuNeung (Korean Scholastic Aptitude Test) he threw away a huge number of books and proceeded to spend most of his time on the PlayStation. Which game? I am not even sure of the name, but I do know there were guns involved. Fast forward to three months later, and he has changed quite a bit. He got a full-time job making walnut cookies, leaving at 7:15 in the morning. He comes home around 3:00 or 4:00 depending on how busy it is. 

He is also excited about going to university!  Wednesday night I saw him sitting on the floor with his new Ipad. He was loving it. Justin was connecting some other items he had bought, and he was playing with different apps. Later on at supper, he was making jokes with his father, carrying on like an adult. It is almost like he is ready to be sent off to university! 

Aidan has also grown. He is entering middle school, and this child loves to study! He and Jordan go to a Study Room in the mornings from 10:00 to 11:30. He also is okay with sitting at his desk in the afternoons for about three hours. I do take Aidan and Jordan swimming so they do get some exercise and to just contrast all the sitting that is going on.
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We do read-alouds as well. This week, we were reading another book from the rather endearing Mr. Putter and Tabby series and Mercy Watson, a fun and ridiculous story about a pet pig and her adventures by Kate DiCamillo. Aidan was refusing to come down from the bunk bed, so I held up the book from where I was sitting on the floor.  I heard Aidan speak very slowly…

“‘Have some more, dear,’ Mrs. Watson said in her sleep. ‘Eat up, yum, yum.” 

And then this: “Mom, What does yum, yum mean?”

“That is similar to ‘it’s delicious’. Mercy Watson sure does love toast with butter on it.”

He seemed satisfied, and he continued to read. When we were finished he said, “Mom, I want some yum, yum food!”

He proceeded to the kitchen to make noodles, and I reflected on the fact that Mercy and Aidan were not that different in wanting to eat yum, yum food. 

And now to Jordan who is a little under the weather today. This one has discovered the glory of the bigger screens! He inherited Aidan’s laptop the cascade of moving devices caused by my husband’s purchase of an Ipad for Justin. Justin gave his laptop to Aidan, and Aidan gave his laptop to Jordan. Jordan still has a small, hand-held unit. 

We were dancing to Sing, Sing, Sing, a rather simple worship song that we are using for Children’s Church. He enjoyed watching the video on that big screen and dancing to it. I was pleased.

I just want to say that it is awesome when all three of my children are progressing in behavior. It means that some of what my husband and I are doing is working!

My last little piece is about the class I was taking from the Nazarene Bible College. We read an amazing book entitled Emboldened by Tara Beth Leach. In it, she calls the church to be the church. Women can be called by the Holy Spirit to pastor. This actually goes back to John Wesley and Holiness Movement in the 18th Century. I know he was open to women in ministry due to being raised by a mother who taught all of her children about the Bible. I know he changed his mind about women being ordained about half way through his life. I know that Phoebe Palmer wrote The Promise of the Father, a theological piece on Acts 2 about how the Holy Spirit came down.

And this is where I will leave you today. The Holy Spirit changes things. He changes you, and he changes me. He has changed by children, and he continues to change children around the world through prayer and reading of God’s word. Be faithful to what God is calling you to do.

Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
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Mercy Watson to the         Mr. Putter and Tabby          The Captain of the                  Rescue                       Turn the Page                     Storm

It has been an eventful summer for the Kim Clan with everyone doing something. First, I have finished a Masters of Education in TESOL with Framingham University! The last push was three courses back to back. The last class was a Language Structure class (yes, linguistics) and it was struggle to get through as I was tired from teaching and taking classes along with the regular schedule of taking care of a home and doing things at church. I finished on August 23rd! This made for an exciting last week as my birthday was August 18th and I was vaccinated the day before. 

But I am sure all of you want updates on what has happened with the boys. So, let’s get started!

It makes sense to start with Aidan as many of you directly messaged about what was going on with the sexual harassment suite. First, he had a great summer off from the stress at being at school. Second, when he went back to school, he found out that his teacher had been moved to teach science for the children in grade 5. Aidan also seems to be better in terms of controlling his temper. He can control his tongue. I think we can all appreciate that!

An interesting development from the whole problem was that my husband and I found out that Aidan has a tendency to take over the classroom during quiet moments. He has learned that it is not good to speak more than the teacher does.

These are lessons that have been learned the hard way. He is settling in with his new teacher, a rather cordial female, who everyone likes.

Justin has started his last semester of high school. He seems a little more relaxed with everything now, and is looking forward to the end of high school. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like yesterday that we brought that child home from the hospital.

Earlier in the summer he kept saying, “Everyone is having a hard time right now.” Yes, my son. Life is a little difficult, and your parents have done what they can to take care of you and make you strong. Hopefully, the strong part will kick in over the next few months. I am hoping and praying that he is going to rock his SAT (수능 in Korean) in November.

Also, Justin grew a mustache over the summer. I had fun telling him he was my little French man. The mustache looked French, so what can I say? Mais oui? He shaved it off Monday afternoon. Apparently the mustache was tickling his face. His friends had something about the mustache and my guess is that is what drove him to shave it off. I was pleasantly surprised to see my handsome boy's face.  

Hansung also had a development over the summer. He has been made the Dean of Planning for ACTS. I am sure this means many hours in YangPyeong and less time at home as he will be charge of recruiting students for the college he teaches at.

Jordan has had some trouble with his tummy over the last few days. It started on Thursday when everyone went back to school. He went to school to tell his teacher that he had a stomachache and then Daddy took him to the doctor. Friday he went but was sent home mid-morning. He spent most of the weekend lying on his stomach watching his device. There were many hot water bottles and cold compresses to make that child feel better. He finally had some energy on Monday afternoon and was very sweet when he went to bed.

“I love you Mom. Thank you for taking care of me.”

​That child could make anyone’s heart melt. I am glad it was my heart that he focused on!
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Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6

We are in the middle of a lockdown because of COVID 19. Everyone is home and we are all driving each other crazy. The boys are fighting while my husband is on the phone with coworkers, and I do not like it all.

I don't like it so much that I actually prayed it was alright for Jesus to take me during the night. 

But I woke up the next morning to find them all fighting again.

What would you do?

I took away their screens. The fighting actually got louder.

I talked to them about getting along with each other. Justin yelled at Aidan and Jordan for not listening.

I yelled at them when the noise was just too much for me to bear it all.

And then I saw something...

In the living room, dog-piled on the new chair, were all three boys lying on each other laughing, playing, and carrying on.

I was shocked!

They were speaking loudly.

Is this just their way? I ask this so quietly I barely heard myself.

That moment is just how my clan rolls.

They fight and argue with each other. It's loud and brash and awful.

They also have loving moments where you are just so surprised that you are witnessing it.

Yesterday, Justin was trying really hard to get Aidan to get the healthy rice that was served for lunch. He actually recorded it on his phone.

I did catch both Aidan and Justin laughing later at the video that resulted. Aidan knew how ridiculous he was being.

Jordan had trouble that day with food, which is just him in a nutshell. My baby that had so many food allergies has many food items that he does not like. He has trouble with spaghetti, not enjoying the sauce. He also does not kimchi or kimchi.

Yes, you read that right. He is a Korean kid that does not like kimchi. 

Their stubbornness comes out when they are fighting, but the love they have for each other also spills forth.

And this the blessing of family in all of its unusual glory.

We all have moments where we put things aside, work with the person who is telling us something we really do not want to hear, smile, and keep going.

We are all children of God and we know it.
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We give because we love each other.

But I really do wish the house was quieter!

​God bless your New Year!
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Autumn is definitely here. The weather is a little colder. The air is a little crisper. And the most telling sign is that the leaves on the trees are starting to turn their beautiful shades of crimson, gold, and orange hues. It's just glorious!

I heard there are only two seasons from a friend this week. There is autumn and waiting for autumn. I completely understand...

As well, it is Chuseok here. Chuseok, of  course, is Korean thanksgiving. It's a three days holiday this year. The boys are loving all the free time. I can see the gleeful look on their faces when they wake up and realize there are no lessons and they get to do what they want.

Except for yesterday morning! We took a walk down by Kobok Reservoir. My husband was insisting on the boys getting some exercise before they vegged out with books or screens in the afternoon. We toured the board walk which circles much of the reservoir and we took over two hours to go through it all. 
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Justin was very talkative as we walked. He told me all about a special class he has where feminists come in and teach him and the other boys at his school. I got to hear all about why he thinks feminism is a good idea but does not enjoy this special class.

Aidan was great as well. He ran way ahead while Justin and I walked very slowly. He was excited about spending his pocket money at the grocery store at the end of the walk. He loves to treat people, and I got a fresh lemonade.

Jordan made my heart melt near the end of the walk. He was lagging behind because his brothers were making fun of him. He put his little hand on my arm and wanted to touch and rub it. I let him do this and I hugged him close. We walked like this for a while. We eventually came to a special part of the reservoir where we saw ducks resting on logs. It took a moment, but I also turtles resting on a different set of logs. I said, "Look at that!" to Jordan. He looked, he blinked, and then, "Oh!" with a very slow exhale.

And there we stayed for a quiet moment just watching the birds and the turtles take a rest on the logs. Jordan was wide-eyed and taking it all in. We did eventually catch up with the others...

Things are calming down here in South Korea in regards to the virus. A number of schools will be going back to the in-class format. I have absolutely loved this time with the boys, but it is time for a change. There is just way too much down-time in their daily routine.

What is their daily routine?

For Justin - He gets up a little before 8:00, hugs his father, gives me a hug, has a shower, eats breakfast, and then spends the morning online. Around 12:30 he sheepishly comes out from the study room, asks about lunch, makes a few jokes using an accent (he has many), and eats noodles.  After lunch, he sits in front of the computer for a few more hours, wanders into another room to take a nap or play a game for about an hour, and then wanders back. In the evenings, he is playing games, giving me a hard time, or just joking around with his father.

For Aidan - This child absolutely hates getting up in the morning. The wake up call starts at 7:45 and lasts until 8:15 or 8:30. I usually have to come back to wake him up about 3 times. He will sit down, eat breakfast, and enjoy his morning if he has had enough sleep. He is online with his teacher by 8:50 and offline by 9:20. He will do whatever it is the teacher asked him to do, and then wanders off to play games. He won't come for lunch until he is called. After lunch, he is off to Study Room. He usually plays outside for a few hours in the afternoon. He is also playing computer games in the evening. 

I should add that Aidan is the child who enjoys attention from the teacher the most. He would be considered the teacher's pet and he can turn on the charm in regards to this. He is not so charming if his food is cold or if you bother him or ask him to do something during a game. 

For Jordan - He is the first one up after me. He is actually pretty good at eating, getting dressed, washing his face and hands, and brushing his teeth. He is in a hurry so he can go play computer games before school starts. He is online by 9:00 am and he is done by 9:30 as well. He is then back to the computer games for the rest of the morning. He is a pickiest eater in the house. He wants to eat cereal, noodles, and rice and soup. He has quite a few preferences in terms of what kind of soup he likes which drives me crazy. In the afternoons, he goes to piano and plays outside. Sometimes he goes to play soccer in the soccer field beside his elementary school. 

A recent addition to the routine is to write in Korean and English diaries in the evening. Both Aidan and Jordan are able to churn out about ten sentences in Korean and two or three in English. I also love reading books to them in the evenings, but they do not seem to love this as much as I do. I am hoping to add handwriting to this little routine in the evenings, but we will see how things go.

Weekends, of course, are a little less stressful for my husband and myself. The boys are to help with cleaning up on Saturday mornings and then they are free to do what they want for the rest of the day. Sunday has turned into the most social day with church in the morning, a rather lazy afternoon, and our Sunday night family prayer meeting. 

What is your family doing? How have you passed the time during the quarantine?

My son Justin is pictured above. He is working with the sound team at church most Sundays.

There is a Bible Verse about hard work that is worth mentioning. “A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." Proverbs 13:4

It may be difficult to teach children the value of discipline and hard and work, but it does have its rewards! 

Justin, my eldest son, came home from school last week with two awards. It was a pleasant surprise for this parent! He and his friends got a bronze medal for an English project where they interview yours truly about Sejong High School. The other project was more individual. He received a silver medal for creating an anti-smoking poster. Apparently, my child’s artistic talents are starting to blossom! And Daddy rewarded him with fried chicken as a late night snack.

The English project that he and his friends won for was something! I remember the day they interviewed me. I was simply asked to say, “Tell me about your school, Justin! I want to learn about your school!” It was one of those days where I had many small things to do and I was a little annoyed because it was an unusual request. The rest of the video is Justin and his friend walking around school showing anyone who was watching the video the buildings. The English was quite good even if my initial question was more than a little awkward!

Jordan also did some great work at school. He and his classmates put together a multicultural show for parents last Wednesday morning. They all prepared little dance numbers! Jordan was wearing a Chinese traditional hat and I was genuinely wondering what they were going to do before they started dancing to ‘Kung Fu Fighting’. His friends and he were reasonably coordinated as they performed it and the parents broke out into laughter when they heard the song. 

The other song that the whole class performed was ‘Jumbo’. It’s an African song that has a Korean counterpart. While they were performing I understood why I had heard him humming the song so many times at home. While they were doing it, I could hear many of them singing. And, of course, they broke out into hysterical laughter when it was all done! I commend the teacher for pushing all those second-graders to perform so well. I will remember that day for a long time!

Aidan and Jordan go to Taekwondo every night at 7:00. When they have worked hard, the teacher gives them tickets. These tickets are 10 points, 50 points, and 100 points. Aidan was pleased as pie to receive a ticket for 50 points last week. It was the same night that they all received chicken from Daddy so all was well with the world!

Hard work and perseverance are difficult things to teach. Each boy was able to show some aspect of perseverance last week and I was very proud of them all!

“A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." Proverbs 13: 4

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Advent begins on Sunday. They boys looks forward to the little chocolate gifts in the Advent Calendar but I look forward to the read-alouds!

My family will be reading Ann Voskamp's The Wonder of the Greatest Gift along with other holiday favorites. This year I will wrap up books for them to choose, two or three, and we will read that book in the evening. We will light candles, read The Wonder of the Greatest Gift, hang an ornament on the tree, and read the book they have chosen. I look forward to this bonding time with the boys!

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For those of you who are curious, there has been a delay with the book I’m publishing. The Giver: The Life of Jesus and the Book of Acts (Fifty Sermons for Children) will be published in January. I am still very excited about the book!  I hope you will be too! 

Before I tell you dear readers about June in my home, I want to take a moment and reflect on laundry.  I want to reflect on this because I never seem to catch up with the laundry. With five people in the house, I am constantly doing this chore/job.  In the past, I have been able to do it meditatively.  I folded shirts, pants, towels, and other clothes methodically, thinking about how little things repeated again and again build character. I'm an English teacher so this definitely applies the classroom. Vocabulary and grammar need to be learned over a long period time with small, repeated steps daily in order to make progress.  It works in my kitchen too.  I can meditatively take ingredients out of the refrigerator, cut and chop vegetables, and put a meal together.  It works in regard to my health too.  Exercising and eating properly need to be done everyday.  Not just everyday.  In the end, I must remind myself that the laundry piles are building my character. Consistency and persistence in laundry.

My eldest son had a great birthday weekend! He turned fifteen and basically had a party all weekend long. He got a special lunch from me on Saturday because we were alone, a homemade hamburger in the later afternoon at a barbecue, a supper out to his favorite restaurant that night, a gift from church on Sunday, and a trip to the spa (his choice) Sunday afternoon. My husband cooked birthday bacon on Monday morning, ate the cake after supper and he got a few gifts from his brothers. He has exams at the end of this week, so I'm glad all the birthday fun is done for now.

In other news, piano lessons have begun! Aidan and Jordan have been going to piano for about a month now. They are enjoying themselves and have actually sat down at the piano and attempted to play a few times.  Jordan did it yesterday! Besides piano, they also go to Taekwondo classes Monday through Thursday. They love the movements, and practice the moves at inopportune times (like when they should be sitting for supper)

So, I introduced a laundry basket quite a while back.  Interestingly, Aidan is the only child who actually uses it. Everyone else (husband included) just tosses their clothes on the floor which results in my raised voice.  The funny thing is that because the laundry basket is not used very often, I often forget to check what is inside. (Consistency is not really a part of this story!) Aidan of course had a good pile of his clothes in it when I checked at the end of the week. At the moment, it’s full of cute stuffed animals!
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We visited the Trickeye museum up in Seoul over this past weekend. This included a virtual reality experience and an ice museum! You can see a few of the shots we took besides Justin's Birthday picture. I'm including some more pics at the bottom of this post!

As I write, my husband is on a mission trip in Nepal with students from his Bible college. He won't be back in the 13th of July, which means there will be another mountain of laundry to do. Lord, help me to meditate on that mountain!

Don't they look like they are actually playing the piano! I love Jordan's synchronized swimming move!

​Does anyone know any scripture references about laundry?

Aidan's birthday was last week and our little boy was privileged enough to celebrate twice! We went to his favorite restaurant for a meal where he ordered a plate and ribs and could hardly finish it. Over the weekend, we took four of his friends to McDonalds for lunch and then ice skating in the afternoon! He had wanted to go back to the ice skating rink since December when we went with a friend from church. The day was completed with us trying to light the candles outside. It was really fun for Aidan who was highly amused by not being able to light the candles!

In other news Aidan became the class captain! He campaigned and gave a speech, and the kids in his class voted for him. He was excited and took great pride in it.

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Jordan had an interesting meal the other night. A bowl of pasta sat in front of him for about 5 minutes with no tomato sauce. He just looks at the tomato sauce and refuses to eat whenever I serve it. This time he decided to add parmesan cheese. When I wasn't looking, he also added chocolate sprinkles from the pantry. I smiled when I saw it and told him he had to eat his creation.

"Isn't my creation beautiful?"

"Yes, it is! And you have to eat it."

He took a few enthusiastic spoonfuls with Justin and Aidan making incredible funny faces. It took about 20 more minutes before I heard, "I'm full!"

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Jordan also had a little run in with the law while we were shopping a few weeks ago.  We were in the car when I heard from the back seat, "Mommy, I took something from the Homeplus." 

​Aidan confirmed this with, "Jordan stole a spinner from the Homeplus!" a little too enthusiastically!

I, of course, freaked out from the front seat. "Jordan show me what you took!" He obediently produces the toy in front of my eyes.  "Jordan, the police station is very close! I think you should tell the police what you did!" 

Jordan started screaming and yelling, "I'm scared they will put me in jail!"

"We are going back to Homeplus first and you are going to give back the spinner. Maybe they won't make you go to the police."

"Okay."

So, we drove back and went to customer service. Jordan cried as he said in Korean that he had taken the spinner. The woman who was listening to this handled it well. She just smiled and said it was okay. Jordan looked relieved when he realized he did not have to go to the police station!  

I'm hoping the whole episode made a deep impression and he will never consider stealing again.

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Justin continues to have an incredible sense of humor and really is continuing to mature as person.  I can count on him to lighten my day with a joke, a wise crack or a hug for Mom.  (Which is great for a teenage boy!)

I woke him up on a Saturday around 8 am because I knew he was supposed to go volunteer at a soup kitchen but he didn’t tell me he was supposed to catch the bus. 

“Justin, what time are you supposed to go to the soup kitchen this morning?”

He sleepily replied, “8:30 or 9:30” and rolled over with his eyes closed.

i was about to get into the shower when he came and knocked on the door. “I’m supposed to be there by 8:30, so can I shower first? Thanks Mom for checking on me.”

Yes, I let him shower first and he managed to get out of the house on time!

We moved through Thanksgiving last weekend and had a glorious time setting up the tree on Friday night.  I totally enjoyed watching the boys quibble over what ornaments go on the tree.  We had one short burst of snow a little over a week ago to get everyone into the spirit of the season!

Jordan continues to grow in every way imaginable, ask amazing questions, and make cute comments.  Here is one of our interactions from this month.

"Look Mom!  I'm perfect.  There is no cough here!"

"Jordan, you are perfectly cute! Not perfectly healthy!"

"Will I ever be perfectly healthy?"

"If you eat all your fruits and vegetables and all your supper, you could be perfectly healthy?"

"Okay! I'll think about it.  Can I have some chocolate?"

Ironies abound here with this beautiful boy!

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This really is a very Korean pose of Jordan at KNU New Kids (Children's Ministry) at our church.  

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My teenager continues to grow in humor and stature.  He is definitely taller than me now and looks the part of one of the pretty boys we see here on Korean television.

He looks the part a little too well.  We were in a restaurant on Sunday and the waitresses were teasing him.  They were asking if he had been on TV recently.  He blushed at this.  He actually turned beet-red when the waitresses and a few of the people we were sitting with starting to comment to actually say "Pretty Boy" right in front of him.  I tried to get to ease the moment for him, but they just kept saying "Handsome!" 

I reminded him when we get home that "Handsome is as handsome does!"  I was encouraging him to study for his exams which start at the beginning of next week.

The shot below is one taken at the University I teach at earlier in November.  He wasn't thrilled that I took this picture because he wasn't smiling. A great profile though!

Aidan continues to be my child who just wants to be the good kid in the family.  Whenever I am angry or upset with the something in general or with the boys specifically, he will ask, "But, Mom, I'm good, right?  I didn't make you angry?"

99% of the time he hasn't done anything wrong except maybe be ten minutes late for our afternoon tea.  (Yes, this child continues to love afternoon tea time but without the cookies!).  
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