Pearls of Wisdom Retreat

 

This past weekend, we held our annual PWOC fall retreat up in Seoul. In the past, this event was run as a joint retreat with ladies from chapels around the peninsula. But due to budget cuts, stuff like that is no longer possible. In some ways that's too bad. Getting to know ladies from other bases and worshiping together would be a unique opportunity. But we also took full advantage of our freedom to plan the retreat ourselves.

Our AMAZING programs coordinator, Sarah Markowski, was given a vision for a testimony-based retreat and called it 'Pearls of Wisdom'. We asked four different ladies from our group to share their testimony, and equipped all of the ladies to write and develop their own testimony story. I'll admit that, at first, I had a hard time envisioning how this theme would come together and I wasn't sure our ladies would feel like they'd learned as much as they would have if we chose a topical focus. But the whole thing was so powerful and spirit-led. I think we all walked away with great memories, feeling refreshed and inspired to go out and follow Christ.

We stayed overnight at the Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul, went out to dinner in Itaewon, and then returned to the South Post Chapel at Yongsan where we began the formal portion of the retreat. Our amazing worship leader helped set the stage with some songs about trusting God in all circumstances. Then my friend Jessica Kinney shared her testimony about Experiencing God in the Daily Grind. Jessica's a very busy mother of three home-schooled boys, and shared what the Lord has been teaching her about priorities and time management while living here in Korea. She gave us some great, practical ideas for how to better connect with God in the middle of our busy schedules. That talk alone was worth the trip up to Seoul!

After that, I shared some pointers for writing your own testimony and encouraged the ladies to take some time that weekend to think over what God has done in their life and how they would explain their faith to someone who asked them why they believe in Jesus.

Once our evening session was over, we went back to the hotel and some of us got together in one of the hotel rooms for popcorn and a movie. We watched the new popular Christian film called God's Not Dead. It's a really, really great movie. Very convicting. I highly recommend it! Below is a trailer.

On Saturday, we all had plenty of time to get to know each other better and swap testimonies over the delicious meals we shared. We had 36 women at our retreat, and they are all beautiful, unique, and have so much to teach me about God!

 Again, we got to spend some time worshipping the Lord before our session began. Our worship leader, Leigh Anne, selected an unofficial theme song for the weekend called "Blessings" by Laura Story. Leigh Anne is such a gifted singer and all of us were moved to tears each time we sang the chorus. The words: "What if your blessings come through raindrops, what if your healing comes through tears", spoke to each of us in very personal ways. I had to video tape the song so we could all relive that moment after we returned to normal life. I missed the first verse, but the rest of the song is here:

 On Saturday we heard three more testimonies. The first was from Kristen Waldrop. Her testimony was entitled "I called, He Answered: The Power of Answered Prayer." She shared the story of adopting her son Andrew. Their struggles with infertility and learning to wait and trust in the Lord tugged at all of our heart strings. I know she's normally very uncomfortable speaking in front of crowds, but she did a great job!

After that, we watched a DVD recording of a testimony from another one of our ladies. (Yes, I taped and edited the whole thing. ;^) ) She's an active duty officer who was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 months ago. She shared what that's been like, going through chemo treatments while living and working in a foreign country, and how it's affected her family. She is a great example of grace under pressure, and her faith was very inspiring!

Our final testimony was from my close friend, Cortney Piper. Her story was called: "A Change Will Do You Good: Faith Found on a Broken Road." I knew she'd struggled in her faith and veered off the path for a while in college. But I learned a lot about my dear friend that day. It is truly remarkable seeing how far she's come in her faith. Her life is a powerful testimony to the fact that God is in the redemption business! She is such a light in our community and naturally overflows with God's love and grace. We were all moved by her example of practical, raw, passionate faith.

The final thing we were left with was an image Sarah had been meditating on while planning this retreat. On a family vacation to Malipo Beach, she and her kids collected a lot of sea glass. She enjoyed teaching her children how the sea glass was once garbage - cheap, dirty, broken, jagged waste that bobbed around in the ocean and was polished over time by the waves and sand. Now they're smooth, polished, beautiful, and treasured. The only difference between the broken glass bottles and the sea glass that we display on our mantle pieces is the transformation process. Before we have a relationship with Christ, we are just like that broken glass. But if we'll embrace the way the Holy Spirit is working on us, and transforming us into the likeness of Christ, the end product will be truly beautiful! To help us remember this idea, she had some of her sea glass turned into necklaces that we could take home! How cool!

Sarah Markowski - miracle worker!

 I was so blessed by my weekend away with these ladies! God is so good and I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve them.

Grandma Phinney Comes to Visit

A couple of weeks ago, James' mom Nancy came to visit. She was only able to stay for a little over a week, but we very much enjoyed having her here. Since she'd already toured Korea multiple times when visiting Jon and Claire, there was no pressure to get out and about. Instead, she focused her time and energy on keeping Kaden entertained - something he fully took advantage of. Their time was mostly spent watching jets take off from the balcony, playing at the playground, and taking long walks around base while mommy got some work done. He was one happy little boy!

 Kaden LOVES dogs! The face on the right reflects his feelings when the dog ran away.

We also enjoyed spending some quality time with Nancy, going out to eat and catching up over delicious meals. Many of those meals came from our favorite Thai restaurant. (Thankfully she loves it as much as we do!) But we did try out a new brunch place out the gate that was FANTASTIC! We all appreciated the fact that it was called Alice Brunch. It makes sense that something so good would be named after a couple of fantastic family members. :)

All too quickly, our time came to a close. Nancy and Kaden were joined at the hip right up until the end. She even let Kaden look at her iPhone on their last day. (That's a big deal!)

Saying good bye was hard. Kaden screeched in dismay and protest when she got on the bus to the airport. Poor kiddo. We love living overseas, but visits like this remind us how nice it would be to live a little closer to home. I know Kaden would love spending more time with all of our extended family members. At least we know we'll be able to make a visit back to the States and see people after our tour here is over. Looking forward to more fun with grandma this spring or summer!

Rooted in God's Word

The first week of our fall Bible study session, I had the honor of giving the weekly devo to the large group before we split off into our studies. I know many of you enjoy reading these things, so here's a transcript:

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We are so excited about kicking off this new fall session for PWOC. I think we got things off to a great start at Thursday’s Fall Kick-Off event. We had a large group of ladies there, and had fun getting to know each other, eating delicious fall desserts, listening to a great devo and starting to think over which Bible studies to choose. I know some of you may still be in the process of making that decision, and that’s ok! I’ve often put that decision off until the president dismisses us to our classrooms and I have to choose which door to walk through!

I think one of the most significant things that happened on Thursday night was that the Holy Spirit helped our leaders communicate the vision God has given us for this year. I posted the full document describing that on our facebook group. If you haven’t checked that out yet, please do!

But a quick summary, is that we want to help you all surpass the common mentality here of just surviving in Korea, and really THRIVE while you’re here - both in your spiritual life and in your relationships. We believe that the key to thriving in faith and in life is having an authentic relationship with Christ. No matter where we’re at in our spiritual walk - whether we’ve been Christians our whole lives or are new to the faith - we can all benefit from returning to our roots and reminding ourselves of what we believe in and why.

This may be a simple question, but: Why are roots important? They keep us grounded, help us stand firm, and provide the nourishment we need to survive.

I think in our Western culture, we like instant gratification and tend to think from the top down, and not the other way around. We want the most abundant leaves, the sweetest fruit, the strongest branches, but ignore the trunk and the roots. We want to be good Christians, and so we do a lot of things that make us appear to be that way. We go to church, and we attend Bible studies, and we volunteer in the nursery, and tithe, and we follow the rules about what we should and shouldn’t do, but at the end of the day, we still don’t feel that joy and peace that surpasses all understanding the Bible talks about. We may think we’ve got it together, but then life throws us a big curve-ball and we revert back into old sinful selves and give in to fear and temptation and doubt. We wonder if all the effort we’re investing is worth while or if God is even real, if none of this seems to be making any difference.

Our problem is that we’re trying to hold up the weight of our branches and trying to produce fruit on our own, without being connected to the root - to our only source of life and nourishment. That root, of course, is God.

DUH. Well - how to we connect to that root? What is the basic step here that so many of us are missing? In order to have an authentic, life-giving relationship with God, we’ve got to communicate with Him. We have to get to know Him. Listen to Him. Learn from Him. A big part of that happens through prayer. But I know sometimes that seems a little nebulous. What happens if you talk to Him and you don’t hear anything back?

Well, our Creator knows us and our need for something tangible to make this spiritual relationship seem real. That’s why He gave us the Bible. It’s a reliable way for Him to speak directly into our lives. He reveals Himself to us in its pages, and clearly spells out all the guidance we need for how to live life to the full. As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correctingnand training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I imagine some of you are inwardly rolling your eyes right now. “Yeah, yeah, we know the Bible’s important. Tell me something I don’t know…” This foundational principle that we’re supposed to be reading our Bible regularly and building on our knowledge of God may seem like a no-brainer. But I want you to ask yourself: do you do it? Do you read your Bible regularly? Daily? Have you read the Bible all the way through, cover-to-cover? Have you memorized any scripture? If a non-believing friend asked you a question about what it is that you believe, would you feel confident that you know the answer and could find it in your Bible without the help of a Google search?

I’m not saying I can answer ‘yes’ to all of these questions. Far from it. But I can say that, as I’ve gotten older, as my life has gotten more hectic and stressful, as I’ve taken on more responsibility, as I’ve endured some really hard times, and as I’m trying to not only be a good Christian for me but to live out my faith as a good example for my son, it’s becoming abundantly clear how vital it is to take time to study God’s Word, deepen my relationship with Him and allow Him to instruct me on how to live for Him today.

Any time I’m feeling burned out, or fearful, or beaten down by sin, I stop and take a minute to evaluate where I am at. And you know what, those low points always coincide with my failure to set aside time to read my Bible regularly and pray. If my head is not filled with God’s promises, it’s far too easy for me to listen to the enemy’s lies, and instead of growing and thriving and finding joy, I just keep running in circles and can’t figure out what’s wrong. I can do all the right things and have the best intentions in the world, but if I’m not connected to the root, I’m not gonna go anywhere.
I love what Richard Foster says about this in the intro to his chapter on Study in A Celebration of Discipline. I thought I’d read it for you real fast:

“Many Christians remain in bondage to fears and anxieties simply because they do not avail themselves of the Discipline of study. They may be faithful in church attendance and earnest in fulfilling their religious duties, and still they are not changed. I am not here speaking only of those who are going through mere religious forms, but of those who are genuinely seeking to worship and obey Jesus Christ as Lord and Master. They may sing with gusto, pray in the Spirit, live as obediently as they know, even receive divine visions and revelations, and yet the tenor of their lives remains unchanged. Why? because they have never taken up one of the central ways God uses to change us: study. Jesus made it unmistakably clear that the knowledge of the truth will set us free. “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Good feelings will not free us. Ecstatic experiences will not free us. Getting “high on Jesus” will not free us.

“This principle is true in every area of human endeavor. It is true in biology and mathematics. It is true in marriages and other human relationships. But it is especially true in reference to the spiritual life. Many are hampered and confused in the spiritual walk by a simple ignorance of the truth. Worse yet, many have been brought into the most cruel bondage by false teaching” (ch. 5, p.62-63).

So the key, here, is to be intentional about studying God’s Word regularly so that we may be blessed with a Thriving relationship with Jesus and, consequently, find growth and joy in every other aspect of our lives.

We don’t want you to just walk away thinking, “Huh. She’s right. That’s a good point.” And then stay in a rut all week. One of the great things about being in a Bible study is being able to encourage one another and hold each other accountable to growth! So this fall, after every devo, we’re going to give you a challenge. A tangible, measurable way to get back to your spiritual roots and, through obedience and self-discipline, start to grow and hopefully bear some fruit!

This week, I’m going to go big and challenge you all to read your Bible every day. That could be completing your Bible study homework. It could be continuing in your own Bible study reading plan. If you’d like some resources or ideas of where to start or what to read this week, please come talk to me, or Cortney or Esther, or any of our board members. We’d love to help! I’m also going to post our challenge on our fb group and ask you all to write in and share how things are going. What you’ve been reading and what the Lord has been teaching you. That way we can continue encouraging and holding each other accountable to this throughout the week!

September Social Update

 Instead of writing several blog posts about all of the events and activities we've been involved in over the last several weeks, I'll give you the highlights below:

Mad Hatter Fiendette Naming

In early September, we had another Fiendette naming. This month's theme was a Mad Hatter tea party, inspired by Alice in Wonderland. They had us all seated at one long table, adorned with delicious tea snacks and adorable centerpieces. Everyone wore their best red hat, or dressed as a character from the story. Over all, it was a great time! These ladies are all so creative.

 PWOC Leadership Retreat

 Before we kicked-off our fall Bible study session, I wanted to get the ladies on our PWOC board together for a fun day where we could get to know each other better, learn what the Bible teaches about servant leadership, and do some planning for the upcoming year. Because many of us have small children, we couldn't really go away for a weekend. But we did want to find a way for this event to still feel like a retreat, and not just a training seminar. Our programs coordinator, Sarah Markowski, did a great job of planning and executing the whole event. She decorated one of the tower rec rooms with flowers, twinkling lights and a paper tree (to go with our theme for the year: Deeply Rooted in Christ). We chatted over delicious refreshments and fun, bubbly drinks. Since we couldn't go out and do something, I wanted to still give the girls a memorable experience. So we hired a local Korean artist (who is actually good friends with my sister-in-law Claire) to come give us a painting lesson. The final product was a water color painting of a branch full of cherry blossoms. We thought the image would not only be a fun keep sake from our time in Asia, but it also relates to this year's PWOC logo, which appears on the back of our tee shirts.

Each painting had the same root, but was uniquely beautiful, just like us!

 After our painting class, we did some training and then walked out the gate for dinner at Puffin (a British pub-inspired restaurant with a massive, diverse menu like the Cheesecake Factory). I challenged the ladies to go deeper in their conversations that night and really get to know each other. I enjoyed learning how many of my friends met their husbands and about their testimonies. It was wonderful. After dinner, we returned to the rec room and found the lights had been dimmed, the place was twinkling with christmas lights, and a milk and cookie bar had been created for dessert. It was a great atmosphere for fun and fellowship! We broke into small teams and discussed how to incorporate our vision and what we'd learned earlier about servant leadership into the way we practically ran the Bible study this year. We're only about 6 weeks into our study, but I can already see the fruit of the board's labor! I'm so blessed to work with this amazing team of women!

 PWOC Fall Kick-Off

The second week of September, we officially kicked-off our Fall Bible Study session with a fun meet-n-greet event at the chapel. We had a massive spread of fall desserts, did a fun mixer game that helped us make new friends, bought tee shirts with this year's 'Deeply Rooted' cherry blossom logo on then, and heard about the board's vision for the year. We want people to thrive, not just survive, their tour in Korea. We believe that happens spiritually when we ensure we're deeply rooted in faith so the Holy Spirit can help us bear fruit where we're planted. We also believe that people thrive in a community of authentic people who genuinely care about each other. We also heard from the facilitators of the different Bible studies and had a chance to flip through the books before committing to one group over another. Normally these events are fairly small and not very exciting. But this year we had over 30 ladies attend and everyone seemed really excited about everything God's doing in this ministry!

our new tee shirts with a logo designed by my good friend Cortney Piper, and turned into a graphic design by James

One of our facilitators sharing about the study she's leading

During the night's devotion, we wrote things we can offer others for encouragement or growth on an apple. When we left, we took the apples we needed. This was supposed to represent the give and take aspect of our ministry.

 September Coffee: Pajamas, Pizza and Pizookies

In September, my friend Jordan and I hosted the monthly Fiendette Coffee. Every month, the spouses in our squadron get together for a dinner meeting where we discuss everything that's going on and address any needs. (Mostly we get updated on upcoming events, recruit volunteers to run those events, welcome new people and say farewell to those who are moving.) We thought it would be fun to have a very casual theme and so we asked people to wear their pajamas, we ordered some pizzas and made a bunch of big pizookies. What's a pizookie, you ask? Only my favorite dessert in the whole world. Essentially, it's a pizza-cookie. Cookie dough baked at a very high temperature (like in a pizza oven). You serve it immediately, while the outside is crisp but the inside is still warm and gooey. Top it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and you've got heaven on a plate.

That night, one of our business items was thanking the ladies who contributed to the writing and production of our Outside the Gate travel book and taking a picture with the giant check we received from the publishers. Very cool! Too bad we didn't think ahead and decide to take the group picture on a night when we were dressed in something nicer than pjs!

Garage Sale for Orphans

In September, I also volunteered to help organize a massive Garage Sale for Orphans. A worldwide ministry called Help One Now has challenged people to get their friends and communities involved in big garage sales, where 100% of the profits go to support widows and orphans in 3rd world countries. We figured that since we have so many people living in relative excess here on base, we could use this as an opportunity to help people in our squadron redeem their excess. For weeks we handed out fliers and talked to people about the cause. We collected tons of donations, and then set up and ran a large garage sale on the roof of the parking garage between the two officer's towers on base. The photos below are only small snippets of the mounds of stuff we sold. It was kind of a long process, but worth it. In the end, we managed to raise over $1,200 to help build a home for a widow and her children in Africa.

Mommy's Day Out

Jordan, Jenny and I joked a lot while stork nesting last summer that we would need to celebrate the babies' first birthday with a mommy's trip to Seoul. No babies, no bellies, just us - finally getting to enjoy the big city after a year and nine months of early motherhood. We were pleasantly surprised when our husbands agreed to watch the kiddos all day in September so we could make our dream into reality. Sadly, the timing coincided with Jenny's departure from Korea and so the trip doubled as a farewell trip for our sweet friend. She wanted to invite another good friend of ours, Laura Sprague, who had a baby girl about a month after we did. At the time of the trip, we all had one year olds who had been weaned. Yay!

Our trip began with mimosas on the bus up to Seoul. Then I got my hair cut in the spa at the Dragon Hill Lodge while the other girls got pedicures. After that, we had a delicious lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Vatos Tacos. Then, we went shopping in Myeong-dong, where they have some American stores like Forever 21 and H&M.

I can only handle so much shopping, so Jordan and I cut out early on the retail therapy and did some sightseeing. There's a beautiful pocket of Seoul called the Bukchon Hanok Village. There, the streets are lined with traditional Korean houses, many of which have been transformed into museums and places where you can try different cultural crafts. We didn't have nearly enough time to really explore. But at least we snapped a few pretty pictures!

At twilight, we reunited in a park along the riverfront and boarded a riverboat cruise that would give us a perfect view of the skyline as the sun sets and the city lights came out. It was SO relaxing and beautiful. I can't imagine a better way to see the city. After the cruise, we ate dinner at another favorite restaurant: The Flying Pan Blue. It's normally a brunch place, but also carries some delicious sandwiches, salads and soups. It was a decadent and comforting way to end the day!

Farewell to Friends

We were very sad to say "see you later" to the Hofmanns last week. It's the end of an era - the triad are no longer together. I'll be very interested to meet up with Jenny and her girls in future and see what Riley is like as she grows up. Our Air Force life is very bittersweet. =^(