Fall and Ukraine

Fall is here and school is in full swing. As of late I have been venturing out to the Ukrainian Village here in Chicago for a semester long research project on the Ukrainian people. As I understand and learn more about this rich culture, I am amazed at the craftwork of our Lord as well as the dire need for the Gospel. It is missions conference this week and I hope that He will speak to me in a new and passionate way.

Brick Lane

I just watched a movie that made me mad. It was a wonderfully created film with beautiful cinematography and acting, great story and plot line, yet it has reminded me of how depraved we all are and how much we all lean toward sin.


It was set in 2001 London. It tells the story of a woman who grew up in the jungle of Bangladesh who was arranged to marry an "educated" man living abroad. She finds herself in a loveless marriage to an older overweight man who thinks more of himself and money than he does his wife or children. You can feel the sorrow and pain she feels as she goes about her life. Her existence is mundane, her youth was taken from her and she was forced away from her family to an unknown world where little happiness exists. She lives this way for 16 years, although still keeps her youthful beauty. She has two beautiful daughters but still married to this selfish pig of a husband. One day a new woman moves in next door and invites her for tea. The woman is a seamstress and intrigues her to start sewing. She starts her sewing job against the wishes of her husband. He says that if a wife works it says that the husband can't make enough to support his family. It takes a blow to his pride, a virtue too close to his heart.

Although he isn't too fond of it, she starts sewing and every week a new delivery of sewing materials comes in for her to work on. The supplies are delivered by a handsome young Muslim. Although the woman is uncomfortable with another man coming into her house while her husband is away, she lets him and they form a friendship. This friendship leads into something more, and before she knows it, she finds herself in a passionate affair. Here are where my thoughts come in. At this point in the movie I am rooting for the affair, even getting butterflies in my own stomach when they are together. I am a hopeless romantic and I love the mushy gushy stuff. But what I didn't like was what it made me feel as the movie went on... The story progresses, and to spare you the details, her husband decides to move back to Bangladesh and start a new life over there. The story then shows a series of events that portrays the husband as more lovable than previously seen and the woman actually leaves the man she was having an affair with, although they had spoken about her divorcing her husband and marring him. She reunites with her husband, although he goes back to Bangladesh and she stays there with her two daughters.

The movie ended up on the right side of the moral tracks, but it left me saddened inside. I wasn't sad that the wrong thing was done, because she did do the right thing... I was sad that she didn't end up with the handsome man who she was passionately "in love" with. I was angry that she ended up with the fat old man with a greasy comb-over. I was mad that she didn't divorce her husband and run off with another man. And that is why this movie made me mad- because of the way it made me feel. I actually wanted her to leave her husband. It is so interesting sometimes how I can (and I assume many women out there) get wrapped up in the emotion of it all and forget about right and wrong, forget about black and white. This movie was a good reminder of what love is really about. It isn't the lust you have for any piece of meat walking down Chicago avenue... it is about real love that comes from the Father and trickles down to the love between two people God has put together.

Here is a good quote from the movie...

"No one told me there were different kinds of love... the kind that starts big and slowly wears away. It seems that you will never use it up then one day it is finished. Then there is the kind that you do not notice at first which adds a little bit to itself everyday like an oyster makes a pearl, grain by grain, a jewel from the sand, that is the kind that I have come to know..."

The Lord has been teaching me some great things as of late. Namely, He has given me a joy in.... (look out, you post-modernists!) the great hymns of old. I recently travelled with the Moody Chorale down to Texas where we sung over 20 concerts in the span of two weeks. God really spoke to me through the various testimonies of how our songs spoke to others. We sang a variety of types of music, spanning from classical to gospel to ultra-modern. There is so much truth in songs such as "Holy, Holy, Holy" and "Jesus I am Resting". We sung an arrangement of both songs, written by our director, Gerald Edmonds. Both are so beautifully woven together and richly harmonized. I get shivers every time we proclaim, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty" in a beautifully dissonant 8-part chord. Music has such an affect on people. It speaks the language of the soul. When put to scripture, it speaks truth in a way so powerful even the hardest of hearts is softened. I have seen the Holy Spirit work in miraculous ways through music.

Jesus I am Resting, Resting has quickly become one of my favorite hymns.


Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart;
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,
And Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.

O, how great Thy loving kindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O, how marvelous Thy goodness,
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved,
Know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise,
And have made it mine.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its ev'ry need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed!

Ever lift Thy face upon me,
As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting 'neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory,
Sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with Thy grace.

Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art,
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.

Fruits of My Shutter

I love this picture. It reminds me of how we are pearls of great price and we must guard our hearts. The box is not the prize. It's what is inside.

Resolutions

Happy 2009!

New Year's is a time of new beginnings and resolutions. Although we tend to make a futile attempt at keeping these resolutions and there are many skeptics who refuse to even make resolutions for fear of breaking them... But I would beg to differ. Even if we end up breaking these new resolutions, isn't it better if we tried? If we hold on for a month, or two months, or even half a year, haven't we made ourselves a better person, even if it was short lived?

So I have decided to become a more disciplined person. I want to eat healthier, do better in school, exercise more regularly, and have a consistent time with God. Don and I are going through Romans together and I hope that this will help my personal devotion time. I know this may come as a shock to some people, (ha!) but I have never been consistent in my personal time with God. I pray this will change this year as I start planning out what my future will look like... internship, graduation looming...

May you look to find a resolution that will make you a better person, even if it is only for a month or two... trying is better than sitting.