April 12, 2025

We all know that men cannot find anything in the refrigerator. When the wife asks you to find something, that item becomes invisible and no matter how much you look, you cannot find it. Then, the wife comes to find it, lo and behold, it’s right there!

Well that happened to us a few days ago, but this time, Hyemi and I couldn’t find that missing item together. So we were going to make a Korean meal for lunch on Sunday and Hyemi asked me to grab a bag of sliced rice cakes from the refrigerator. Now I remembered this because I brought it out few days before that but ended up not using it. So I know that we still have a whole bag left. I looked in the refrigerator, not there. Looked again, not there. I went downstairs to the basement to check on our second refrigerator, not there. I checked the chest freezer, not there. I shouted, “I can’t find it!” Hyemi shot back, “Of course you can’t find it! What are you going to do when I find it?” So Hyemi started looking for that bag of sliced rice cakes. Guess what? She couldn’t find it either. We looked all over for it but it was lost. It was so odd because none of us used it for cooking the other day. It had to be there, but it vanished. 

We ended up having something else for lunch. The lunch was delicious, but I kept wondering where the rice cake went. About an hour later, I opened the refrigerator for something else. To my surprise, that bag of sliced rice cake was right in front of me! The bag disappeared and then appeared. What a mystery.

In Luke 24, Jesus appears to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, but Jesus hinders them from recognizing Him. “But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.” Luke 24:16. And then in verse 31, they realize Jesus. “Then their eye were opened and they knew Him.” Jesus wanted the disciples to see Jesus and His mission from the Scriptures first, and so He intentionally restrained their eyes from recognizing Him. Sometimes, we will miss, forget, or not understand certain things that occur in our lives. Maybe God does that intentionally, so that we can see what is beyond and understand the greater will God has for us. We will have to trust God and have faith in Him no matter what. 

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April 5, 2025

The cartridges in the church printer was running low, and the warning on the screen was on for a few days. I put a note in my mental checklist, ‘restock the cartridges.’ You know, purchasing the cartridges does not require a big task. With just a few clicks, it will be ordered and delivered within couple of business days. I say to myself, I will do it when I get home. Then I would forget. A couple of days go by, and then I remind myself, only to forget again. By the time you need to make copies on the printer (especially color copies), you are in trouble. I procrastinated the simple task that would only take a few minutes, that resulted in less par quality of colors on our church bulletin. I wonder if you have similar experiences at home.

I am reminded of the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. The virgins all took their lamps in preparation to meet the bridegroom. Half of them prepared extra oil, just in case. The other half thought that what they had was just enough. The issue is that “the brideggroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.” Matthew 25:5. While they fell asleep, the lamps must have gone out, and when the groom finally appeared, the foolish ones could not join the marching procession because they couldn’t light their lamps. I don’t know whether it was an easy or a difficult task to prepare extra oil beforehand. These five did not have extra replacement oil ready when it was needed. The key is that we need to be ready. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Matthew 25:13. I hope that this is a good reminder that we always need to be prepared for the second coming of Jesus!

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March 29, 2025

Mary and Joseph dedicated Jesus after He was born. We find that story in Luke 2. All the first borns were dedicated because they belonged to God, as God spared the lives of the firstborns at Passover by the blood of the lambs that were painted on the doors. Therefore, animals were sacrificed at baby dedications. It was to signify their redemption.

After the dedication, the family returned back home to Nazareth. Luke writes twice in the chapter that Jesus grew in wisdom. “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” (verse 20); “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (veres 52)

During Jesus’ early years, He did not exercise His divinity and grew up as a human being, in which He was under Mary and Joseph’s care. We could only imagine from the Scriptures what Mary did to raise Jesus, and I could only imagine that she did her best to raise her Son in a godly way. The fact that she dedicated Jesus after birth testifies of her commitment to raise Jesus according to God’s ways. Therefore, Jesus was filled with wisdom as He was growing. James 3:17 writes that wisdom is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” It’s not easy to say this describes the childhood of any person. Yet, this was made possible in Jesus’ childhood. He became our Example.

As parents, we need to follow the examples of Mary, and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance teaching our children to walk in God’s ways, and help them to grow in wisdom, like Jesus. James also tells us in 1:5 that if we lack wisdom, “ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” I believe God will also give us wisdom to lead our children to grow in wisdom as well, when we seek His help.

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