Happy mother’s day!  To all the biological and spiritual mothers in our congregation, God bless you and keep you!  To the sons and daughters, do whatever it takes to make them happy.  Happy mom, happy life=).  Mother’s day is always interesting for me.  I thank the Lord that it is a national holiday; no matter what ethnicity, religion, age, or gender you are, on this day, we recognize nationwide how amazing our mothers are and are reminded to thank our mothers for what they do.  However, it’s also a rude-awakening on how much I don’t appreciate my mom enough every other day throughout the year.  Let’s remember to thank the Lord for one another all the time.  God is indeed an amazing gift giver, solely based on the people he has placed in our lives.
I remember a particular instance in high school when I got into big trouble.  My mom heeded the Word of the Lord and certainly did not spare the rod.  But this time her discipline was different.  I don’t quite recall what I did or said, but what I do remember is my mother’s response as if it happened yesterday.  I remember her sitting me down with tears welling in her eyes and saying in Korean, “It’s my fault.  I wish I was there for you every day when you came home from school, to be able to ask you how your day was, and to cook you a meal.  I wish I was there.”  Even now, thinking of her response, emotions rise but more than that, one thing is absolutely clear; the power of presence - the ability of a loved one to simply be who they are created to be and just BE for the people around them.  My mom knew in her heart that she could DO a lot of things for me to express her love (and she did!) but none would compare to the simple assurance of who she is and that she would be there for me no matter what. 
That is what God does for us.  He is a faithful God whose actions are consistent with His promises.  He is a loving God who pursues His people from the beginning of time to the end of time who provided the ultimate sacrifice in Jesus.  He is Father.  He is Counselor.  He IS all these things and acts it out.  And one of the greatest promises and truths in scripture, He is Emmanuel, God WITH us through the Holy Spirit.  Jesus promises this gift and it’s available for you and me.  We have God who does amazing things throughout our lives that increases our awareness of Him, but when things don’t seem to go as planned and His works are not as evident, we have the truth of scripture that says “[He] will never leave you nor forsake you”.  Emulating this aspect of God is one of the greatest gifts a mother and father can give (or be) to their children.  In 1 Corinthians 4:14, Paul writes to the church in Corinth that they have many guides (ESV) or guardians (NIV) in Christ but not many fathers.  There were so many “do-ers” in the church who taught scriptures and did good works.  There were many relationships that resembled the modern day congregation to preacher dynamic.  But Paul is clear when he says that there’s too much of those relationships but not enough spiritual son/daughter and spiritual father/mother relationships.  Paul knew when a spiritual parent makes himself or herself available to spiritual children, gives time and presence to them, they are emulating an aspect of God that is so profound and powerful, that has the ability to spur children in holiness and Christ-like character – the ABBA God, or Father God.  Today, I challenge you all to look beyond your family unit to see the people that you serve and worship with as potential mothers and fathers, sons and daughters in Christ. 
Mothers, we celebrate and honor you today.  We praise God because of you and pray that you would be encouraged and appreciated by all.  We love you!

From Pastor Keeyoung’s Heart
May 11, 2014

Ryan finally turned three and my wife and I are looking forward to sending him to FCS soon. However, things are not going as planned because Ryan is not yet fully potty trained. It feels like we have been trying for the entire year to get him to be ready for school. Maybe we had it too easy with Reina that we never saw this coming. I don’t know if any parents pray for their kids to be potty trained, but it’s certainly on the very top of our list. We have tried many different approaches and methods to make the whole process less stressful for Ryan but it has been a stressful time for everyone in our household. I even bought him his favorite Thomas train toilet, which helped so many other boys, but is now being used as a stool in the bathroom.
I actually went into the FCS office this morning to ask some questions and ended up asking the office staff to pray for Ryan to be potty trained before summer school starts. Mrs. May jokingly asked me whether it would be harder to evangelize to Ryan or to have him be potty trained. I replied without any hesitation, both will be about equally hard…but I feel like potty training will be harder. I know I should be more optimistic and have faith that God will bring about a good result but it’s not so easy. It’s funny how I have so much faith in bigger things in life and can’t trust God for such little thing.
Honestly, I have no idea how God is going to answer our prayer. My wife and I have our fingers crossed hoping that something will click in Ryan’s mind and be potty trained miraculously. I never imagined that I would consider potty training a “miracle.” I guess miracles do happen in and around us all the time since we all are potty trained, lol! I’m sure God wants us to learn to deal with both positive and negative outcomes. Maybe there are no positive or negative outcomes since God makes all things work for good for those who love Him. Whatever the outcome, I need to learn to accept and consider it joy. 
One of the hardest parts of this process was figuring out how to respond to Ryan’s mistakes. At times, I showed my patience and on different occasions I tried to teach him a lesson by giving him time outs and punishments. Sometimes, I feel as if he is looking to see how I will react to his mistakes. He makes me wonder whether I have what it takes to be a good parent. God is definitely using Ryan to humble me and to teach me godly wisdom and endurance. This may just be the beginning of years of stress and agony that I will have to endure as I raise up the kids but I am excited for the challenges that lie ahead. Please pray for me and don’t forget to pray for Ryan that he would be potty trained by mid-June so he can attend summer school. 

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
May 4, 2014