ugh, allergies

i look at our weather today, and i found out that we have an extremely high pollen count. that would explain why i'm almost gouging out my eyes from all the itchiness!

things you may hear at small group

"why yes, your crotch is the perfect place to put your matchbox cars." -ellie

this was in reference to her son who needed to go to the bathroom, but didn't want to go; thus, the matchbox cars in the crotch. eventually, he conceded and went to the bathroom.

things i'll miss about champaign (and urbana): part 3

running into people i know

i just came back from the store, and i ran into my friend jess and her son liam. the past few weeks at the grocery store, i've seen my friend dave working. i run into my friends while working out (granted it's on campus and they are students). a month ago, i ran into some friends while at the park.

i don't think i've ever lived in a place where i run into my friends "out of the blue". it's nice to see familiar places when i'm out running some errands or just enjoying the day. i think the odds become much smaller once the town gets bigger. maybe it just means i need to meet more and more people. :)

priorities

when God wants me to hear Him, i find that He is often repeating Himself to me through various circumstances. this week, He's asked me to reexamine my priorities. on tuesday, i asked nat for prayer in regards to getting my priorities straight: child of God first, wife second, mother third. it was hard to verbally acknowledge that i had reordered my priorities for the past months--mother first, God and wife second (a far second). it was good for me to recognize that this was happening. yesterday, God reminded me again when two friends, within an hour, asked how things were going. i told them both about my struggle with my priorities. then, this morning, i read this post from my friend jaime; God was reminding me yet again.

i've thought about what my priorities should by using Scripture to answer why this should be the case.

priority 1: daughter of God.
the first commandment of the 10 commandments, "You shall have no other gods before me", exodus 20:3. that means nothing should come before God, not sean, not nat, not myself, not money, not my comfort; no one or no thing should come between me and God. God is very clear on this case, and Jesus reiterates it when He said in matthew 22:37-38, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."

priority 2: wife of nat.
mark 10:7-9, "'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." when nat and i became married, it was not just a covenant between the two of us, but it was a covenant between God, nat, and i. nat and i are no longer two entities, but one, and nothing should separate us--this means not even our children.

priority 3: mother of sean.
psalm 127:3, "Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him." children are a blessing and gift from the Lord, and i need to remember to treat my children as such.

so why has it been so hard to put these things in the right order? i think jaime's post bring a lot of insight to the reason. as soon as sean was born, i was put into mom mode. as a mom, you are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks out of the year. most of my day is spent caring for sean--whether it's feeding him, playing with him, or protecting him. when sean goes to bed at night, i just want to relax and take some time for myself. but, if i continue down this path, i know that my relationship with nat and God will suffer. in fact, i know that it actually benefits sean to see that i put God and nat first rather than sean. this requires me to be more deliberate in my relationship with nat and God. i have to remind myself that it doesn't mean that i'll compromise my care for sean, but rather will enhance my care and love for him. i'm not sure how i'm going to do this, but a few thoughts have come across my mind--be in constant prayer throughout the day, read the Word to sean, go on dates with nat, be consistent at having our (nat and i) Bible studies, pray for sean and nat. i praise God that He will sustain me during this time, and as i seek His face, He will answer my prayers and change my heart so i have the right priorities.

things i'll miss about champaign: part 2

korean food
uiuc has a large population of koreans, most of which i think are students (both grad and undergrad). champaign-urbana benefits from this by having numerous korean restaurants, a few of which on campus. with this being said, it's no wonder that here in this town i've fallen deeper in love with korean food. before i came, i was just familiar with bulgogi and bi bim bap, but now i've been exposed to delicious soups, dumplings, hot pot, and so much more. and as i've grown to love korean food, i've found that my tolerance (and love) for spicy foods and grown as well. :)

because of all the restaurants in town, the prices for korean food is very reasonable. i don't think that this will be the case after we move. because of this, i'm determined to eat as much korean as i can before i leave. the two that i'll venture to most are probably woorijib (on campus) and b-won. so good. drool. if you're hunkering for korean, let me know! :)

things i'll miss about champaign: part 1

the past few months, i've been thinking about how much i'll miss living in champaign-urbana when we move (which might be as early at next year). so, i'm deciding to make a series of posts of what i'll miss about champaign. :)

i will miss the lifestyle of champaign-urbana.
champaign is the first place i've lived in where i don't feel affected by the "consumerist" attitude. nat and i grew up suburbia (different cities), and i know i got used to spending on lots of stuff--food, clothes, gadgets, etc. when i moved to college, it wasn't much different, just a different city.

after getting married, trimming down our budget multiple times, i think nat and i have cut off our suburbia attitudes on spending. one major factor that has helped tremendously is town atmosphere. champaign-urbana doesn't have many expensive shopping areas, which i think really cuts down on our "wants"*. the people of the town also live modestly; our friends are no exception. i'd say 99% of them live very modestly, many of which are families that live on one income. i'm sure that they can afford to live in a nicer/larger house, drive nicer cars, buy nicer things, but they don't nor do they have a desire to do so. this atmosphere has really helped trimmed down our budget b/c we've been able to see the difference between what we need vs what we want. if you would have told me that we could live on $1900 a month with a baby, i probably would have laughed at you a few years ago. now, i realize it can be done, and it doesn't mean we have to skimp on quality of things, it just means that we have to be more careful of what and where we spend our money on. sure, it takes up more time for me to "shop around", but those savings add up really quickly.

so why is this such a big issue for me? well, i find myself really loathing the consumer lifestyle more and more**. and i know, when we move, it will be a daily battle for us to fight this type of spending. when i go visit friends and family that live in the bigger cities, i find myself going back to my "old" self and wanting a lot more things and wanting the expensive things. i think the city atmosphere and people atmosphere really foster the attitude of spending b/c that's what's "normal" there, and if we don't watch ourselves, we're going to get sucked back in.

i thought, before, that the Christian community can help us hold our ground in modest spending, but i've found that not to be the case. we have friends that have just moved down to texas that are facing the pressures of going against the norm for their modest spending within their church. many of their friends live in $500K houses (which is a nice house in dallas), drive luxury cars, send their kids to private school, etc. they have found that they have to constantly fight this idea of "normal" spending even in their church. don't get me wrong, the church is Biblically sound and has great doctrine and filled with strong believers, but our friends have to fight constantly. and i've seen other churches that are the same way as well. i'm not criticizing these people or churches, b/c i know that we all have our freedom in Christ, even with regards to what we spend. but for us, we are just not comfortable living that kind of lifestyle.

as we move, i know that i'll have to constantly remind myself that we lived comfortably on $1900/month. so when we move, i'm hoping to see the numbers of our budget to be roughly the same (with some exceptions like the mortgage) and continue to live a more modest lifestyle, even if it isn't the norm. but i'm truly very grateful that i can live in champaign-urbana for a few years, where modest lifestyle is the norm rather than the exception. :)

* granted, there are parts of the town that are cropping up to be like suburbia, but most of these upscale places seem to be in pockets further away from the main part of town
** just today, i read a post on a couple that don't think they can afford kids with a combined salary of $200K/year. granted, they live in silicon valley, but i couldn't believe it when i read it.